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It's interesting, how all this stuff is written for the biz-bros, too -- try doing a google search on how to find a non-technical cofounder. Like, say you're an

It's interesting, how all this stuff is written for the biz-bros, too -- try doing a google search on how to find a non-technical cofounder. Like, say you're an eng, with a technical idea you think would make the foundation of a good startup, and you're looking for someone to "found" the PM/marketing/bizdev side of things. From what I can see, the content/advice doesn't exist, even via YCombinator.

kragen 3y ago
why would you want a nontechnical cofounder to do the pm/marketing/bizdev side of things? a nontechnical person might be able to do those things, but technical ignorance or incompetence are not necessary for them, and aren't even assets; they're just less serious drawbacks there than elsewhere you might genuinely need some nontechnical people in your startup, but if you have some money you can always pay people to come be part of a focus group or user test when that's necessary
- distortionfield 3y ago
  Why would you want a nontechnical cofounder to do these 3 specialized full-time roles? Is this a serious question? > but if you have some money lol . Just… lol.
  - kragen 3y ago
    yes. why would you want the three people doing those three specialized full-time roles to be nontechnical? it seems to me that, given a nontechnical person who's good at one or more of those roles, they'd obviously be even better at it if they also understood the technology. ignorance and incompetence are weaknesses, not strengths as for having some money, the context of this discussion is startups with angel or vc funding, which is plenty for focus groups and some user tests
    - distortionfield 3y ago
      Because good luck finding those three roles where they’re from a technical background? I’ve worked with a grand total of one PM who was from a technical background. He was actually a great engineer but he was absolutely the exception to the rule. Sure, if you can flesh your team out with entirely technical people filling those roles, great for you, but that’s like asking why you wouldn’t only hire 10x engineers. Well of course if you could find and hire only 10x engineers you would, but it doesn’t work like that. Especially considering those are all industry positions that are typically taken by people who never went into technical roles.
      - kragen 3y ago
        right, so people who are looking for a cofounder to fill those roles aren't looking for a nontechnical cofounder; they're looking for a cofounder. they may have to accept a nontechnical cofounder, but that's not what they're looking for. that's why there's no advice to be found on finding a nontechnical cofounder i feel that my first comment in this thread already explained this with perfect clarity and you've just been trolling
- robocat 3y ago
  You are undervaluing non-tech skills. Ironic given that you are commenting on a vid where tech is undervalued; plus your comments are getting flagged for your communication skills. I suggest you learn not to make the same mistake as those plonker non-tech guys.
  - kragen 3y ago
    to correct your error: nontechnical skills like marketing, grit, forgiveness, and negotiation are far more critical to business success than any technical skill my single comment at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38479157 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38479157 got flagged, i think, for being extremely rude, not for failing to communicate you are the third person here to incorrectly attribute to me an undervaluing of non-tech skills, but that's on you three, not me; you're just pattern-matching what i said to some kind of stereotype and guessing what kinds of opinions i might hold on questions i haven't talked about. it's as if i had advocated abortion rights and you attacked me for advocating gun control but i'm not in favor of gun control, and i value non-tech skills very highly. you guessed wrong, and you should be ashamed of yourself for falling into fox-news-style stereotype-based reasoning instead of thinking about what i actually said the particular communication skill i need in this case is the skill to avoid communicating with people who will ignore what i actually said and substitute something they would prefer to argue with
    - robocat 3y ago
      > to correct your error Condescending and rude. I made no error. > abortion rights > gun control Wow - that's an irrelevant tangent. HN guidelines are to avoid flamebait and politics. > why would you want a nontechnical cofounder to do the pm/marketing/bizdev side of things? This is what my comment relates to. It seems to me that you are dismissing the potential value of a non-tech co-founder. A co-founder is not telling the dev what to do. Partners whos skills complement each other. I helped co-found a successful business with 4 founders: 1 sales, 1 BA, and 2 dev - although we were all tech types with far wider skills than the stereotypes of the labels I used suggest. To be clear: some people don't need a non-tech co-founder, but I have seen devs try to start businesses where I felt the devs would have done better partnering up with non-dev co-founders. Also if one can't sell a business to a high-value co-founder, then my guess is one likely lacks the skills to be successful. > case is the skill to avoid communicating with people who will ignore what i actually said and substitute something they would prefer to argue with I am replying because I felt you ignored what I said, and you substituted something you preferred to argue with. I'm not trying to change your mind - I'm just trying to explain how your comments come across to me - it is about me not you. I'm not trolling to make you angry - HN is not for that and why waste your time or mine. All good.

kragen 3y ago

why would you want a nontechnical cofounder to do the pm/marketing/bizdev side of things? a nontechnical person might be able to do those things, but technical ignorance or incompetence are not necessary for them, and aren't even assets; they're just less serious drawbacks there than elsewhere you might genuinely need some nontechnical people in your startup, but if you have some money you can always pay people to come be part of a focus group or user test when that's necessary

distortionfield 3y ago
Why would you want a nontechnical cofounder to do these 3 specialized full-time roles? Is this a serious question? > but if you have some money lol . Just… lol.
- kragen 3y ago
  yes. why would you want the three people doing those three specialized full-time roles to be nontechnical? it seems to me that, given a nontechnical person who's good at one or more of those roles, they'd obviously be even better at it if they also understood the technology. ignorance and incompetence are weaknesses, not strengths as for having some money, the context of this discussion is startups with angel or vc funding, which is plenty for focus groups and some user tests
  - distortionfield 3y ago
    Because good luck finding those three roles where they’re from a technical background? I’ve worked with a grand total of one PM who was from a technical background. He was actually a great engineer but he was absolutely the exception to the rule. Sure, if you can flesh your team out with entirely technical people filling those roles, great for you, but that’s like asking why you wouldn’t only hire 10x engineers. Well of course if you could find and hire only 10x engineers you would, but it doesn’t work like that. Especially considering those are all industry positions that are typically taken by people who never went into technical roles.
    - kragen 3y ago
      right, so people who are looking for a cofounder to fill those roles aren't looking for a nontechnical cofounder; they're looking for a cofounder. they may have to accept a nontechnical cofounder, but that's not what they're looking for. that's why there's no advice to be found on finding a nontechnical cofounder i feel that my first comment in this thread already explained this with perfect clarity and you've just been trolling
robocat 3y ago
You are undervaluing non-tech skills. Ironic given that you are commenting on a vid where tech is undervalued; plus your comments are getting flagged for your communication skills. I suggest you learn not to make the same mistake as those plonker non-tech guys.
- kragen 3y ago
  to correct your error: nontechnical skills like marketing, grit, forgiveness, and negotiation are far more critical to business success than any technical skill my single comment at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38479157 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38479157 got flagged, i think, for being extremely rude, not for failing to communicate you are the third person here to incorrectly attribute to me an undervaluing of non-tech skills, but that's on you three, not me; you're just pattern-matching what i said to some kind of stereotype and guessing what kinds of opinions i might hold on questions i haven't talked about. it's as if i had advocated abortion rights and you attacked me for advocating gun control but i'm not in favor of gun control, and i value non-tech skills very highly. you guessed wrong, and you should be ashamed of yourself for falling into fox-news-style stereotype-based reasoning instead of thinking about what i actually said the particular communication skill i need in this case is the skill to avoid communicating with people who will ignore what i actually said and substitute something they would prefer to argue with
  - robocat 3y ago
    > to correct your error Condescending and rude. I made no error. > abortion rights > gun control Wow - that's an irrelevant tangent. HN guidelines are to avoid flamebait and politics. > why would you want a nontechnical cofounder to do the pm/marketing/bizdev side of things? This is what my comment relates to. It seems to me that you are dismissing the potential value of a non-tech co-founder. A co-founder is not telling the dev what to do. Partners whos skills complement each other. I helped co-found a successful business with 4 founders: 1 sales, 1 BA, and 2 dev - although we were all tech types with far wider skills than the stereotypes of the labels I used suggest. To be clear: some people don't need a non-tech co-founder, but I have seen devs try to start businesses where I felt the devs would have done better partnering up with non-dev co-founders. Also if one can't sell a business to a high-value co-founder, then my guess is one likely lacks the skills to be successful. > case is the skill to avoid communicating with people who will ignore what i actually said and substitute something they would prefer to argue with I am replying because I felt you ignored what I said, and you substituted something you preferred to argue with. I'm not trying to change your mind - I'm just trying to explain how your comments come across to me - it is about me not you. I'm not trolling to make you angry - HN is not for that and why waste your time or mine. All good.