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I'm a non-tech founder (second startup) and I've had a hard time finding a tech co-founder. So I worked with programmers who are partners on the project, ie the

by VSerge 14y ago

I'm a non-tech founder (second startup) and I've had a hard time finding a tech co-founder. So I worked with programmers who are partners on the project, ie they get paid much less than they would in a normal gig, but they get their price cut "risk" paid several times down the road if it works. And since it's always a big if, I think this is the most genuine form of risk and revenue sharing short of being real co-founders. (feel free to get in touch on sversille@flirtatiouslabs.com if you'd like to see a contract template for this kind of partnership) This being said, programmers tend to be the tiniest bit too full of themselves. So, besides the idea, here's a few things I've done as a non-tech founder: fundraising, algorithm writing, iterative design (with playtesting from recruting testers to analyzing results quantitatively), marketing, debugging. Also, hey, I managed the project, which with 3 devs, 1 graphic designer, 1 sound designer, and 2 creative writers accross 3 timezones does require a bit of work. Here's the Facebook game we've done on 20k€ FYI, and for which we're approaching launch: apps.facebook.com/flirtati It's obviously far from perfect, but my point here is that "suits" can have valid ideas and should not just be seen as wantrepreneurs, especially by developers who are good but might still for example need me to do a search during debugging and tell them why nvarchar should be used at some point instead of a simple varchar. End of rant.

acomar 14y ago
I think the point is that everyone wants a non-technical co-founder to be more like yourself. But the emails from the "idea" people fail in a more fundamental way -- imagine writing a cover letter to an employer that basically told the employer only what you got out of employment. Suddenly that sounds like begging for charity, not a potential business relationship, and so the email gets ignored. Ignore enough of those emails and you get posts like the OP.
rprasad 14y ago
That was not a rant. That was a cogent example of the usefulness of a non-tech founder. It also sounds like you don't need a tech founder, now or in the future. You've proven adept at navigating the CTO-type skills already; you can skip ahead to hiring and managing tech employees without substantially diluting your equity on a CTO who provides little additional value.

by VSerge 14y ago

acomar 14y ago

I think the point is that everyone wants a non-technical co-founder to be more like yourself. But the emails from the "idea" people fail in a more fundamental way -- imagine writing a cover letter to an employer that basically told the employer only what you got out of employment. Suddenly that sounds like begging for charity, not a potential business relationship, and so the email gets ignored. Ignore enough of those emails and you get posts like the OP.

rprasad 14y ago

That was not a rant. That was a cogent example of the usefulness of a non-tech founder. It also sounds like you don't need a tech founder, now or in the future. You've proven adept at navigating the CTO-type skills already; you can skip ahead to hiring and managing tech employees without substantially diluting your equity on a CTO who provides little additional value.