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Would be too shocking if I consider this a "How to find a non-technical co-founder" question? Because I think that is just what you need. I don't think a freel

by soneca 14y ago

Would be too shocking if I consider this a "How to find a non-technical co-founder" question? Because I think that is just what you need. I don't think a freelance, temporary or part-time marketing person would be a good choice. A real co-founder, responsible for marketing your product would be ideal. Someone that could hack the distribution part of your product. Actually, I don't have any practical tips of how to find this person, but my advice is that you should think of her as an essential part of the team, not a disposable labor with a specific mechanical job. Don't be the "code guy" versio of the HN stereotyped "idea guy". Maybe something you could try is trying to find, on startups' events, that non-developer young guy, who is kind of lost there, not pitching any of his ideas, just trying to understand this environment and learn a few things. My guess is that this persona, with the right potential skills, could be a good distribution co-founder.

sigre 14y ago
That's great advice, and perhaps that's really the answer. Based on what I've been directly observing, most of the "marketing" that I do is pretty mechanical: A/B testing, posting updates to our existing users and soliciting feedback, adwords experimenting, and writing blog posts and other content. In terms of prioritization, spending my time improving the product and offloading this mechanical work just seems like the right thing to do.
argonaut 14y ago
I disagree. That non-developer young guy has (as far as you are aware) the same, if not fewer, non-technical skills as the technical founders. The only people worth bringing on board as non-technical founders are people you know personally, whose work you have seen yourself (and liked), and whose communication skills are a known quantity as well. If you're going to bring on some random, you might as well do the distribution yourself.

by soneca 14y ago

sigre 14y ago

That's great advice, and perhaps that's really the answer. Based on what I've been directly observing, most of the "marketing" that I do is pretty mechanical: A/B testing, posting updates to our existing users and soliciting feedback, adwords experimenting, and writing blog posts and other content. In terms of prioritization, spending my time improving the product and offloading this mechanical work just seems like the right thing to do.

argonaut 14y ago

I disagree. That non-developer young guy has (as far as you are aware) the same, if not fewer, non-technical skills as the technical founders. The only people worth bringing on board as non-technical founders are people you know personally, whose work you have seen yourself (and liked), and whose communication skills are a known quantity as well. If you're going to bring on some random, you might as well do the distribution yourself.