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"This is also why I bristle when many in the Valley - PG included - keep disparaging non-technical people when they want to start a tech company." "I wish we a

by dannyr 14y ago

"This is also why I bristle when many in the Valley - PG included - keep disparaging non-technical people when they want to start a tech company." "I wish we all, on HN (at the very least), would stop painting with a broad brush and bashing large swathes of people." Pretty conflicting statements. Asking HN not to disparage people while disparaging people in Silicon valley himself. If a non-technical founder wants to build a photo-sharing app, how would she/he even build a minimum viable product without learning how to code or getting a technical partner? It depends on the business. Some ideas like MyClean don't need much technical skills to start. It's pretty disappointing that this is the top comment on this thread.

rtpg 14y ago
I don't understand how a photo-shapring app would require more technical knowledge than MyClean. The point is still valid though. People sit here acting as if moan-technical people can't understand what is fundamental a people problem (is there a market for this)? A lot of startups might spend all the time in the world making the most elegant software in the world, but if nobody wants to use it it's game over. Bad execution doesn't matter if the problem is important enough to them(think of all the people running around still doing things in buggy DOS software from 1996). But if I don't want to use your social network for cats, it's a lot harder to get people to care about your website than it is to hire motivated people to make your site better. Craigslist is a great example of using (relatively) low-tech means to get things done. It used to be a mailing list. Shady download websites with 10000 popups and buggy captchas and timers also show that it's about the demand. Of course if someone else is competing in the same domain as you, the best differentiator (after previous mind-share) is a good UX (lot easier to make with good software).
hef19898 14y ago
And if a technical guy wants to built a photo sharing app which also modifies the photos somehow without any idea of photography? It's hard for a single person to built a successfull product or company, simply due to a lack of skills. That's why you need partner, co-founders, employees and contractors. What makes a good founder IMHO is the ability to see what kind of skills are currently missing. The next trick is to get these skills somehow.

by dannyr 14y ago

rtpg 14y ago

I don't understand how a photo-shapring app would require more technical knowledge than MyClean. The point is still valid though. People sit here acting as if moan-technical people can't understand what is fundamental a people problem (is there a market for this)? A lot of startups might spend all the time in the world making the most elegant software in the world, but if nobody wants to use it it's game over. Bad execution doesn't matter if the problem is important enough to them(think of all the people running around still doing things in buggy DOS software from 1996). But if I don't want to use your social network for cats, it's a lot harder to get people to care about your website than it is to hire motivated people to make your site better. Craigslist is a great example of using (relatively) low-tech means to get things done. It used to be a mailing list. Shady download websites with 10000 popups and buggy captchas and timers also show that it's about the demand. Of course if someone else is competing in the same domain as you, the best differentiator (after previous mind-share) is a good UX (lot easier to make with good software).

hef19898 14y ago

And if a technical guy wants to built a photo sharing app which also modifies the photos somehow without any idea of photography? It's hard for a single person to built a successfull product or company, simply due to a lack of skills. That's why you need partner, co-founders, employees and contractors. What makes a good founder IMHO is the ability to see what kind of skills are currently missing. The next trick is to get these skills somehow.