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I think the old Chris Dixon article about builders and extractors is relevant in this discussion. At the end of the day there are people in the startup world w

I think the old Chris Dixon article about builders and extractors is relevant in this discussion. At the end of the day there are people in the startup world who add value and those who extract it. I'd say for the most part, technical people are builders. I'd also say for the most part, non-technical people are extractors (especially at early stage companies). I think that for many startups though, in order to be successful, you need to have both technical and non-technical builders. There are plenty of "business people" out there, but not many that add a ton of value. The magic happens when you have these two very opposite builders working seamlessly together. As a non-technical co-founder, I think that it is important for business people to understand that the value of being able to develop in-house and iterate quickly is out of this world, and that you should never take having an awesome technical co-founder for granted.

mindcrime 14y ago
I'd also say for the most part, non-technical people are extractors (especially at early stage companies). I think this is a very poisonous mindset. Well, depending on exactly how you define "non technical". I'll read it as "doesn't write code". In a technology company everybody, even the "business people" should be somewhat technical. But anyway, if techies sit on their little perches with their self-appointed, smug sense of eliteness and look down on all the "business people" as "value extractors" I think they are very misguided. We know "if you build it they will come" doesn't usually work, and in a tech startup, somebody has to understand marketing, promotion, sales, advertising, PR, finance, funding, etc. in order to build a company. The people doing that are adding value (if they're doing their job correctly anyway). I know I've ranted about this until I'm blue in the face, but please... neither the "tech guy" nor the "business guy" can exist in isolation (aside: unless they are the rare bird who can fill both roles, at least on an interim basis). Coming at this as a programmer who decided to found a startup, I've gained a TON of respect for the talented business people out there. It turns out, defining a target market, doing market research, developing a marketing strategy, writing content for a "content marketing" approach, manning twitter, facebook, g+, etc. to try and collect leads for your "permission marketing" stuff, prospecting for leads, doing industry research, finding partners/affiliates, talking to investors, talking to customers, writing press releases, talking to journalists, etc., etc., etc. is a LOT of f%!@ng work. So much so that I'd LOVE to find a "business guy" to join our co-founding team, so I could offload some (but not all) of this stuff. I say "not all" because I think a tech founder can't just go sequester himself off and write code... even with a "business guy" cofounder. You still need to be, IMO, very involved in shaping the overall product strategy and vision, and need to be out there talking to customers and getting that first-hand feedback. But having that dedicated "business person" can eliminate some of the stress, especially when you're having to "teach yourself as you go" on marketing, PR, etc.

mindcrime 14y ago

I'd also say for the most part, non-technical people are extractors (especially at early stage companies). I think this is a very poisonous mindset. Well, depending on exactly how you define "non technical". I'll read it as "doesn't write code". In a technology company everybody, even the "business people" should be somewhat technical. But anyway, if techies sit on their little perches with their self-appointed, smug sense of eliteness and look down on all the "business people" as "value extractors" I think they are very misguided. We know "if you build it they will come" doesn't usually work, and in a tech startup, somebody has to understand marketing, promotion, sales, advertising, PR, finance, funding, etc. in order to build a company. The people doing that are adding value (if they're doing their job correctly anyway). I know I've ranted about this until I'm blue in the face, but please... neither the "tech guy" nor the "business guy" can exist in isolation (aside: unless they are the rare bird who can fill both roles, at least on an interim basis). Coming at this as a programmer who decided to found a startup, I've gained a TON of respect for the talented business people out there. It turns out, defining a target market, doing market research, developing a marketing strategy, writing content for a "content marketing" approach, manning twitter, facebook, g+, etc. to try and collect leads for your "permission marketing" stuff, prospecting for leads, doing industry research, finding partners/affiliates, talking to investors, talking to customers, writing press releases, talking to journalists, etc., etc., etc. is a LOT of f%!@ng work. So much so that I'd LOVE to find a "business guy" to join our co-founding team, so I could offload some (but not all) of this stuff. I say "not all" because I think a tech founder can't just go sequester himself off and write code... even with a "business guy" cofounder. You still need to be, IMO, very involved in shaping the overall product strategy and vision, and need to be out there talking to customers and getting that first-hand feedback. But having that dedicated "business person" can eliminate some of the stress, especially when you're having to "teach yourself as you go" on marketing, PR, etc.