Are you a technical or non-technical founder/co-founder?

Elena
13 replies

Replies

Abadesi
I didn't know what to pick here because although my coding skills are pretty elementary I have built everything related to my business using no code tools. I feel the distinction is inaccurate or outdated given how easy it is to build digital products without software engineering.
Rebecca DeForest
@abadesi I was thinking this exact same thing!! I don't write code, but I build things. So am I technical or not? The line marking the distinction between the two types of founders in question is very blurry!
Elena
@abadesi you are absolutely right! I should have been more specific. I guess, depending on what you are building and how complicated it can be, you can absolutely build something without writing any code. I agree 💯. Though, I do feel that most startup teams when looking for the second/third co-founder, want to find someone who can complement their skills. The magic trio - hustler, hacker and hipster 🙂
Abadesi
@elenanabi I hear you! I get the hustler and hacker part of the equation but what does the hipster do? 🧐
Elena
@abadesi Hipsters are all about UI, UX, marketing and branding, Hustlers are all about sales, pitching, finances and Hackers - front-end, back-end coders. I call it the "perfect" team which we rarely get, lol. Most of the time, the teams I meet at startup events consist of two co-founders - one technical, who builds the product (CTO), and the other one, non/slighly-technical - who promotes it (usually a CEO). But you are right, in the world we live in, with all the tools we have, those roles get blurred easily.
Robert Zalaudek
Thanks for the question and for starting the discussion @elenanabi My impression from reading posts on PH and on various growth hacking groups is that there technical founders who think that they need a non-technical founder and vice-versa. I'm not sure that's the case these days given the number of low-code/no code tools (for the non-technical founders) the number of business consultancies and tools (for the technical founders). Would be interested in others' thoughts.
Elena
@robert_zalaudek Robert, the reason I asked was because I had a feeling that most of the makers here build (code) their own products. I mean.. there is definitely a certain sexiness in it 😎I am the "non-technical" side in our team, but thankfully I have a co-founder who is highly technical. I agree that most tools nowadays allow you to build an MVP without any code involved. And I applaud those technical co-founders who can also promote themselves, their products, write articles, shoot videos, write guests posts, be part of the community while still building their product full time!
Robert Zalaudek
@elenanabi I'm also the non-technical founder and, like you, am fortunate to have a very strong technical co-founder. It will be interesting what others have to say on the topic.
Michael Andreuzza
I am actually surprised of the results until now.
Vamshi Vangapally
@michael_andreuzza It's producthunt - results would have been a little different if the poll was on IH!