

Ask HN: What are 3 things you would want from a non-technical co-founder? - armenarmen

I am a non techie, trying to fix that via udacity and o'reilly, for the mean time I would love to know what 3 qualities/skills you would look for in a non technical co founder.
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Toph
1\. Actually understands the full extent of the business side.

You wouldn't partner with a coder who can't code and is learning on the job so
why would a technical founder want to partner with a non-technical "business"
cofounder who doesn't know anything, worse, think he does?

This includes actual knowledge on things like knowing how to actually acquire
customers and said metrics, not just be able to recite shit you read off HN or
some blogs. Actual experience...

2\. Without knowing how to code, at least be extremely knowledgeable about
technical topics. Steve Jobs probably couldn't code squat but he understands
enough. That's all I need too.

3\. Extremely fast learner and can break habits quick. This one almost every
person I've met failed at. Very few actually have been able to do this and
they are gems.

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edbyrne
It's not what you want, it's what you want them to be responsible for, that
they can achieve success in:

\- Fund Raising and Financing \- Customer Acquisition, Marketing, Content
Marketing, PR \- Metrics Metrics Metrics

Basically - the Start; the Operations (customer facing, not dev obviously);
the Intelligence (where the overlap is and the co-founders work closely
together on sharing their perspectives).

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eragnew
IMHO:

A -> Always be learning. Always.

B -> Books. Books are good. O'Reilly is great. Other books can be great too.

C -> Competence -> Comprehension -> Confidence

(ok, i'm cheating. this is four things)

4 -> in my opinion, competence is simply a process where you keep trying new
things over time. you keep learning as you go. always.

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jatofire
1) Want and Care about the project above all else.

2) Keep your eye on the competition and market needs.

3)(And I cant stress this enough) Stay the f@#k away from my code! - Seriously
I bring non-tech people in for just that reason. I need eyes from people who
don't understand the tech side.

:)

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andrejewski
1\. Care about the project. 2\. Care about the users. Know what the user wants
and what is in the best interest of the user. 3\. Be able to defend yourself
and our product in a battle royal (Accepted). 4\. [Because there can be more]
Help the technical co-founder anyway you can.

~~~
NonEUCitizen
You don't need a non-technical co-founder for these.

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russtrpkovski
1\. Customer Acquisition 2\. Marketing/Copy Writing 3\. Start-up Metrics

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falicon
1\. Connections 2. Money 3. Macgyver-like business skills

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chamza
1) Connections in the domain the startup is working in

2) Marketing experience in that same domain

3) Someone who is honest and genuine

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randall
1) can at least prototype something in code. 2) Connections / hustle. 3) You
should tell me #3.

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j45
Being as crazy talented as me at everything that's non-technical.

Ideas are worthless without sales, marketing, money (earned or otherwise), and
execution.

