
Ask HN: A Non-Hacker has an Idea - mjlisboa
Hi hackers,<p>I have been researching about startups and the tech world and I came across your wonderful community. I do not have a background in technology (non-hacker here), but I have always been fascinated by tech changes and I have made an effort to be up-to-date with your world. I now have the chance and the means to pursue my ideas and I would like to know from you: is it practical for a non-hacker to start her own tech business? I have found a great team of coders and web-designers I can hire to help me with that, but is it possible for a sole founder to get funding without herself having the technical knowledge? Anyone in a similar situation? There is an answer to a question on the FAQ page which suggests that at least one of the founders be technical (in order to both be successful and get funding I’m guessing) but this is currently not an option for me.
Thank you in advance!
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IanDrake
I'll chime in for what it's worth.

Can you be successful, yes.

Can you get funding, yes.

But, you won't get funding with an idea and a team of what you think are good
programmers. You'll need a good execution of your idea and traction with
paying customers. Can you get to that point with your own money? Or better
yet, should you even try?

And here's the problem with being non-technical. How do you know if the money
you're spending on the programmers is going to yield you something useable.
For instance, I could build you a basic Twitter clone in a day and you would
be impressed when I showed it to you. What you wouldn't know is that the whole
thing will fall apart soon as more than a few thousand people start using it.
Worse, at the point it falls apart you'll have to build an entirely new and
costly replacement. All while the thousands of users you worked hard to
acquire bolt for the door.

IMO, this is the biggest issue with not having a technical co-founder. It's
not insurmountable, but the risk of technological failure is much higher.

If I were you, I'd spend all my time vetting the idea. Talking to customers
and getting them to buy a product that's not built yet. One problem I already
see is that you seem hesitant to explain your idea here. That's a red flag to
me and mostly everyone else here.

For instance, here two ideas I'm thinking about right now:

1) A business making all natural wooden toys, finished with an all organic
wax, and build from locally sourced, already felled trees. It would be branded
Cape Cod Toy Factory and would sell initially to local toy shops where I live.
People on vacation love stuff like this and it makes for a great vacation
gift. There is no one in this space now.

2) A blog platform for artistic types where everything is hand drawn, words,
images, everything. This would be for people with a MS Surface or like
devices. It would use handwriting recognition to underlay their handwritten
words for search engines and render there drawings and text on html canvas.
Reading this blog would be like reading someone's personal handwritten
journal.

See that's the thing about ideas. Most people are going to hear your idea and
say, "that's stupid" or "that's a good idea", but very few will say "I'm going
to rip that off". Ultimately no one will have the fortitude to follow through
with your vision but you.

Best of luck!

