

Ask HN: What interests tech people when talking to a non-tech person? - tamle

Hi all,<p>I love tech.  I love startups.  I am not a tech person.<p>I'm pretty sure this has been asked many times on this board, and I've read humblemba's blog post about startups and MBAs, but I was wondering...<p>What sort of personal characteristics do tech people look for when approached by a non-tech person looking to start a company? Ultimately, and I know this changes per person, what can non-tech person do to make a tech person trust them?<p>Because really... that's what business is all about.  In my eyes at least.<p>Thanks for your responses!
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evincarofautumn
Here are a few things that come to mind if you want to start a company with
me.

1\. Your idea has to be solid. Not just something you're excited about, not
just something I can get excited about, but something that's genuinely good.
Something that no one has thought of before, or a new edge to a market that
hasn't been nailed yet. If I were an investor, I would have to want to invest
in us.

2\. You have to have a good understanding of the technical challenges involved
in making your idea a reality. You should have an idea of what needs to be
done so that your hopes aren't completely dashed when I tell you the facts of
what it will take.

3\. You cannot undervalue your time, or my time. No matter what, I'm taking a
risk by working with you. You have to convince me that it will be worth my
while, and you know what? You probably have to make it actually worth my
while.

4\. You have to be willing to accept feedback. If you start with a complete
vision of what your company and product are going to be, you will be sorely
disappointed when that vision fails to materialise. By taking critique during
the development of your idea, you will end up with something better even than
the perfection you imagined.

Just my 2¢.

~~~
tamle
1\. "If I were an investor, I would have to want to invest in us." That makes
so much sense, I can't believe I've never thought of it in that light before.

2\. Agreed.

3\. "You probably have to make it actually worth my while." \- Specifically,
is this money/equity? Or is there another dimension I'm overlooking?

4\. If I'm understanding you correctly: you want to work with someone more
passionate about figuring out how to solve problem X as opposed to someone
who's passionate about using their proposed solution. Correct?

Thank you!

~~~
evincarofautumn
Money is important, but interesting challenges rank a little higher for me. If
I'd be solving a really cool problem, I'd be willing to take a risk by
accepting more in equity than cash. Fliko's comment covers #4.

~~~
tamle
This is very good to know... Evincarofautumn, do you think most people similar
to you feel this way?

~~~
evincarofautumn
I can't speak for anyone else, but if I had to hazard a guess, I'd say so.

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leeHS
Good questions! I'm actually a tech person who is interested in finding a non-
tech person. Trust you? That's tough, because I don't know you yet. So for
starter, what have you done? I'm a hacker, so I could give you my tech
credentials. You're a hustler (I hope!), so show me your hustling credentials.

Then after that, it's really all about chemistry. Are we going to be able to
count on each other when the shit hits the fan...for the 20th time? Because
bottom line, if we hook up to pursue a startup, we'll be married.

~~~
tamle
Hmmm - so evidence of hustle (lots of evidence smart hustling of course) can
help build trust? Or at least the start of it?

Thank you for this insight, it's much appreciated.

~~~
leeHS
If you're only talking about trust, then no. I've meet people with lots of
hustle that I could never trust. I guess it's a package deal. I need to trust
you, and know you have hustle.

The trust comes over time. But your past helps. What other partnerships have
you been in? Can I talk to those individuals?

As for hustle...I should probably explain what I'm talking about. I'm an
introverted techie who would rather be up till 2am coding than socializing.
That's a great skill for building a product, but not so great when it comes to
pushing it. So for me, hustle means that while I'm coding, you're out there
building buzz and meeting potential customers and investors.

And finally, there might be trust, you might have hustle, but in the end maybe
we just don't click.

Damn, it really is like a marriage eh?

So now I'm curious, who are you?

~~~
tamle
I'm a Web/Mobile Product Manager (did this in the Bay Area for 4 years) turned
MBA student with a strong desire to start my own startup.

To copy and paste from my linkedin: I am an untraditional MBA student.

I find it difficult to digest traditional/big corporate ways of thinking and
because of that I spend most of my time outside of class helping Austin
entrepreneurs refine and develop their businesses: as of Sept 2011, I am
working at two different startups as well as trying to launch two businesses
of my own and help another person launch theirs. Additionally, I advise 19
first year MBA students as they begin their entrepreneurial journey.

With that said, I still make sure to do all my work as I do have a
responsibility to my group members who may take getting an MBA more seriously
than I do.

In short - I hustle. I do work.

Expected to graduate in May 2012

Focus: Technology, Entrepreneurship, Social Enterprise, Lean Startups /copy
and paste

Because of my experience as a product manager I actually do have experience
working with developers, so a lot of the advice I've been given here rings
true - but starting a company with someone such as yourself is way different.
I actually know one tech person whose philosophy is to just not work with
business people as he thinks he can do everything himself - more power to him.

Thus, my inquiry.

It's funny you bring up marriage. I was debating with someone the other day
who you have to trust more - your business partner/co-founder or your spouse.
Either or, both can screw you. Haha.

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pawn
I briefly entertained the idea of doing business a while back and it didn't
last past the first meeting. The first problem was that he didn't respect the
technical side, and he had a pretty technically complex idea with no clue how
it'd be implemented. You don't want to tell someone how hard their job isn't
unless you actually know, and even if you do, you don't make friends that way.

Another corralary tidbit is that I tend to like people who I feel I share at
least some common interest with. If I say I like videogames and you
immediately dismiss them as something you outgrew, I immediately have a lower
impression of you. Don't let me catch you pretending though. That's pretty
irritating and tells me you're not trustworthy.

Dale Carnegie does a good job of teaching how to get along with people. I was
skeptical at first but he's got some good stuff.

~~~
tamle
Hey Pawn - did that person think, "oh you just need to go build it and
everything will be fine?"

If so, I completely understand why it didn't get past round 1.

Speaking of video games - play anything good lately?

~~~
pawn
Yeah, he had it in his mind that someone could build it in a few weeks and
walk away, and he'd be set from that point forward.

On the videogames question, I've actually been working on creating an xbox
live indie game and expect to be done in a few weeks. So, I haven't been
gaming much lately, been focusing pretty hard on trying to wrap up. I did
download the free zelda game for 3ds and had fun with it for an hour.

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glimcat
Someone who would have made a good tech person, but is devoted to a different
domain area.

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RealGeek
Money

