

Business-Oriented Founders' Dilemma on acquiring talents - GuruDL

Hello HN,<p>First off, while reading YC's Library I came across an article written by PG on the business-oriented founders' failure to hire good programmers which can ultimately leads to the steep slope of a startup. He also described that business founders' can't recognize good programmers because of the lack of knowledge on coding or the technical expertise required to speak same language. Then, the point stopped right there, without a probable solution on what business founder can do if they're in a situation described.<p>I'm that business founder, and it's proven hard to find the best programmers as I've learned it the hard way. Although, I refuse to believe that's what killed or is going to kill brilliant ideas that may someday grew to be the next google. I certainly don't want to ditch my idea simply because failure to hire good programmers.<p>So in my view, business founders can;<p>1. Go take classes and learn programming, and DIY on the product - This can take a while depending on how fast the business guy learns something completely out of his norm. The time spent on learning something completely new should be spent on building a better business model, think about how the product can respond to user’s needs, and find ways to cut into the market to gain market share, etc.<p>2. Find a mediocre programmer and start working on the half-baked product and hopes that later down the path the best programmers can see the potential of the product and jump on board – The sugar-coated-topped-with-a-cherry thinking is that the product would probably suck, but at least the product can start gaining exposure. Users like what they see and are willing to wait for the fully developed product to arrive. On the other hand, users may very well see the “suck-ness” of the half-baked product and bail within 3 seconds.<p>3. Find a technical co-founder that excels at programming but is looking for a business counterpart so he/she can concentrate on programming while the other can focus on the business – Intriguing, but hard to find. Available talent pools are swarmed with programmers that do mediocre coding (or dumb) and just want an easy way out. Rarely do we see a passionate programmer geek that is ambitious enough to embark on a journey with a few obstacle and fails to see the potential of a great business model.<p>4. Ditch the internet startup and start a business without the need of technical expertise – I certainly refuse to take this route, and I don’t think a determined and successful entrepreneur would ever ditch the business they’ve worked their butts off just because of this one dilemma. But what can we do?<p>I want to ask the successful business oriented startups that got through this phase.<p>What’s your take?<p>Which route do you guys see more viable? 
Are there any other suggestions other than the ones listed above? If business founders are stuck in this problem, what can they do? Where and how can we effectively tap in to acquire needed technical counterpart?<p>Thanks HN,
GuruDL
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GuruDL
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