

What Kinds of Jobs Exist At Startups for Non-Technical People? - jasonshen
http://www.jasonshen.com/2010/what-kinds-of-jobs-exist-at-startups-for-non-technical-people/

======
old-gregg
Sales! Oh my god we'd kill for a great sales person. In our case we deliver
_exactly_ what so many of our clients were looking for and could not find [see
my profile], simply because selling yourself properly, standing out of the
crowd, separating signal from noise in your own sales pitch is ha-a-a-a-ard.

------
stevederico
My question is when do startups begin to add Product Managers?

From my experience in the early stages the company hires as many engineers as
possible, esp after funding.

Should PMs have to make a case for their position? Do founders mostly act in
this role?

All things considered, it I understand it varies from startup to startup, I am
just trying to understand my best place as a PM in the startup community.

PS- Another Great Article by Jason- [http://www.jasonshen.com/2010/things-ive-
learned-in-three-we...](http://www.jasonshen.com/2010/things-ive-learned-in-
three-weeks-at-a-startup/)

~~~
jasonshen
I think most early-stage startups have founders driving the product
development. Most product manager positions I've seen on job board are for
larger, more established companies - often it's like "Product Manager for
Mobile" or "Product Manager - Search" so specific pieces of the product. I'd
also imagine that a lot of PM's come from inside the company.

------
lucasvo
You mention product managers here, while I certainly agree with you that this
isn't a technical job per se, most job ads mention a CS-related degree as a
requirement. I'm always looking at PM positions in the valley, but I can
hardly find a job opening that does not require a BA in CS.

What would you suggest to do as a non-technical person trying to get into PM?
Could anyone share a story/some tipps here?

~~~
jasonshen
Looking at some of the comments you've made on HN its seems like you're not
totally tech-ignorant. What do you do now? I would say that if you don't work
at a startup now, join one where it's small enough that you can actually talk
to/interact with developers. Get experience communicating things to them and
understand the development process - then try to make the leap within your
firm or perhaps to a different firm as a PM.

------
sabj
While there is always room to create your own role depending on what you bring
to the table, in my existential struggles on this topic recently I have come
to the conclusion that there isn't really a very satisfying role to be had
unless you're able to really fill a niche well, or have excellent timing.

People for non-technical roles for startups seem to be much more fungible --
still hard to find great people, but a much larger pool to search from than
just for developers.

------
alabut
So would you consider designers as non-technical people, in a similar role as
product managers? Or take the Steve Blank view and lump them in with engineers
as the "solution team"?

~~~
jasonshen
I was not sure what to say about designers. I had considered putting them with
even a bigger caveat than with product managers, but decided that no -
designers that are worth their salt are highly technical. They don't
necessarily BUILD FEATURES but they are doing things that require advanced
technical skills.

------
aresant
I would add to his definition of BizDev:

\- Responsible for assisting in money raising rounds.

\- Finding potential buyers / aquirers.

\- Working with CEO (if not the CEO) to define hard line business objectives.

------
nightlifelover
Secretary

------
ancornwell
What people will say: read the comments in this section. Reality: Mail room.

~~~
lacker
Startups don't usually have mail room jobs.

~~~
ancornwell
Precisely.

