A technical founder is in a better position than a non-technical (business) founder when it comes to accessing the other.
If you are product oriented, you have a bevy of consultants/lawyers/ accountants that can help you commercialise (=make money from) your product more predictably. Running the business can really be handled by other easily accessible "business process experts" (ie trained/ experienced and competent employees). You are the entrepreneur because you still retain control of the "thing" that the business revolves around - the product, and the vehicle that engages everybody involved (company). For a concept oriented founder, the utility of these helpers are limited until you have a product. Finding a technical person/provider that can deliver you the technical outcomes is far less predictable than the commercialisation process of professionals, as in startups the concept is often "untried" and not validated as a "product". So to find a technical provider to this is not as obvious as the common advisory & business roles. So when it comes to finding non-technical co-founders, the challenge is really one of capital. Capital is used to pay the helpers to commercilaise the product. You have a much higher chance of success because the elements you don't have are easily found. When it comes to finding technical co-founders, the elements of what you need are not easily found. Knowing where to go for the technical aspect is a blessing. What I'm essentially getting at is, as a technical startup - you should *in theory* be able to assemble a team quickly if you have the money as you should have the product. My firm BridgeAdvisory does this. We provide the lawyers, accountants, finance people & staff at the right price, so you can commercialise the product for the least amount of capital. However, unlike a co- founder we don't take equity and rather defer/reduce our fees, or another alternative, that makes it affordable. We only do it where we believe in the business and see upside for us continuing to advise the businesses, especially in a divestment (sale)/capital raising/IPO or similar. Other firms like Pollenizer offer the same outcome for the entrepreneur - support to commercialise - with a more technical skillset and and understanding of where to go get the right helpers. The success of Spreets goes to show that where you can access this support quickly and affordably) it increases your chances of taking your product and making the business side of things work. I am not aware of any dedicated "technical entrepeneur" firms that exist where concept oriented founders can go and pluck a relevant expert. Technical entrepreneurs need to challenge professionals to provide the support needed to get things off the ground, and offer the professionals different ways to get paid and/or see upside. Otherwise you will simply get the $Hundreds per hour proposition that may make it unaffordable. If you can get good professionals on board, you now have your non-technical cofounders and you haven't given away equity in your business. Instead, you may just be deferring some very legitimate costs into a different stage of your venture. Please contact me at k...@bridgeadvisory.com.au if you would like to know what we can do to support you as the entrepreneur with our professional services & business solutions. Kurt Falkenstein On May 13, 6:51 am, Matthew Ho <matt.h...@gmail.com> wrote: > apologies for the double post, but just read this blog post now from > Elias on this exact topic: > > http://eliasbizannes.com/blog/2011/05/im-a-hustler-baby/ > > Worth reading. > > On May 13, 6:33 am, Matthew Ho <matt.h...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > I agree with this comment. > > > "most disruptive & innovative ideas & products tend to come from > > 'product minded' & 'technical focused' people, the very sort that may > > struggle to get their ideas 'incorporated' despite having all the > > technical acumen or the design skills required to make extraordinary > > products & ideas come to fruition. " > > > I think part of the problem is that business people may not have a > > good grasp of what's involved with a website/technology. They want to > > build something that is really complex, or they do not understand how > > hard/costly it is to build. Having said that though, there are some > > brilliant ideas that have come from non-technical founders. There is a > > knowledge gap that needs to be filled before anything is built. > > > On the flipside, it is also critical to have a business minded person > > involved to help understand the points of monetisation, business > > development and to ask "is there a market for this product?". > > > two ways I'd approach your problem: > > - use Steve Blank's customer development model to test your > > assumptions and market response, revise, and keep testing. > > - Attending a startup bootcamp: I haven't been before, but I think > > that's a good starting point for technical and non-technical founders. > > > Cheers, > > > Matt > > > On May 12, 11:14 pm, lucractius <lucract...@mac.com> wrote: > > > > A while ago there was some discussion on what people could do in order to > > > better approach the problem of needing a 'technical' person to help > > > validate & co found their startups. > > > > I have begun to ponder the alternative situation to this. What can > > > someone who is up to their neck in the technical aspects of their idea(s) > > > do to get a 'Non-Technical' partner on board? To keep it simple, someone > > > to do the 'business kinda stuff' while the technical person focuses on > > > what they do best. > > > > I know that while I may poses a degree of business acumen, I am more of a > > > product & hands on technical type. I can see the goal, the direction, > > > what sells & will work in the market and love immersing myself in it all, > > > but things like payroll & taxes & funding & (at least in my case being on > > > the far side of the Nullarbor plain from the more active hubs of Sydney & > > > Melbourne) being able to go to the right meetings & talk to the right > > > people, these things bleed me dry. I doubt I'm the only one forging ahead > > > on product ideas who would benefit from having a more experienced > > > 'business focused' person to help manage the intricacies of getting a > > > fledgeling corporation off the ground. > > > > Do any of the more experienced entrepreneurs have advice or thoughts to > > > share on this? I'm curious to know what people think about this > > > particular angle since the most disruptive & innovative ideas & products > > > tend to come from 'product minded' & 'technical focused' people, the very > > > sort that may struggle to get their ideas 'incorporated' despite having > > > all the technical acumen or the design skills required to make > > > extraordinary products & ideas come to fruition. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Silicon Beach Australia mailing list. Guidelines on discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/silicon-beach-australia/msg/351e183e1303508d?hl=en%3Fhl%3Den No lurkers! 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