Do I need a technical co-founder, and where can I find one?
How long will it take to launch a product?
How do I recruit and interview developers?
How do I know what programming language to build my startup’s product in?
As a technical startup founder in New York City, I get asked these questions and many like them all the time. There are a lot of smart, young, ambitious, first-time entrepreneurs without any technical background, who seem dedicated to building a tech company. I admire their ambition and their willingness to learn, so I’m always glad to help.
A large part of building a tech company is the technology. It’s very important. There is of course, a large part completely unrelated to the technology – the strategy, marketing, fundraising, recruiting, and so-forth. These are all great roles that the nontechnical founder can excel at, but I truly believe that the core of an early stage tech startup is its product, and without some semblance of knowledge surrounding the technology piece, you’ll put yourself at a severe disadvantage.
I have a technical background. A computer science education, a passion for learning and playing with new technologies, and a history of launching products quickly. As such I’d like to write a series of posts dedicated to helping nontechnical founders get up to speed on the technical issues they may be faced with in starting a company these days. Note that I say “starting” a company and not “growing and selling a company.” Unfortunately I won’t pretend to yet have had that experience, and as such I won’t get unsolicited advice about things that I’ve yet to test out myself.
Table of Contents
1. Do I need a technical co-founder?
2. How do I find the right co-founder?
3. What technology should I use to build my product?
4. How long until my prototype will be ready?
Coming soon – What should I do while I’m waiting for the product to be ready?
Every time I add a new post to this series I’ll update this page with the link.
If you’re interested in following along, or know someone who might be, you should subscribe to stay up with future posts, or follow me on twitter.