To all non-technical founders: what do you need ?
Hi all!
I'd like to know a bit more about how you guys create a product without technical background.
When you have an idea, what do you create first (landing page, emails list, MVP...) ?
Then how do you manage to do it (do you learn to do it yourself, ask someone else, find a 3rd party to hack this problem, pay a service...) ?
And finally what do you need the most to launch it ? Or what could help you to start up ?
PS: I'm a developer and curious how you guys do it
I do most of the things by myself :
I would not need help to launch my projects (they are defined by what i'm able to do by myself), but if my technical limitations were lower there are some projects on my "Someday/maybe" list which priority level would become higher.
I take it as an opportunity (no code, focus on validation) but it's sometimes frustrating.
I would work on different kind of projects.
For example, as a very simple step I'd love to learn how to create a way for users to login to a personal space on my project and each have a different dashboard (like https://maker.rocks/).
I know it might sound very easy for a developer.
But I tried learning Laravel and couldn't go far. That's another story.
Thanks for the tools - didn't know most of them.
What will you do for maker.rocks ? Will you learn to code, find someone or move to another project ?
What about you find a very attractive idea but it requires a lot of codes: will you still try to check if it can works ?
Carrd is great value. There is a black friday coupon available on @ajlkn 's twitter.
Paperform is not well known, but it's really/really good (same for the team behind).
I'm learning. I don't find it easy to collaborate remotely and find people that I can work with (time zones, level of commitment, etc), but I know it could be a way to make progress and contribute to other people's projects.
If I can validate the idea without code, yes.
If I can't, I move to another idea.
My "role" in a team is to validate ideas, prototype quickly. I focus on what I'm able to do.
If I need to learn a bit of code to create another kind of prototypes, I will.
I create the below (all except 3,4 are non-technical).
Do you do 3 and 4 yourself ?
Yes
I became a developer 3 years ago after i paid another dev $10k to create an app for me.
When i went through this process of attempting to create a product - the first thing i did was "mostly think". -
& I think this is where a lot of non tech founders get stuck at.. You ponder if the tech is easy to build, if it will be expensive, How long it will take, etc.. Which in my mind are all the wrong things to think about..
Its much better to think, will this be useful, will it help people, solve problems etc..
So, after i thought on it. I decided to post a listing onto some freelance sites, which is where i met a dev.
It wasn't until half way through the project that i realized i was paying somebody to build something that NOBODY WOULD WANT! Tough pill to swallow, but ultimately worth it.
So to sum it up.. Id say advice and guidance are what a lot of non tech people need when they're pursuing a tech based startup
Nice journey :)
Where do you get technical advice ?
Honestly, there are a ton of Youtubers who give awesome advice and make videos that help beginners out. I used Youtube and Udemy a lot!
A technical partner that is experienced and has the dedicated time is what non-technical founders need. This is one of the most crucial steps in the entire equation in order to ensure that execution of the idea at hand is able to be done the right way.
When an idea arises, a landing page is going to be the top priority in order to actually validate the idea and begin to garner attention/subscribers.
Second, begin building the MVP (wireframes come prior). Once you have an MVP that works, you are able to test a small segment of your subscribers and depending on what the mobile app sets out to do, a singular city first for launch. From that point on, it is nothing but growth, funding and scaling in general.
So you are saying a technical partner is mandatory for anyone launching a startup ? And if you don't have one, you need to find someone who can do it ?
If your own personal technical knowledge is limited to the point where you cannot code an MVP, then yes, you need a technical partner. If you do not get a technical partner, you could certainly hire an agency to develop the MVP and then the subsequent mobile application itself that is refined. However, it is possible to do without a technical partner; the probability of you succeeding on a statstical level simply decreases.