Is being a tech founder a pointless exercise?
Let's face it, when you're a tech-head, marketing seems impossible. At least, it is for me. It's not that I probably couldn't do it, but it's like visiting the dentist for a wisdom tooth extraction every day. It's just not for me.
In all the successful startups I've been involved with, the idea was created by a marketer/sales professional who attracted tech talent. Because the ideas person was passionate about the idea, it was pushed forward.
In all the startups I've created or been involved with where a coder had the idea, the product has gone nowhere and attracting marketing talent has proven impossible. Tech people are bad at selling their product, so getting buy in is difficult.
Of course, there are exceptions, but they seem to be very few and far between.
So, is it pointless being a tech founder? Are you a tech co-founder who did it on your own?
Do you think that tech people are maybe less prone to take the necessary competent people in?
Suppose you're an idea / marketing person. Eventually you might need a tech person to materialize the MVP and have no issue accepting that.
Now suppose you're a tech person who had an idea and put it into practice. How long will it take until you realize you can't do everything and ask help instead of doing the marketing on your own?
I am just speculating here, but honestly, since our job as software engineers is to figure out how to solve a problem, I think we are very prone to try DIYing everything which might not be a good business call. Plus, after idea and implementation it might be difficult to accept sharing the company too. We need to learn to be less precious with our brain child, as most startups fail.
I think that's the key though, 'taking someone else in' which is kind of my point. Personally, I love to partner up with people who are passionate about what they do. What I haven't found in my personal endeavors, is actually finding the other person, but I know I'm not a good pitcher, so probably fail to garner any excitement!
I took a whole year before I started onboarding new team members. It's not easy!
This definitely hit home, great points.
I don't know if I agree with this. The massively successful tech companies I know were mostly engineer-founder/led (PayPal, Stripe, Shopify, Affirm, Google). As for whether these are exceptions or not, I'm sure the hit rate of engineer-founded companies is a little lower cause engineers tend to over-fixate on building product vs solving problems. But frankly, the hit rate on startups in general is so low (engineer led or not), that I doubt the delta between engineering led companies vs "business led" is material at all.
Yeah, there is certainly instances of developer/engineer founders, but in probably all the cases you mention, they were not alone, or had substantial backers? I guess I'm asking from an indie perspective - can an indie dev go it alone?
I think even within those big companies, if you rewind to the right point in time, there was a developer or two, noone else, and no money. Their intent may have been to go the VC route, but the VCs were not there from day one.Look at Shopify for example. The company got their first VC round five years into their existence. And while they had friends/family money, that only came a year or two in their journey.
Great point, thanks! Perseverance is probably key then, and fake it 'till you make it!
Of my friends who started businesses, most of the non-technical ones who started tech businesses did poorly, but several did okay with brick-and-mortar businesses and some taught themselves enough to become semi-technical or in two cases very technical and then did well. They were a big part of why I got into coding mid career.
I wouldn't make "tech-head" part of your identity. It's just one skill-set you have. You can always add new skills to compliment it.
I can see that happening, there is little point starting a business you can't follow through with. Do you think, if they hired or partnered with tech talent, they would have been more successful?
Very interesting that the ones who became technical became successful, proves someway that you need to have both skill-sets, or both kinds of people?
Some of my non-technical friends who did non-tech businesses did well, though! My buddy and his wife ran a successful pie shop for years. I also used to run / co-partner a brick and mortar business myself from 2006-2010 with virtually no programming abilities at all.
Hired, no. Partnered with, maybe.
There are tons of exceptions and I would say it's pretty hard to create a 'rule' around this, just because the number of exceptions is limitless. Eric Yuan was VP Engineering at Webex before founding Zoom. He's doing ok.
Yeah, he’s certainly doing Ok! Do you think a difference is venture capital vs bootstrapping? I’m more thinking Indie hacker than investment funded, because then you can just hire the people you need.
I don't think so. I agree with you I also don't like marketing or sales but at the end of the day you either try to get someone to help that knows what they're doing or do it yourself.
It's hard for sure but not impossible. I've started with coding, then picked up product/analytics, then design and now marketing over time, granted I am def the strongest at the first as it's always been my home base but it's possible to get somewhere in all the areas as well.
A lot of YCombinator startups tho are mostly engineers and I remember reading that they prefer to invest in that kind of startup (If I find the article I will share it, so for now take with grain of salt)
Yeah, I think if you get investment or are part of an incubator, you will have a natural advantage to move forward. I don't think tech people can't run businesses (I do myself), I'm more pondering the fact of being an indie developer trying to go it alone or attract the right partnerships, of which I have failed on many occasions!
Yeah like I said it's tough but you can pick things up alone or ideally you already have existing partnerships with people you know that can help you out.
For example I have a good friend that helps with design work here and there when I need something that I can't do myself or if it just needs to look better than average which is what I can do haha
In return I help some with tech architecture questions as he's running his own company, so it's a give and take kinda thing
I get what you're saying
I think in the IT circles the developer is put too high
But even with your story it's not nessesserly the salesperson
With tech companies, it is said to work better teaching developers to sell than salesman the technical stuff they should be seeling
For bigger companies, the number one quality is around people skills, which developers less commonly hold. Cause communication with everyone becomes key in and out of the company - sales, investors, recruiting, biz dev...
developers often try to avoid these things
I think if you look for stats it might be that 1-3 person companies have more success with developers
and bigger companies with others.
if you have the tech founder consider the tech stuff is <=30% of the venture, and that his priorities should be the whole venture, not just the tech stuff it could work.
But there is a lot to learn to successfully be the lead role of the venture
Who teaches the developer to sell if they are the only one home? :D
I personally do try avoid it, and look for someone who can. I'm a firm believer in do what you do best, because that shines through to the customer. When I tried sales in a previous job, I hated it so much I actively avoided it!
Isn't it about the way and the focus?
Do you think the thing you have will help someone? what is a good way to let that someone know about it?...
When you're a founder it should be easier
Who are a group of people you think you can help and would enjoy spending time with? (hopefully, you can find a group that isn't eng. cause you have other interests...)
What do they find painful/discomfort.. what do you think you can make 10 times better for them which would be easy&fun for you?
Now ~"selling"~ letting them know about it and helping them use it should be easy and fun, shouldn't it?..