I think all these "learn to code" messages to MBAs get it wrong. It should be "learn to think like a developer". An MBA should be able to determine the screens his software might display (thereby specifying the functionality and, loosely, the UI), then build a prototype in powerpoint if he must (heaven forbid)!

Technical cofounders: if an MBA can't even build a clickable prototype in his native language of PPT to sell you on his idea, run. Not because he is technically incompetent, but because he is an incompetent salesman.

But, more to the point, the concept that all you need is business acumen (MBA founder) and technical acumen (technical founder) is unbelievably wrongheaded. You need domain expertise. If you don't have it, you're probably working on something any bunch of monkeys could make, MBA-type or technical-type included.

Don't skip the part of the pitch where you have to say "why this management team can successfully execute this idea." That's what the investors say they look at, remember?

The question I ask myself is why would you want a non-technical founder to learn to code if they will never write production code? The encoded message in most of the replies fall in to a few categories: 1) to understand the technical feasibility of their vision and 2) as a way of showing initiative.

#2 is what code jockeys want to see and the natural way for a coder to measure initiative is in lines of code. What non-technical founders don't seem to realize is that you can begin building the product without writing code: - Make a landing page. - Do A/B testing on marketing and company names. - Talk with customers. (this is huge) - Weigh the pros and cons of different business models. - Tied in very closely with the above but plan features. - Do everything BUT the code.

In other words, execute.

I never see posts on HN from the perspective of "I'm a technical founder with an idea and a product, and I need a non-technical co-founder who can pitch, market and sell it".

Thanks Alex. I gave up after trying to find someone magical for 2 months and I now have a demo site with a fake back-end. Slogging through Ruby on Rails and I realized this is really fun and not very different from solving puzzles.

Great deck. You are being generous with the one green stick dude.

This is a small thing, but its huge for me. As a technical guy, seeing that the entrepreneur has actually tried to code gives me the re-assurance that they'll actually appreciate my contributions when I come on and not just think that throwing instructions over the wall for me to build will even be remotely okay.

For example, I want a guy that knows that I'm using a nosql datastore and why, even if they can't write a query. Someone smart enough to grok things enough that it'll be tough to bullshit them unless you're skilled at it (bullshitting). That way, they'll have some shot of having things continue to run okay if I get hit by a bus or am otherwise unavailable for some period of time.

> Co-founders are looking for competence and traction

You could boil it down to this and scratch the "technical" in the title.

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I sat awkwardly around for a year and courted two technical co-founders..the first left to take his dream job with one of the valley hottest start ups. The other decided his own project took precedence, for good measure..its a good one.

But there I sat. Idea fleshed out..and I was ready ready to sell it.

I finally finally took option 2. I understand code and can manipulate wordpress enough to get by, but it certainly isn't my strength. I searched forums and reached out the top commenters and contributors of one in particular. Out of the 3 folks I connected with 1 was a fit. In four hours, he had the previously crafted code live on the net for us to refine.

I plan to be to market in a couple months and could not be happier. I enjoy paying my developer exactly what he wants and look forward to making him a partner sooner than later, if he wants.

The proof is in the pudding.

My vote is for the learn to code approach.

I often hear that non-technical founders have a hard time finding hackers and the hackers have a hard time finding a good sales/marketing co-founder. I think these two groups just live in different circles. The middle of the venn diagram is where both groups need to be to meet. Just get out there and go to events not-geared toward your tech/non-tech skills. Most people aren't comfortable being uncomfortable but that's what you need to do to grow (and meet people outside your current orbit).

I'm apparently the green guy. Yay. I still lean towards someone who's got a good sense of the technology. Someone that labels themselves as non-technical has already missed the point. I love learning business, there's nothing I don't want to learn about running a company. I think any founder should feel the same way, especially about the technology. Learn to code or at least learn to read the code.

Reading these comments I am reminded a thought i had sometime ago. It was that in a not so far future computer languages may well but so easy that they would be taught to everyone, at school, along mathematics and French.

Working with python recently I think it could be the closest to that aim. I have a friend who taught python to his 13yo boy, i plan to do the same with mine.

I'm a non-technical founder but I decided to teach myself PHP (via CodeIgniter), jQuery, CSS3, how to play with LESS CSS, Amazon S3, source control and countless other small things.

What I learned from using 'race to the bottom' oDeskers is that if you're going to be a non-technical co-founder, you better at least be sure what it is you're asking for.

Why isn't there kind of a "dating site" for this? Ie, take me as an example: I am in Sweden, am technical, and am interested in meeting a business co-founder with whom I can get to work on an e-learning startup (btw, if anyone is out there, get in touch).

Someone should create a site with that kind of granularity.

(Yay, HN posting cherry lost!)

If you can't find a technical co-founder, you gotta narrow your business idea to something that doesn't have a huge technical focus. Something like DailyCandy... Start a newsletter, build a mailing list, build the content, talk to advertisers, and outsource the HTML and design. No need for technical co-founder.

Great slides. This really resonates with the experience I've had recently too. I'm a grad student doing a dual-degree MS in CS as well as MBA. A lot of MBAs don't really "get it" when I talk to them. I'll be sure to pass this along. Thanks Alex.

Does the reverse (finding a business cofounder) also apply? What resources do you recommend a technical person gather (beyond things like Rework, which I grok, and Four Steps to the Epiphany, which I need to reread and try to grok)?

Are many non-technical people here here looking for a technical co-founder?

Awesome slides. I think this is one of the hardest parts to launching something. It's hard to find someone that is aligned with you as well as someone who you can trust enough to start a company with.

Fellow Penn student, I was there for Tisch's talk--well done. I agree entirely. Build, build, build. And if that's not possible: learn, learn, learn.

I'm not looking for a technical co-founder. I'm not even planning on starting a company per se. I am looking to try to figure out where to start with creating a "game" (aka simulation) to more effectively share what I know about getting well. So far, I remain stuck (though that's partly because getting well continues to take up a lot of my time and energy).

:-/

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