Ask HN: What to do when you have no tech founder?
Please, recommend some tools for building a web app to someone who has no technical skills and got no tech co-founder, or budget to hire one.
28 comments
I get requests to be tech co-founder from time to time.
To the point I'm beta testing a canned explanation of why programmers aren't interested if you don't have funding raised.
https://www.git-pull.com/consulting/will-i-work-for-equity-o...
If you can't raise funding, or self-fund, what do you bring to the table at that stage other than talk?
The issue is, I already have ideas and a mile-long backlog. When I work by myself, I retain the intellectual property and can continue to expand and improve upon it.
I have the chance to be financially independent and have control of my own life, that is my goal. When you ask me to be your partner, you want me to take on responsibilities and give up my prized autonomy, and transfer all the byproduct to you.
What are you going to do to pull me away from potential revenue streams, remote work opportunities, my own startup, and so on?
There are people out there with bad ideas, no track record, that still manage to raise funds by being charismatic. How committed can a prospective co-founder be if they're not securing seed funding, getting family pitch in, self-funding, etc?
To the point I'm beta testing a canned explanation of why programmers aren't interested if you don't have funding raised.
https://www.git-pull.com/consulting/will-i-work-for-equity-o...
If you can't raise funding, or self-fund, what do you bring to the table at that stage other than talk?
The issue is, I already have ideas and a mile-long backlog. When I work by myself, I retain the intellectual property and can continue to expand and improve upon it.
I have the chance to be financially independent and have control of my own life, that is my goal. When you ask me to be your partner, you want me to take on responsibilities and give up my prized autonomy, and transfer all the byproduct to you.
What are you going to do to pull me away from potential revenue streams, remote work opportunities, my own startup, and so on?
There are people out there with bad ideas, no track record, that still manage to raise funds by being charismatic. How committed can a prospective co-founder be if they're not securing seed funding, getting family pitch in, self-funding, etc?
This was a great read. I indeed agree with most you are saying and that is why I do not want to make people work for equity. What if at the end it is worth nothing. That is why I was wondering if there is a way for me to learn something basic, to get things going before I do something else. Any advice on courses or simple instruments?
This was a good read. I think I’ll create a github based version allowing for pull requests.
Would it be ok to use some of the text (with credit of course)?
If not, would you be interested in contributing once I have it set up?
Would it be ok to use some of the text (with credit of course)?
If not, would you be interested in contributing once I have it set up?
People may think this is harsh, but there's a lot of truth to this. These are great questions!
"Web app" is pretty broad spectrum, from things you can do manually (or with very little learning) with an online form tool, to "we have 20 programmers working on this for a year."
The simpler the idea, or at least the simpler the first iteration, the faster you'll be able to learn the necessary skills. You can learn them, it's just a question of how important it is that you do, and how much you have to learn.
So maybe start with "what's the simplest thing I can build, and how can I prototype it". Something like airtables might allow you to prototype easily, though perhaps not go live.
The simpler the idea, or at least the simpler the first iteration, the faster you'll be able to learn the necessary skills. You can learn them, it's just a question of how important it is that you do, and how much you have to learn.
So maybe start with "what's the simplest thing I can build, and how can I prototype it". Something like airtables might allow you to prototype easily, though perhaps not go live.
I think this is the most reasonable advice. Zero Cater (or something similar) supposedly ran their business for quite a while off of spreadsheets, for example.
I agree this is the most reasonable advice. I have never heard of Zero Cater, will make a research. Thank you!
This is great advice. It is encouraging. Thank you.
Do you have friends who work in Technology? If so, I would start there and inquire. If not, before you go spend money on consultants who will drive your cost up, try building a network of technologists, programmers, and computer scientists. If you can, try to learn about the technology involved in building the product from them. Of course, this could be topical, but ultimately should help you in understanding the effort and consequently the cost to build what you want. Ideally this spike should reveal the tools we use, and hopefully, any intermediate applications of them (squarespace, wix, etc) to full fledged web frameworks (django, rails, etc).
There are SO many things you can do before you need any technical skills
* Research the problem you are trying to solve, read and analyse ridiculous numbers of forum threads on what people are complaining about, save their words, phrases and deeply learn about who needs what you want to make
* Map out the smallest solution, it might be a method, or a checklist, or a blog post. This is just research and writing, build your audience list
* Draw up the first version of what technology you would like to create on paper, every screen. Create clickable prototypes, use Balsamiq or inVision
* Show it to people, get feedback. Don't be scared to tell people what your idea is. Make it better, clearer.
* Work with designers to mock up some example screens, consider the branding and the copy
* Get a wait-list, pre-orders, get people excited, Write about what you are building
* Consider building a v1 with existing tools like Bubble or even WordPress and plugins, or connecting tools with Zapier.
After that you will have got further than most ever do with their projects. If you have a validated product, with paying customers - you can then hire the development skill you need.
* Research the problem you are trying to solve, read and analyse ridiculous numbers of forum threads on what people are complaining about, save their words, phrases and deeply learn about who needs what you want to make
* Map out the smallest solution, it might be a method, or a checklist, or a blog post. This is just research and writing, build your audience list
* Draw up the first version of what technology you would like to create on paper, every screen. Create clickable prototypes, use Balsamiq or inVision
* Show it to people, get feedback. Don't be scared to tell people what your idea is. Make it better, clearer.
* Work with designers to mock up some example screens, consider the branding and the copy
* Get a wait-list, pre-orders, get people excited, Write about what you are building
* Consider building a v1 with existing tools like Bubble or even WordPress and plugins, or connecting tools with Zapier.
After that you will have got further than most ever do with their projects. If you have a validated product, with paying customers - you can then hire the development skill you need.
No, this is not going to happen. Find someone you can trust and that will compliment you in areas where you lack knowledge and experience. In other words, find a co-founder that will handle all tech stuff. Offer him equity instead of money. Find someone that will be passionate about the idea as much as you are.
Ask your friends and acquaintances for recommendations. Go to a tech/business meetup and meet people.
This is not going to be a google search "how to build an app". Sorry.
Ask your friends and acquaintances for recommendations. Go to a tech/business meetup and meet people.
This is not going to be a google search "how to build an app". Sorry.
Thank you for bold feedback. I heard about tools that help you build apps even if you don't have technical skills. They are supposed to help at least to get something out there. But I was wondering what they are and if anybody tried them.
Just to clarify, I wasn't trying to stop you from doing your app or starting your own business or what is your trying to achieve. I respect and admire that.
I think that this is not the right strategy to apply.
I think that this is not the right strategy to apply.
Yes, I understand. I appreciate your opinion and boldness.
You’d get much better feedback if you came up with a list of such apps and asked for user experiences. Now you just sound lazy, asking others to do the work for you.
That is interesting. Thank you.
I have two answers:
1.) Fuck being technical. Become a CEO.
This is the more simple of the two and it relies upon a really horrible truth. Getting your product built is nothing. I'd like to say it's only half the battle, but that does the battle a disservice. At the end of the day, the difference will be whether or not you, as CEO, can hustle your way to either profitability or positive cash flow. (Profitability is better, but it doesn't sound like you're at any risk of becoming profitable any time soon.)
Today, your biggest issue is that you need a technical product built. When you get the product built, you'll replace that issue with another stack of big issues, many of which are way more ambiguous than this one.
So, go out there and jfgid (just fucking get it done), and hold on tight.
2.) Become technical.
Want to hear another secret? I'm very technical, but I can't think of one single thing I know that an intelligent, driven person couldn't figure out in a weekend. The difference between me and you is that I've just invested more time into learning how to do these things. There aren't any magic powers involved in being technical. For me, it's really just stubbornness.
Find a tutorial. Michael Hartl's Rails tutorial is quite good as it shows everything from version control through unit tests and everything in between. Go through that tutorial and then start hacking on your ideas. The first version you put out will be really bad, and in a few years, you'll be embarrassed by it. But keep going and if you enjoy the slog, you will learn.
I say this with absolute certainty. If you work hard and put in the hours, you can be your own technical founder.
JFGID.
1.) Fuck being technical. Become a CEO.
This is the more simple of the two and it relies upon a really horrible truth. Getting your product built is nothing. I'd like to say it's only half the battle, but that does the battle a disservice. At the end of the day, the difference will be whether or not you, as CEO, can hustle your way to either profitability or positive cash flow. (Profitability is better, but it doesn't sound like you're at any risk of becoming profitable any time soon.)
Today, your biggest issue is that you need a technical product built. When you get the product built, you'll replace that issue with another stack of big issues, many of which are way more ambiguous than this one.
So, go out there and jfgid (just fucking get it done), and hold on tight.
2.) Become technical.
Want to hear another secret? I'm very technical, but I can't think of one single thing I know that an intelligent, driven person couldn't figure out in a weekend. The difference between me and you is that I've just invested more time into learning how to do these things. There aren't any magic powers involved in being technical. For me, it's really just stubbornness.
Find a tutorial. Michael Hartl's Rails tutorial is quite good as it shows everything from version control through unit tests and everything in between. Go through that tutorial and then start hacking on your ideas. The first version you put out will be really bad, and in a few years, you'll be embarrassed by it. But keep going and if you enjoy the slog, you will learn.
I say this with absolute certainty. If you work hard and put in the hours, you can be your own technical founder.
JFGID.
I love this. You know I really would like to learn some coding, so I think I would like to go with number two. Yet, I agree that ultimately it goes to JFGID.
One solution to having no tech skills is to obtain them. The webapp is important, it probably isn't urgent. To the degree it is urgent, starting now is better than hoping for an unlikely event.
The tools needed to build a web app are HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Building something yourself that shows your idea also shows other people that you are serious enough about the project to invest in the hard critical work and do whatever it takes.
Good luck.
The tools needed to build a web app are HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Building something yourself that shows your idea also shows other people that you are serious enough about the project to invest in the hard critical work and do whatever it takes.
Good luck.
Thank you.
y, you aren't really going to find a tool to build it for you.
Depending on what it is you might be able to build an early version putting together a basic website and some existing tools and manual steps that you perform behind the scenes till your idea is validated.
You're going to need a technical co-founder.
Or if you're interested learn how to develop one on your own.
I'd recommend Rails or Laravel as the framework.
If you already know html, css and javascript that's a good start.
From there you can go to
https://gorails.com/
or
https://laracasts.com/
That's a long slow road to build something, but if you're interested in it and spend a year or two learning it. You can be your own technical co-founder on this project and on the next one. Or at least have a better understanding of the technical side of things.
Good luck.
Depending on what it is you might be able to build an early version putting together a basic website and some existing tools and manual steps that you perform behind the scenes till your idea is validated.
You're going to need a technical co-founder.
Or if you're interested learn how to develop one on your own.
I'd recommend Rails or Laravel as the framework.
If you already know html, css and javascript that's a good start.
From there you can go to
https://gorails.com/
or
https://laracasts.com/
That's a long slow road to build something, but if you're interested in it and spend a year or two learning it. You can be your own technical co-founder on this project and on the next one. Or at least have a better understanding of the technical side of things.
Good luck.
Learn to code and become the CTO you wish you had.
There's plenty of advice in the comments about learning to code. I don't want to assume that you want to become technical. If that is the case, I'd consider looking at bubble.is, and other 'point and click' visual software builders.
There's plenty of advice in the comments about learning to code. I don't want to assume that you want to become technical. If that is the case, I'd consider looking at bubble.is, and other 'point and click' visual software builders.
That is a hard one, I would suggest trying to find a programmer that you trust that would even be willing to meet every week or few weeks to spend a good chunk of time with you on strategy and technical stuff. Maybe that would be open to some smaller equity arrangement with the agreement of a co-founder level if the product / service takes off. It can be very difficult to navigate the technical waters / get ripped off if you don't have a basis for how complex or difficult various tasks are.
even with all the resources available today you're gonna spend six month minimum learning the basics, self learning is not cheap if you factor in cost-opportunity.
splitting equity either with a tech or financial founder seems much more attainable.
splitting equity either with a tech or financial founder seems much more attainable.
Yea, I was indeed thinking that could be the best idea, yet I read an article (somebody commented in this thread) and made me re-think this idea. But that you for the comment.
I might be interested in helping you build it, my contact is in my profile.