Thanks very much for your article. As a non-technical co-founder I can very much relate to what you say. It can be very overwhelming thinking that your idea could go no where without a CTO. Me and my co-founder started our startup without technical help.
Initially we tried to get a web agency to build us a website. We got prices from $3,000 to $160,000 for the same project. This freeked us out and after getting in touch with more than 50 agencies we decided to go with one in Canada for about $65,000. Since we did not have the cash we started a T-shirt business so we could pay the agency. By the way, I had also started learning HTML, CSS and a bit of Ruby on Rails.
The web agency started with our branding first and just before they were done I learnt that it would not be a good idea if we were handed over a full developed website since I was a newbie to coding and also to run two businesses at the same time. So we stopped the T-shirt business and pulled the plug on the web agency.
We then validated our idea even further using Unbounce and talking to potential customers. We have taken our learning and now we are creating a prototype using Wordpress. I created all the mockups using Uxpin and we have outsourced the Wordpress project to a talented freelancer in the Phillipines. The nice thing about Wordpress is that you could get companies like WP Engine and Flywheel to host it for you so you don’t have to worry about security and backups. Wordpress is not that difficult to manage once you play around for a short time.
We want this prototype to take us to “product market-fit” and then we will look for passionate technical people to join us either as a CTO or an employee. All I am trying to say here is what Joel says is absolutley true. As a non-technical person or team you CAN start your business. But before you worry about finding technical people validate your idea by talking to your potential customers. Everything should start from customers. Also do not be afraid of learning a bit of coding, codes don’t bite and technical people are not rocket scientists, they are just people who found a passion in coding and building digital products.
If you cannot code at all and do not know the difference between CSS and apples, then as Joel mentioned here you will not be able to hire the right people for the job later. You have to be able to communicate with technical people and that means knowing their language, otherwise you will not be taken seriously or you will be cheated.
