Having a Technical Co-Founder is Overrated
One of the things that you will hear most if you are starting a company or raising money is that you “need a technical co-founder”. This has been repeated so often that it has become accepted as common fact and become immune to challenge.
The reality is that there can be several good reasons why you don’t need a technical co-founder and that having one can actually make business worse.
What follows are three reasons why you don’t need a technical co-founder to make your business succeed.
You Can Hire The Talent
The number one reason you will hear people say that you need a technical co-founder is because they think you cannot manage the technology properly. Although this can sometimes be true, it is generally unfounded.
Whatever the technical aspect is or whatever product or service you are building, you can find and hire the talent. If you need an architect-level software engineer, then go find one. But don’t fall into the lie that you have to bring your technical talent on as co-founders in order to build your company.
Just because somebody has a technical co-founder doesn’t mean they understand technology or the solution that they are building.
I have seen companies with good ideas and good market opportunity bring on technical co-founders, resulting in terrible results. Think of it this way, would you rather have a technical co-founder who is terrible with software or a technical employee who knows software engineering inside and out? You want the latter.
Not All Companies are Technical
Your company may not be a software or tech start-up, and that’s fantastic. You might leverage some software or need a basic solution built, but unless you are building a piece of revolutionary software that nobody else has built before, you’re probably OK using offshore talent from India or young software engineers.
Everybody thinks their software is special, unique, and one-of-a-kind. But, the reality is that most software is the same and to a software engineer, consultant, or experienced technologist, the solutions are oftentimes not distinguishable from one another.
When I consulted with large $1B+ revenue companies, one of the things that surprised me was how many of the projects were the same. For example, if you are building a platform that allows people to create a profile, sign in, and set user preferences, then you are probably building the exact same thing that a handful of other companies have already built. Yes, your solution is “different”, but is it really?
Save Your Equity
I hear this line all the time, “you need to give away equity in order to incentivize people”. Really? If that’s what it takes to get your employees motivated, then you have the wrong people and should fire them.
Incentives matter, absolutely and without doubt. But you do not need to give somebody a large chunk of your company to get them working 60–80 hour weeks. What gets people to work those long hours is a wonderful opportunity to change the world, other great people, and a mission behind your company.
Maintaining your equity for what really matters most should be a top priority for you. The ideal is to keep 100% of the equity in your company because it’s your company. If you can’t do that and need to raise money from venture capitalists, prepare to give away equity in exchange for their dollars.
That is a reasonable scenario to give away equity, though. If you have already split your company 50/50 with a technical co-founder and still need to raise money, well now you can see your equity start dwindling away.
Cut Through The Noise, Start Today
Having a technical co-founder can be helpful and a good thing, but not necessarily.
You should spend the time talking with people who have gone these ropes before you and get their feedback as data points. If you and a friend came up with your idea together, then maybe it makes sense to split it 50/50.
Right now I have a Fintech company that my partner and I founded because we complemented each other very well. This makes sense. But, don’t go looking for a technical co-founder if that’s what you think you need. Odds are you can probably hire that person or that you don’t truly need a technical co-founder.
Lastly, you are going to be challenged on this point often, especially if you are looking to raise money from VCs. Don’t be rude, but have the courage to push back and ask others why having a technical co-founder is “required”. You may receive good feedback, but you might also be hearing something that is just being repeated because nobody has taken the time to really question it.
Do what’s best for your company, create a brilliant product or service, and serve people. Always remember to serve people and put value, honesty, and customer service at the middle of everything you do.
