Options for non-engineers to build a startup

1 points by lighthammer 6 years ago | 3 comments

There are many stories on HN where a founder of a startup found a niche problem, created code/website, and provided a service for customers. I applaud those that can get up and running as a solo or dual founder and build a successful home/internet based business. Your stories are inspirational and make me wish I took up software engineering when I was younger.

For those of us that are not programmers, coders, engineers (all three the same?), what resources are available to us to ramp up a website with backend programming to service a niche need?

jppope 6 years ago |

So I originally came from a sales background into tech because I wanted to start a company. I told myself: "I'll just hire devs to build out the things that I will want to sell, surely I can have someone else do the thing that I'm bad at for money"... and (surprise) It didn't work (Selling Websites).

The reason it didn't work was because I needed at least a fluency with technology to be able to instruct people on how to build my thing (or to use no/low code solutions to build my thing). The tech world is a full blown culture that you need to understand. There are many ways to get the fluency... but the easiest way is actually to learn how to do programming/ development. In the least do it on a basic level so you can understand how the world works.

You might get answers about "no code" or "low code" options out there... but they will fail you for the same reason... It requires a trained mind to utilize these solutions.

The cool part is that once you are into it and you have a handle it will become easier to answer this question you asked.

lighthammer 6 years ago | |

Appreciate the response. The good news is I have the broad tech fluency, work for a large tech company as a Program Manager, past life was system admin, etc. I just don't have the literal "programming/engineer" skillset to sit down and code out frontend/backend solution. I looked at Fiverr and HireAFreelancer.com however not sure how successful those solutions are.

jppope 6 years ago | | |

Why don't you just get one of the engineers at your company or one of their friends to do it then? Fiverr, upwork, etc are all pretty bad. Toptal can be okay, but you pay for that.

Most Devs/ Engineers hang out in chats/ forums too ... you should be able to ask the team at work where to find someone.

You can DM me too if you're still having a problem finding someone @jppope