Finding a Technologist for Your Great Idea: 5 Traps To Avoid

So you’ve got a great idea for an online/mobile/technology product/business/venture, but you’re not a technologist.

If you’re the idea guy, you need a tech guy.

Easier said than done.

Pitfalls To Avoid in Seeking Technical Partners

Having watched and participated in this process more times than I can count, I can vouch for the fact that most Idea Guys do it wrong.

The “non-technical” founder myth

By now, the importance and value of technology in business – let alone everyday life – is patently obvious. We all live with technology every day and some knowledge of how it works and how we can use it. In short, then, no one is non-technical. We’re all on a spectrum of technical sophistication and none of us have the luxury of recusing ourselves completely from the technical conversation. It’s as absurd as saying “Oh, I’m non-financial. I don’t think about money things when it comes to business.” Of course financial things matter in business. Technology matters in the same way.

Thinking of yourself as less technical is far healthier. Not only does it help you psychologically acknowledge that part of your job is to learnmore technology, it also signals a certain amount of respect to those who are farther along on the spectrum than you and helps with collaboration. (For more on this, see The “IT Guy” Rift).

Mistakes less technical founders make

If you’re one of them, here are some traps to avoid:

1. Don’t underestimate the amount of technical effort it will take to execute your idea. 

First-time Idea Guys often believe that the complex, multidisciplinary exercise of building a successful technical product is the kind of thing a 22 year-old can hack out in a weekend. They hear those stories from breathless startup propaganda blogs and magazines and from tech guys who have something to sell. It’s not true. Online products take time and effort, and always require iteration after they launch. One rule of thumb: assume that your product will need at least one full revision before it’s right – so however long/expensive you think it will be, double it and you’re closer to the truth. Keep that in mind when recruiting your Tech Guy.

2. Don’t undervalue the technologist’s time or skill.

Many non-technical founders bring an inherent “IT guy bias” to the table. For whatever reason they consider technologists to be tools for the execution of their vision: in many cases just a necessary evil to be tolerated. I’ve seen the non-technical founder of a four-person company end a meeting and shoo developers out of the room before discussing “business issues.” Don’t do this. A successful technologist is a partner, and the most successful are those with intimate knowledge of the business. Sure, they have a specialty – so do you – but it’s better if they know what you’re doing and vice versa. Nothing annoys a Tech Guy more than being treated like a second-class citizen, and don’t think they won’t pick up on your disrespect if it’s there.

3. Don’t think that cheap coding is all you need.

The skills necessary to create an online product (requirements analysis, user experience design, project management, scripting, hosting, operations, maintenance) are almost never present in a single individual, and when they are that individual is on the far end of the bell curve – with a pricetag to match. Great products can’t be created by cheap, quick coders without good strategic leadership. A bad, cheap coder can build in weeks what a good coder can do in hours, but a good technologist can sometimes engineer solutions that don’t require code at all.

4. Don’t imagine you’re all that. Ideas are easy. Execution is hard.

Most technologists get approached by Idea Guys regularly (not to mention actual employers), and most have a list of their own great ideas waiting in the wings for attention. The idea that a Tech Guy is just waiting for the right Idea Guy to walk into their lives to give it meaning is false. To stand out, you need to be the real deal, you need to be able to deliver, and you need to be willing to risk more than you’re asking from others. I’ve seen Idea Guys who refuse to quit their day jobs get offended when a technologist decides not to work indefinitely for free.Asking someone to invest their time now to earn rewards later only makes sense if those rewards are likely to materialize. And your ability to risk what it takes to make good on the business side is almost always more important than the technology. If you’re not willing to risk your money on your idea (not to mention your time), why would someone who has less to gain do so?

5. Make it a business relationship from the get-go.

es, team chemistry and shared passion are vital to the success of any venture, but let’s be real: if a technologist is working for free or cheap, when a better offer comes along she’ll most likely take it – which means either abandoning or deprioritizing her previous commitments. This happens all the time, and leads to awkward recriminations and damaged relationships in both directions. The presence of a formal engagement and some compensation – even a small amount – makes it harder for a Tech Guy to walk away and harder for an Idea Guy to expect the moon for free.

Here’s the bottom line: technology is not a necessary evil or something less worthy of respect than other aspects of business. Finding a technologist to collaborate with you in developing your Great Idea is not a need that can be met by the first person who agrees to work for free, nor by someone who simply takes orders or you regard as disposable. Entrepreneurship is a team sport, and your Tech Guy should be considered a fundamental teammate.