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As a non-technical founder, one of the most difficult things to get right is to ensure your Technology team is world-class.
Here are a couple rules I follow...
Disclaimer: I have tons of room for improvement, so please share your best practices as well!
Thread
Here are a couple rules I follow...
Disclaimer: I have tons of room for improvement, so please share your best practices as well!
Thread
2/ Focus on process in the short-term and results in the long-term
When building tech, results don't come immediately, and many things can affect them. If you are results-oriented on a weekly basis, you're stuck
Agile development was created to cure this evil. Use it. Trust it.
When building tech, results don't come immediately, and many things can affect them. If you are results-oriented on a weekly basis, you're stuck
Agile development was created to cure this evil. Use it. Trust it.
3/ Hire a tech lead as soon as you can afford it and don't bargain hunt
Heads of X are overrated at the early stage. They're expensive, need a team, and long ramp-up time
But when you don't have the skillset, can't learn the skillset, and its mission critical, ignore the above
Heads of X are overrated at the early stage. They're expensive, need a team, and long ramp-up time
But when you don't have the skillset, can't learn the skillset, and its mission critical, ignore the above
4/ Write down your thoughts: how you feel (i.e. your frustrations) vs reality
Presuming you have hired a strong Tech team, the #1 thing that can go wrong is you lose their trust. This is easily done by voicing your feelings / frustrations as if they are fact. Don't do this
Presuming you have hired a strong Tech team, the #1 thing that can go wrong is you lose their trust. This is easily done by voicing your feelings / frustrations as if they are fact. Don't do this
5/ Get tons of outside perspective — and then treat them all with skepticism
It's very easy for outside observers to point out all the flaws in your approach. What they don't know: the one-off bugs you had to fix, the $ constraints before you raised, and so on
It's very easy for outside observers to point out all the flaws in your approach. What they don't know: the one-off bugs you had to fix, the $ constraints before you raised, and so on
6/ Make sure each and every one of your technical hires espouse your values.
You can't evaluate the hard skills as well as you'd like — but you can evaluate the soft skills. Focus on what you can control and don't have any misses there
You can't evaluate the hard skills as well as you'd like — but you can evaluate the soft skills. Focus on what you can control and don't have any misses there
