Why it's a great idea for every bootstrapped non tech founder of a tech startup to learn to code, specially if they're looking for a tech co-founder?
Took me many years to realize it, had I started coding back then, I would have been a decent developer by now!
After spending 10 years in mixed roles in sales, marketing, product management working with startups, corporates and own startups, I'm picking up on coding again.
I used to code in C and C++ back during engineering college days, indeed my first job was into software development.
Here are a few reasons why non tech founders should learn to code and understand tech better.
You wouldn’t be dependent on anyone else for building your product
If you haven’t already found a tech co founder, if you start today there are chances you’ll be a beginner level coder by the time you finally onboard someone
probably it’s gonna take at least a few weeks before you find someone and onboard. The evaluation period is gonna take another 2-3 months. You’ll be a beginner level coder in 3 months if you had started coding already, and may be you’ll able to put together a MVP by yourself by that time. That’s the best case scenario, in the worst case scenario it can take you 1-2 years to find a right co-founder, definitely you can learn coding in that time.
Helps you understand how coding works, how to develop software and appreciate technology better
This gives you better judgement with recruiting your tech co-founder, developers and tech partners
You’ll develop more empathy in working with engineers, understanding the technical challenges.
Will understand the technical efforts required to develop product features which will further help with better planning
It will help you get started with your product development
You’ll have more leverage than a founder with some idea