Startups and the “Validity of the Idea”

But what we found is that having that different perspective in things like the user interface design has helped tremendously. It's resulted in us thinking through the interface in a way I know neither of us would've done as well on our own, and has definitely helped make this project my best work to date.

Really what I've learned is that knowing your strengths/limitations and finding a partner that complements them is critical, but it's also freeing. I can see why YC says they don't like solo startups. I've tried that before, and got pretty far (10k+ users), but while it is too much work for one person, I'm also seeing now how much better it could have been with the right partner's perspective.

I think the wisdom here is to not throw the baby out with the bathwater-- because most biz types are useless doesn't mean they all are. Every business is different and has different needs- some can benefit from a biz guy right out of the gates.

That being said, I'm pretty convinced that MOST web startups need an MBA sitting around like they need a hole in the head. The first test of a startup is whether they can builds something anyone wants. It's a lot of work, and most fail.

Domain knowledge and business wisdom is valuable here, but you can get that by talking to customers/users. There is 10 hours a day of BUILDING to do, and there sure as heck isn't that much business wisdom to dispense.

There are plenty of exceptions to this rule-- if you have a business offering, for example, you need someone who has an appetite for selling stuff.

But at the end of the day, you (as a biz guy) need to be able to answer the question: "What are you going to do for 10 hours a day while I build a product?". And you need to be able to answer it in such a way that makes me say, "Wow-- that's way more important than having someone who can code, design, and write effectively."

So as I understand it, the thesis of the article is that:

1) The geeks on Beauty and the Geek lack perspective.

2) You, hacker, are probably like the geeks on Beauty and the Geek.

3) Thus, you need a "business guy" to give you the ability to sell things to the tanorexic blonde girls (and everyone else).

I'm glad that the level of discussion has risen to such a high intellectual plateau. Clearly, the special training that business school students receive must inevitably endow them with the unique ability to validate ideas for market fit. To wit:

"It is also worth pointing out that business minded people have been finding innovative ways to make real money for as long as there has been money to be made, whereas hackers are still trying to find some green in the grey zone of the Internet."

Right. Because, if the dot-com bubble, the real-estate bubble, and the failure of such august business institutions as Bear Stearns and Long Term Capital Management teach us nothing, it is that "business people," left in isolation, will inevitably create tangible, permanent value out of thin air. Truly, they are the alchemical wizards of our time.

(On any other day, I might also point out that the "gray area" of the internet is totally devoid of "business guys" who are trying to make a fast buck. But that would be self-evident. The internet will always and forever be the exclusive domain of poorly dressed men who live in their mother's basement, and that no person of sufficient technical capacity has ever launched a successful business venture based upon anything other than computers, robots or comic books.)

Interestingly enough, I think this "my way" approach that super hacker takes is the same type of attitude he likely resents in "business types". In doing so, he misses the one major thing that IS needed in startups -- flexibility.