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Comment by ncphillips | Hacker News Reader

My opinion is that if you're going to build a technical company you need a technical co-founder.

Would you start a construction company without a technical co-founder, and just hire freelance carpenters to build the first few houses?

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I agree with the first part, but your second example is pretty much exactly how the residential construction process works (and likely the commercial sector as well, but I have no direct experience there). The general contractor hires local subcontractors (roofers, electricians, plumbers, rough carpentry, finish carpentry, drywall/plasterers, painters, tilers, etc), manages the overall project timeline and budget, and pays the subs.

Bringing it back to OP's question, the comparison might be: many companies use technology (have a website, maybe even sell online) but are not technology companies at their core. Other companies that seem tech-light might have amazingly deep tech underlying the business.

If OP is founding a company that is going to happen to sell some things on a Shopify site, or create some gadget that has a few blinky lights on it, it could be perfectly reasonable to outsource the tech. (100% agree that if there's deep tech involved, that you need a tech-savvy founder or an amazingly committed tech advisor at a bare minimum.)

I recently had a house built, which exposed me to a dozen general contractors (people/companies referred to as builders). Not a single one of these small shops had a carpenter on staff. They were all basically project managers that subcontract all labor and earn their fee by adding 20% to however much is spent.

I wouldn't call GC's non-technical. They know all of the pieces that it takes to get the thing built and the community of construction workers have multiple general skill-sets. The best part about your GC might be that he knows how to hire the right people.

> Would you start a construction company without a technical co-founder, and just hire freelance carpenters to build the first few houses?

I personally know cases like this. If you are an amazing seller this is viable.

you need an HR department too! very important

also you will need lots of project manager's and maybe 1 or 2 full time developers

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