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There's a lot of different kinds of technical, so isn't it really someone that understands/has/can get the inputs necessary to produce the outputs necessary for your business to function that you want? Someone calling themselves "technical" is too much of a blanket statement, and it doesn't mean anything.
As Warren Buffett says, "Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing." So yes, a CEO should kind of know what they're doing wrt their business and what they're making and why. If it's an internet software business, that probably means web programming knowledge along with about 20 other related/unrelated skills.
If my CEO is technical, that's great, but it's a bonus on top of him/her being good at the things I'm not good at so I can focus on doing what I'm good at. Wearing different hats in a small business is essential, but if I was partnering with someone, I'd much rather have an outgoing, business-minded person who knows how to hustle than some nerdy developer who happens to know a VC or two.
To hustle is to con someone by the way, usually out of money. We already have enough trouble with the word hacker...
Don't tell me you never received some "critical bug" where the labels weren't properly aligned, all this while a "minor/medium bug" caused some data to be lost. This is a business lesson, not technical!
Now, I find the arguments in the article not the strongest and *the answer" actually is "it depends". It depends at what stage in the startup process you are.
Finally, my opinion is that the co-founders should "complete themselves" but if they have overlapping skills (both technical and business), that's a killer feature.
Starting out it's probably better to have founders that are specialists, but after growing the CEO should become a generalist and handle the big picture.
Imagine if a few hundred years ago we were having this conversation, we might be saying, "Is literacy really necessary for all members of a business?"
Technical literacy will soon become a requirement to successfully operate a new business, especially a tech-focused company. There are plenty of people who can do both, and they will eat the lunches of those that can't.
Saying, "I'm a business guy!" is great, but not when someone is standing next to you saying, "I'm a business guy and I understand everything you talk about engineering-wise."
However, as you go beyond two people, the situation changes -- perhaps the CEO needs to focus on the business side and doesn't have time for tech.
Perhaps more generally, it's nice to have someone who can speak on both the tech and business sides so that they can act as translator in a way. CEO, CTO, COO, anyone with an understanding of both sides
Maybe medicine is one of the rare exceptions?
If someone without technical expertise is making technical decisions, that's a problem. A good CEO knows what he doesn't know, and needs to know enough about his business to give those decisions to the right people.