Ask HN: How does a non-hacker get into a start-up? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How does a non-hacker get into a start-up?

I'm not a hacker, I'm just someone who is really enthusiastic about technology! I used to be a program director in a nonprofit doing things like marketing, training, recruitment/selection, grantwriting, strategy. Where can I fit in a start-up environment, B2C or content - and how do I get gain some more "street cred" to prove my mettle? Thanks!

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This has been done to death:

http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+b...

http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+i...

http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Anews.ycombinator.com+n...

And a dozen variations on the theme.

Edit: The link filter is stripping the quotes off of those terms. They need quotes or they're a bit too off-target (SearchYC.com also seems to refuse to recognize quotes for phrases, which is why I never link to it. Weird and annoying.)

Learn to hack? At least a bit. That'll give you a bit of street cred.

In the early stages you need to be able to quickly 'muck in'. Learn some linux sysadmin, apache setup, email setup, html/php/mysql etc It'll certainly come in useful.

Yeah, I was thinking about doing this. Starting off with a community college class or two this summer.

If you want a DIY taste, try this: http://appjet.com/learn-to-program/lessons/intro

Perfect, this is exactly what I need. Thanks so much for this resource!

wannabetechgeek, that's truly the best advice you can get. You may think that being a business guy you will easily find hackers to build your idea for equity, but that's just not the case unless you have a lot of hacker connections and an evidently good idea.

I'm a bachelor in economics, but I've learned to use PHP/MySQL/apache/nginx/etc because I need it to build my web analytics app, and because I could not persuade anyone that "competing with Google Analytics" can be a good idea.

If you can't help with something technical, early-stage bootstrap projects are not the place for you. I know a guy who knows a guy who is full of ideas for websites or iPhone apps or whatever the hot technology of the day is, and can't program a single line, and doesn't _want_ to learn to program. Instead, he seems to hope that his programmer friends will be overwhelmed with the beauty of his ideas, and launch into a frenzy of all-nighters while he rallies a user base through Twitter.

Ain't. Gonna. Happen. Sad thing is, if he could help even on an apprentice level, maybe people would collaborate with him.

Technology startups require very specific knowledge about particular topics. For example, general business marketing is very different from marketing on the internet. You may think you know it, but if you've never done it, you don't know it. So how about starting a website or something online, and trying to gain the specific marketing (and content) knowledge to survive in the internet world? This way, you actually will be able to contribute, you gain a clearer picture of how boring the tasks can be, and you have something you can point at to show that you were successful.

Enthusiasm is not helpful. There is little worse than someone who is enthusiastic and thinks he has better ideas on how to design websites than website designers, better ideas on marketing than people who have been doing it for years, and knows exactly how to make money on the net, even though he never made money of it.

There is a lot of domain specific business knowledge required by startups. But learn it first before going out to apply in a start up. Actually doing stuff is a lot more difficult than wanting to do it, and if you want to learn it on the job, you'll be deadweight, and there is no guarantee you will ever enjoy the nitty gritty of running a technological business.

Have you looked at Steve Blank's Customer Development stuff that has been making the rounds here? Blank formalized a process for developing customers that has the same impact that formalizing software development process has on software development (reduces risk).

Using his process, the technical team will have their hands full and will need someone out on the field talking to people right in the beginning. It clarifies the role of early stage marketing/sales/etc. in relation to early stage product development.

My partner and I have been working on both product and customer development using Blank's process, and I can tell you it takes as much brain-effort on the customer development side as it is on the technical side. Someone skilled with customer development process will be as highly valued as the crack founding technical team.

At the very least, you would be able to find out how to sell yourself better for startups.

If you want to find out more, check out the blog posts here: http://steveblank.com/category/supermac/ ... and definitely get his book.

What value do you add?

Not all hackers are programmers. If you really are really enthusiastic about technology then you may already be a hacker. You just need to find your niche. You're probably not going to be the next Linus Torvalds but with a whole lot of effort you might just turn out to be the next Guy Kawasaki.

I think you should look for companies that are doing something you really "get" and help them evangelize whatever it is they do.

There is room for fund-raising and marketing at start-ups. If you think you can help start-ups with your skill set, apply for appropriate jobs, and try and network with the industry you want to work in.

Or you can start writing some code, and see what happens. Do you have a website?

If you don't think hacking is appropriate, then learn the business side. If you can take a bunch of hackers with a good idea and figure out how to turn that into a business and money then you shouldn't have much of a problem. Any coding types worth working with will know that there are "business-y things" that they're better off not doing and will eventually wish they had someone to pick that stuff up.

I don't have a website, just a Posterous blog that doesn't seem relevant to post here. I've created a couple WP blogs and helped out a lot with site design/content for past work roles. It's a great idea to try and do my own thing, if only to at least learn while doing. Thanks.

Sales, business development, and community management are all options.

Have cash or the ability to get it. That's what all those other activities you mentioned really mean.

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