Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technical founder should have?

Re:Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technica... by stickfigure on Monday July 13, 2015 @01:53PM (#9879755)

The problem with your answer is that nontechnical people will never be able to hire technical people well. They simply do not have the skills to judge technical talent; at best they can hire based on secondary characteristics like "they really sound like they know what they are talking about". Nontechnical founders who successfully hire good tech talent are just lucky.

I think this same maxim goes for tech people trying to hire sales talent, or nonfinance hiring a CFO, etc. You're just not equipped to judge, and you don't have the time to take CPA classes (or learn to code, or get an MBA, etc) just to hire someone.

The situation is not really this grim, because you should have a social network which can help vet hiring choices - either because the candidate is already known, or because you know someone that can do the interview for you. But "knowing people who can help you hire" is not really a skill.

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Re:Ask HN: What is the most crucial knowledge a non-technica... by pns on Monday July 13, 2015 @04:26PM (#9880806)

I think you're right, but it's more nuanced. Nontechnical people can be very helpful early in the recruiting funnel though, and that's a critical time suck/skillset that the technical folks don't have to invest in and can instead focus on their core role.

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