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Business

Santiago Selva
Santiago Selva
1,241 Points
Posted by Santiago Selva
Santiago Selva
1,241 Points

Hello everyone! Could anybody give me advice? I`m starting a startup, and I'm lost where to begin

Last November I won an entrepreneurship competition but all I had was a good idea. Since then I've been working on it, and I have made progress, but now I've reached a point in which I know I have to step up my game. I'm a Law student, so I don't have any background in computer science, although I would love to start learning a soon as possible. In my team, I have 3 web developers and a designer that will do most of the technical work, but I want to be able to help them and most importantly, to understand what is it that they are doing. So any suggestion on what language should I learn first (if I should learn any), or where to put my focus to be useful is welcome, and also what path should I follow for this to be possible. I hope to have been clear on my request, and sincerely thanks to anyone taking the time for helping me.

2 Answers

Max Senden
Max Senden
23,177 Points
Max Senden
Max Senden
23,177 Points

It'll definitely be good if the founder of a start-up has technical skills. But perhaps instead of learning them yourself you can make one of the developers co-founder to your startup? Yes, it means that you are no longer in full control, but it also means one other person will be truly invested in making the startup a success and knows all technical details about whatever you're developing. After all, if the developers ever chose to quit, who will have the technical knowledge to continue the project? It'll make your startup more sustainable in the long run.

It's a difficult decision, but think about it.

Max Senden
Max Senden
23,177 Points
Max Senden
Max Senden
23,177 Points

Hi Santiago,

It's very nice of you that you want to help them. However, I assume these are experienced developers/designers that have been doing this for years. It's likely your inexperience will only cause them more work. Is there a good reason why you want to understand what they are doing? Is it personal interest? Is it simply a matter of wanting to help? Or do you want to keep some parts of whatever you're developing secret from them?

Having said this, there are plenty of other things that are very important in a startup. Like project management, marketing, networking, talking to investors, daily operations, and so on. Each one of these could easily be a full-time job. and are critical to a company's success. Why don't you focus on some of those things so that the rest of your team can do what they are best at?

Cheers, Max

Santiago Selva
Santiago Selva
1,241 Points
Santiago Selva
Santiago Selva
1,241 Points

Max:

Thanks for your answer! I just want to be helpful, no secrets plan. But I don't know if as the head of the startup it would be wrong or it would be better if I also have some technicals skills. Although what you said about project management is true, and there is a lot I need to learn about that too.

Thanks again!