How To Launch A Tech Startup Without A Tech Background
You have a brilliant idea for a Startup, but just because you lack technological knowledge, the prospect of starting a company or creating a product becomes too intimidating.
So much so that the initial enthusiasm along with the idea starts to fade away.
However, is it really possible to start a tech company or a startup without having any prior experience in the domain or industry?
This is one of the most important issues for those considering launching a technology startup.
And in reality, too, it might seem a necessity to be familiar with technology while building a Tech-Startup. But how much of a necessity is it actually?
According to studies, Courage, Ambition, Perseverance, Market Timing, Creativity / Innovation, and Decision Making are among the top ten attributes that an entrepreneur must possess in order to be successful.
Coding doesn’t even feature in the Top 10s of the things required to launch a Tech Startup.
You may not need to have the technical expertise to succeed if you’re clearly mindful of the Problem that you are intending to address through your idea.
What drives the startup is understanding about the domain and the ability to recognize the problem areas and how it could be solved than it is about being technically sound.
Entrepreneurship is fundamentally about solving problems.
Entrepreneurs are individuals who, rather than being discouraged or waiting for someone else to solve a problem, go out and solve it themselves.
So, let us take you through the process of How To Launch A Tech Startup Without A Tech Background?
Domain Expertise:
As a Startup Founder, any lack of domain knowledge, experience, and expertise of the concerned industry could sting you like a bee every now and then.
You could often end up compensating more than required, both in terms of effort and money.
As a budding entrepreneur, you can invest a lot of time reviewing the industry and jotting down your observations, but you’ll never truly understand the intricacies of the industry until you have dwelled in it.
Having prior experience of the sector (you’re trying to get into) would ensure that your product incorporates all of your experiences with a vision for what would do well in the marketplace.
Hiring someone with domain knowledge is one way to compensate for the lack of domain knowledge.
It makes logical sense.
However, there are risks involved.
One of these risks is relinquishing the objective control and decision-making authority to the appointed specialist.
If that person is executing, fine. If not then the startup may face serious repercussions.
Either way, the call is yours but domain experience (or expertise) provides a clear advantage over any other option.
Let the Entrepreneur within you bloom:
You may have no prior experience as a tech entrepreneur or founder of a startup but your idea could help businesses or individuals solve a major problem.
So, put complete faith in that idea and see it through, even though there may lay inescapable challenges in your path.
If you do plan to seek investments, do not take it from the first person who offers to pay your bills. Instead, seek out investors who appreciate your vision and will truly assist you in bringing it to life.
Challenges and adversity are unavoidable when it comes to founding a startup.
Although they may slow you down, they will also teach you new ways to deal with problems in the future and could open new doors of opportunity for you.
Learn along the way:
Self-teaching and knowing how to ask the right questions will help you fill in the holes in your knowledge.
This isn’t to say that you should try to become a programmer, rather, it means that you should teach yourself everything you need to know to get to the next level.
This is true in the early stages as well as a decade down the line.
Learn how to communicate with clients, how to communicate with developers, and how to monitor the productivity of your team.
You must know enough about your business to be able to comprehend any aspect of it.
Otherwise, you won’t be able to be an effective leader.
There are a plethora of free and low-cost resources available, so there should be no reason not to learn.
In fact, many questions can be answered by books.
Books can be your guiding light as you embark on a journey filled with unknowns.
Reading allows you to cultivate your thoughts and learn from those who have been through before you.
Reading books of fellow entrepreneurs can provide you with ideas for a concrete plan to launch and execute your business.
Make your entrepreneurial journey a learning experience.
If anything is weighing you down then consider making a decision to move forward.
All you have to do is take the first step, and everything else will fall into place.
Build an MVP:
If you were asked to outline your solution (or idea) to solve a problem, you could probably do so with a pen and paper.
This first sketch is undoubtedly far from what your finished product will look like – but it is as important as they come!
You need to reach a milestone, no matter how tiny, to progress to the next step.
This outline along with a thorough Startup Business Plan would guide you to your first milestone.
The best way to turn your idea into a real product is to effectively communicate the concept or demonstrate your MVP to others and get them excited about bringing it to life.
When you’re prototyping your initial concept, keep idea clarity and user experience in mind.
You could create mock-ups and design a simplified version of your vision by using handy software such as wireframing tools.
If you don’t have a full-fledged notion of the final product, just sketch out whatever you have thought about your product so far.
You could also create some buzz around your idea before or after you’ve created your first version.
In the age of social media, all you need to do is share your idea on social media and ask your target audience if they would be interested in a product like yours.
This would not only provide you with early feedback on what people think of your idea, but it could also serve as a platform, connecting you with potential individuals who could assist you in developing your product.
Identify a committed Chief Technical Officer:
Because your experience is in business rather than engineering or technology, you would require assistance in leading the product development.
Finding someone with a technical background who is willing to make a long-term commitment can be beneficial.
They must be able to integrate the technical roadmap into your business strategy.
This position does not necessarily equate to that of a co-founder, but rather to that of a CTO with experience and technical expertise on their side.
However, if you decide to proceed without a CTO, you risk getting sidetracked in the development process, wasting money on things that aren’t necessary, or overpaying for outsourced technical services.
This CTO should be able to mediate problems between you and the engineering team so that you are in a position to solve or at least understand the situation and brainstorm later on.
They should be excellent at ensuring that the appropriate tasks are assigned to the appropriate people and completed in an appropriate manner.
The ultimate objective of having the right CTO is to develop the product in the right way as it could prove to be a costly affair to fix things later on.
Hire the Right Team:
Hiring the wrong people could be disastrous for a startup.
To avoid losses due to employee mistakes and inexperience, you must hire the right people for the right positions.
When hiring your own team, you must choose between a Bottom-up v/s Top-down approach.
Bottom-up management entails taking on all high-level responsibilities, such as technical and marketing strategy, and hiring junior to mid-level talent to follow your lead.
Top-down is where you start by bringing in senior people to fill skill areas where you believe you are lacking, such as a CTO.
The goal should be to surround yourself with the best and brightest as soon as possible.
If this means bringing people in full-time to get them fully invested, go ahead and do it because these individuals will take decisions that will shape your company as it grows.
Concentrate on the Essentials:
Fix one issue at a time and avoid making frequent changes to your product since this will cause you to lose sight of your product’s true purpose and meaning.
Prioritize your activities as per your business plan and technical roadmap.
This is where having the right Chief Technical Officer by your side will be crucial as you’d then be able to concentrate on the important tasks at hand.
It’s important to recapitulate effectively and be receptive to feedback related to the product or the process.
Determine whether your business is mainly product-based or customer-based.
If it is product-based, you must constantly refine your product and calculate performance in terms of upscaling your product.
If it is customer-based, you’d need to be more adaptable, and should mainly be concerned with your customer’s satisfaction and the quality of service that you’re offering.
While a majority of the startups are product-based, they run the risk of becoming customer-based and losing sight of their original vision.
This can be detrimental, especially in the beginning, when you might not have a lot of clients, concentrating on their specific needs can alter the entire scope of your product, which might not be an ideal situation to be in.
Marketing from the Beginning:
You don’t need to graduate from a Top-University-in-the-world to understand that Marketing a Product or Service takes time.
Now, the best way to utilize the time would be to start marketing your idea from the beginning to build yourself a brand and target audience.
So, by the time you’re ready to set sail, you would know who your target audience is and how to reach out to them.
According to a recent poll, 59 percent of customers prefer to purchase new items from popular brands they are familiar with.
As a small business, you could find yourself competing against global brands with loyal customers and seemingly infinite marketing budgets.
That is why you would need to plan and execute early to stand out with your own brand-building strategy.
Leverage the Startup Community:
Make use of the entrepreneurial community’s resources to learn about several aspects of doing business, such as accounting, law, technology, and any other subject matter expertise.
Accelerator programs can also help you collaborate with companies for pilot projects if you have a good idea.
This is important because, although you might not get funded from the accelerator programs, you could leave a mark on potential investors for future investments.
Investors always respect the fact that you were active in an accelerator or incubator program in the past and that your business concept has gone through a rigorous validation process.
These are the primary focus points to be a Non-Technical Entrepreneur.
The steps detailed here might not necessarily be the exact guide that you need to follow as a Non-Tech CEO because there is always more than one way to get the job done just like there’s more than one recipe to bake a cake.
So, do not abandon your ideas just because you don’t know where to begin.
The wise men rightly said – You’ll always miss 100 percent of the shots YOU DON’T TAKE!
So, go on – Take your Shot to Success!
Deep Shikha
Thank you for the informative insight of getting things done. Really helpful.