What do you do if you have a great idea for a tech startup, but no technical knowledge about how to build it? Well, there are usually three options: Find a technical co-founder, outsource to an expensive dev shop, or take the tricky step of going with the cheap (and often lower quality) freelance options that are out there.
The best resort seems obvious to many: Finding a technical co-founder. Not only they build the product but they carry the vision of the company and share the weight of the world with you. However, the reason most idea-stage founders find it hard to attract technical talents boils down to one word: Traction. The success and attention startups have received in recent years has caused a veritable Gold Rush, as more people join the feast, more startups fail and as a result CTOs, accelerators and investors took a step back and no longer takes pitches as serious as they did before and buy to your idea. This has meant a higher burden of data-driven proof for non-technical founders before they can earn a spot in the limelight.
The Startup Pitch has evolved from napkin to traction data.
What happened to the napkin?
The napkin is still a great way to capture an idea that spontaneously pops into your head while chatting with your best bud. The problem is: first-timers have a hard time gauging the pitch/expectation ratio.
A quick reminder: the napkin is for friends and family. Animated Mockups and a Business Model Canvas are for target users (low fidelity MVP). An MVP with Traction is for the potential co-founder CTO. A Product/Market fit will get you VCs. The more you go to the right, the more you’ll get what you pitch for:
“ We've toured the major startup hubs, and have witnessed founders missing exciting opportunities simply because they could not find partners willing to help them build their MVPs. “ says Hicham Amine from Hidden Founders.
“We are convinced that helping promising founders get through the prototype-building phase will be the beginning of amazing things: good business models would get traction and attention from potential co-founders, incubators or investors, and technical talents would converge faster on these new poles of activity.”
Hidden Founders combine the two — dev shop and incubator — to create their own, new solution to the “where the @$^!@ can I find a technical Co-Founder?” problem. Like an incubator, they not only take a 3 percent equity in every company they work with, but they also are strict about which companies they take on — wantrepreneurs need not apply. So far, they’ve worked with two cohorts of 20 startups, which were chosen from an applicant pool of over 200 companies globally. During the time that Hidden Founders is building the product, they also work to find technical Co-Founders who are a good fit for their companies, both in terms of skills needed and vision.
Idea stage no longer competes, especially with that the market offers CTOs these days. Why would a technical talent give up on a luxurious life in Google or Dropbox and follow you? even better, why would he choose to do that and not start his own startup? Idea stage is a myth. Traction is the only currency that matters today. The more of it you have, the more nice things you can afford. Nothing is free.
A lot of people have amazing ideas, but an idea is just an idea unless you have someone to help you turn it into a reality. Hidden Founders has figured out how to not only bridge that gap between technical and non-technical Founders, but also supports early stage startups at a time that they’re most vulnerable to failure.
Isn’t it great to have a fourth option?
P.S. Hidden Founders is opening its third batch for non-technical founders to apply. Join in to take your startup to the next level.
