How Do You Build A Tech Startup When You’re Not Technical?

brett fox
5 min readAug 27, 2024

It seems like it’s impossible to start a successful tech startup if you’re not technical. Yet, Apple, Airbnb, Alibaba, Pinterest and Snap are all examples of successful tech startups founded by someone that was not technical.

Picture: Depositphotos

I also was a non-technical founder that founded a tech company. Even though I have a BSEE and a few patents, I’d been on the business side of a technology company, for years. I knew I wasn’t going to be the technical heart and soul of the company I was building.

So the challenges I had were similar to the unique challenges a completely non-technical CEO would have. I feel there are three unique challenges that all non-technical CEOs face:

A. You need to hire a great VP Engineering.

“Who’s your VP of Engineering going to be?” That was the question Jack, a VC who was preparing to give us a term sheet, asked me.

The original founding VP Engineering of my company, “John”, quit almost a year before. I was running engineering on an interim basis, so I told Jack the truth. “I’m running engineering for now until we find a replacement.”

“That’s what I thought you would tell me,” Jack said. “However, there’s too much risk for me to invest until you find a full time VP…

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brett fox
brett fox

Written by brett fox

I work with startup CEOs to help them grow their businesses . I built several businesses from $0 to >$100M. Learn more at https://www.brettjfox.com

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