| 1. Technical yes but you will need someone who can find out every single competitor out there and find a way to make your product better. 2.In addition, you need to be able to find and talk to users who are using your competitor's product to find out what they're complaining about so that you can make it better. You're probably thinking "a hacker" can do that. Ummmm..hackers have no problem talking to other hackers but how about talking to non-hackers? In addition, you need to make sure that your user interface is idiot proof to someone who isn't a programmer. Another example of why you need people who understand the industry or your users - Example: Awhile back there was a debate I had with somoene, can't remember his name so I will call him Mr.Citrus. Anyways, I stopped responding because he was too stubborn. Mr. C and his team are building a site that is a women-related site. Mr.C says that he is going to take on Monopoly X by building site Y. However, after looking at site Y, I noticed that it offers nothing better than Monopoly X. In addition, if Mr.C had people on his team who understood this industry or knew where to look or who to ask, he would have known some juicy gossip related to his competitor that would have assisted him to get acquired quicker or beat out his competitor. What kind of gossip can a non-hacker give him? Well things like: 1. Monopoly X has a partnership with several women magazines in which the editor of that magazine would never do an article who is a competitor of Monopoly X. So that cuts out an avenue of obtaining users. 2. The recent acquisitions Monopoly X had acquired as well as the new venture Monopoly X had recently branched out too would provide a glimpse of where the competitor is heading and who/what he just bought. It would have helped Mr. Citrus predict his competitor's next move 3. Understanding what Monopoly x is missing, and fill in that gap or void because currently, there is a HUGE chunk monopoly X is missing but because Mr. Citrus and his team compose of only hackers who are attempting to penetrate a women related industry, he doesn't see it. And unfortunately, asking your sister or wife for their opinion isn't always helpful b/c if they're not into the whole web 2.0, kill your competitor attitude, they won't offer much opinion.
And that is why you would need a non-hacker...on your team... Disclaimer: This does not apply to dimwitted, moronic non-hackers who have an idea but don't know the competitors or offer programmers suggestions, opinions, or even know how they can make it better or why something is better |
A successful startup will have members who individually fill many roles with diverse skillsets. For a web startup I fully believe the most important factor is being able to take whatever vision you have and form it into reality.
If you don't understand the customer base you won't do so well. If you can't build your product you won't do anything at all.