Any examples of web business's spawned from a business person's idea and put into action by a technical cofounder?


4

While many people talk about the new paradigm of outsourcing technical skills to India or China, there is much derision among technical blogs and people about business people getting into the job of ideas.

So I just wanted to know if anyone could give a successful example of a website started by a business person's idea and put into action by someone with technical expertise.

Website Technical Web Services

asked Dec 12 '09 at 09:28
Blank
Seth
21 points
Top digital marketing agency for SEO, content marketing, and PR: Demand Roll
  • Thanks. Those examples are really useful. There really seem to be a lot of haughty technical bloggers that think VC's are incompetent and business school is a waste of time. And, as a South Indian without a technical background, I'm somewhat of an anomaly and have trouble soliciting advice from my super-technical family. – Seth 14 years ago

2 Answers


2

One example that jumps to mind is FreshBooks. Michael McDerment (the founder/CEO) is not a developer, but a business person (with some design experience). The company is doing well.

Having said that, most of the web startups that I know had a technical co-founder in the original team and contributed to the formation of the idea.

answered Dec 12 '09 at 17:39
Blank
Dharmesh Shah
2,865 points

2

Sure it happens all the time.

There are really popular blogs which make money with no technical knowledge. There are consulting shops where the CEO gets the clients and others implement the product.

I know lots of companies where the non-technical founder had the domain expertise for inventing and selling a product, but just couldn't build the product.

You want examples? You won't have heard of these, but just off the top of my head: NetBotz, ITWatchDogs, DataCert, Bazaarvoice.

It sounds like the real question is: Is this possible? Yes of course. Don't worry about haughty technical bloggers who despise those who aren't technical.

Just know your limits and trust in your CTO -- you won't be able to argue the technical points anyway. People get miffed with others overstep their abilities.

answered Dec 13 '09 at 03:51
Blank
Jason
16,231 points

Your Answer

  • Bold
  • Italic
  • • Bullets
  • 1. Numbers
  • Quote
Not the answer you're looking for? Ask your own question or browse other questions in these topics:

Website Technical Web Services