Tech Skills Are Vital For A Budding Start-Up’s Founding Team

Most start-ups rely on using technology to disrupt the market in their chosen industry. Even if your start-up doesn’t deal with technology at its core, it would likely involve the use of a mobile app. So can you get away with a founding start-up team with no background in technology? According to a seasoned business investor, the answer is “no”. Here’s why.

[credit provider=”Channel 4″ url=”http://www.channel4.com/”]

Steve Baxter is an investor/judge on the entrepreneur reality show Shark Tank and he spoke on StartUp Smart about why he decided against investing in a start-up founder’s mobile app that helps users find tennis partners:

I bowed out early for one fundamental reason: it’s a technology startup without a dedicated, in-house technology expertise to develop and enhance the product. I’ve seen time and time again how this is a recipe for failure and disaster.
 
“With no inherent tech skills in your founding team, your startup is broken at multiple levels and may not even be a startup.”

But you can just outsource the tech stuff, right? Baxter believes this is not a feasible option because users have short attention spans and outsourcing your app’s coding work will cause delays that you simply can’t afford:

“Can you keep up to date with bugs, feature requests and the constant A/B style improving that modern digital products need if you do not have core skills in-house, preferably on the equity roster? Can you assess the work quality and value for money of outsourced resources if you are clueless as to what they are providing?
 
“Tech businesses need tech skills. Yes, you can hire them in but for early-stage companies that should be demonstrating traction in the market to investors, do you really think this is the best use of our funds?”

Harsh words from Baxter here. Do you agree with his view on this topic? Let us know in the comments.

[Via Startup Smart]


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