Let’s have a look at why you need a technical co-founder for your startup and how to look for one. Every entrepreneur faces a set of challenges as they try to grow their venture. From competition to hiring the right team, managing cash flow and maintaining a high-profit margin, entrepreneurship is anything but easy. But there’s one big problem that plagues many entrepreneurs from the beginning: product development. Without a technical co-founder on your team, you’ll spend more time coding than running the company and you’ll never release an innovative product fit for today’s market.

By finding a technical co-founder who shares your vision and has the skills to build your product, you’ll be well on your way to having a successful startup venture.

Why You Need a Technical Co-Founder

i) The Ability to Scale Fast

Scalability efficiently depends on the ability to quickly adapt your product and fulfil customer demands. Building a great product requires a technical co-founder with domain expertise and coding skills that can lead the development effort through all of the steps of product development, including design and testing. Entrepreneurs typically don’t have these skills, so they end up devoting time to hiring tech employees or outsourcing part of the work.

ii) The Ability to Connect Your Product to Potential Customers

Chances are, you’re building a startup in an industry where technology is already ubiquitous in people’s lives. If you don’t have the technical talent to build a product that embodies the latest technology, you’ll find it difficult to connect with customers and investors. Professional coders can ensure that your product not only meets customer needs but also builds a strong brand perception among potential clients.

iii) A Stronger Understanding of Your Customers

Entrepreneurs set the direction for their companies, but coders are the ones who understand your customers best. They know what motivates your buyers, and they’re in a privileged position to understand how your product is perceived in this competitive market. If you want to create a powerful brand image, rely on coders to lead your product development efforts.

iv) Finding a Solid Team

Finding the right technical co-founder is the most important thing you can do to ensure product success. The reality is that finding a qualified professional to code for your business and meet customer demands is challenging, particularly if you can’t pay market rates for top talent. Professional coders have built their careers on building products that delight customers, and they’ll do the same for your company.

Why is technology important for your startup anyway?

1. Reaching a wider market – Innovative technology can produce effects that in return, fuel greater competition and market growth.
2. Improving productivity – New technologies help to eliminate waste, enhance operational efficiency and create new opportunities for work-life balance.
3. Increasing Efficiency – Increased technological advances mean that companies are able to complete tasks faster and more efficiently while helping to avoid human errors with tools such as data analytics businesses can now achieve greater success in the global economy through the use of best practices, sound business strategies and innovative techniques.

What qualities to look out for in a technical co-founder

a) An entrepreneurial spirit

A technical co-founder needs to have a desire to work with entrepreneurs, think and act like one, and be able to develop a high-level understanding of the product vision.

b) Experience building technology

A tech co-founder must have enough experience in building software, web platforms or applications. Today’s market is flooded with applications, many of which are user-friendly and offer high levels of functionality. Without an experienced coder, you’ll find yourself trying to compete with these startups on design alone.

c) Ability to communicate

Having a technical co-founder with excellent communication skills ensures that your development efforts won’t get stalled due to miscommunication or misunderstanding. Communication is essential for the development process. It determines how the technical co-founder can approach the project and what information he or she needs to be successful in it. A technical co-founder with strong communication skills can simplify and streamline the process, saving time, effort and money.

d) Ability to multitask

Finding a tech startup partner with excellent time management skills is important because great products don’t build themselves. The best coders understand that they must meet deadlines while maintaining a high level of quality control if they want their product to succeed in today’s competitive market. Look for a versatile coder who has experience juggling several projects at once while delivering each project on time and within budget.

e) A willingness to learn

To be a good fit for your startup, a tech co-founder should have an open mind and be willing to learn new skills or adapt current ones in order to evolve with the project. For example, if your project is marketing-driven but you need a tech employee who has experience in IT development, look for someone with an aptitude for building and learning outside their comfort zone.

Those are just a few of the qualities you should look for in a technical co-founder.

How to find the perfect technical co-founder for your business

1) Use available technology to identify talent:

The biggest challenge for a startup is finding top talent that fits the company culture and is willing to work with the startup on their concepts. We’ve become accustomed to using online social networks such as LinkedIn and Twitter, so why not leverage them to find qualified employees?

You can also use online talent searches to potentially find a technical co-founder. There are several online tools that connect you with the best coder for your product. The most popular ones are Coderbooster and GoTechHire.

2) Look for profiles that match your requirements:

Make sure that every candidate shares the same qualifications as you do before he or she is hired to work on your team. Don’t forget to look at their experience and performance on their profiles, especially before contacting them.

3) Use technology to facilitate the application process:

Today there are a lot of tools that have been designed with the goal of connecting employees with job opportunities. If the candidate is interested, the tool will streamline communications between you and the prospect, which will save you both time and effort. Some of the most popular tools for facilitating applications include LinkedIn Recruiter, Sourceranker and TalentBin – all of which are free to use.

4) Save time and money on initial conversations:

Even if you find someone who seems like a good fit, hiring a new employee or tech co-founder can take time to set up meetings or get them signed on to your team. To avoid wasting time and money, use online collaboration tools to conduct interviews and show candidates what it’s like working with you. Popular tools include Screenhero, Google Hangouts and Skype.

Finding a perfect technical co-founder can be a challenge for startups, but it’s important that companies are able to do so if they want to compete with existing technology companies and present a real alternative to the rest of the market. But with the right strategies, startups can easily find the right co-founder.

Conclusion

This article has outlined a number of reasons why you should pick a technical co-founder for your startup. It is important that you have a strong technical understanding of your product, as well as current knowledge of the market. You’ll need to make sure that your co-founder is proficient in finding the right partners to deliver the needed software systems and platforms that will be used throughout the development process.

What do you think? Have we missed anything important? If so, please share your thoughts with us in the comments.

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