As an entrepreneur, making a strong impression in the market requires you to have a basic understanding of every aspect of your business, including areas like coding and development. But if you're a non-technical founder, handling technology-related matters can be especially tough. 

I know this because I’ve been there. When I launched my first tech startup, I had no knowledge of coding, website development, or anything tech-related. I hired a remote developer, but I struggled to communicate because technical terms felt alien to me.

Even hiring a developer was a major challenge, as I couldn’t properly assess their coding or technical skills. Making sound technical decisions seemed like a nightmare—until I figured things out.

Today, I’m going to share the five most common technical hurdles you may face as a non-technical founder. These are all challenges I have personally dealt with and that I often see other non-tech founders struggling with. As someone who started as a non-tech entrepreneur and became a successful tech founder, I truly want to help you recognize and overcome these challenges on your entrepreneurial journey.

Finding the Right Tech Talent 

This was the trickiest part I faced when setting up my first tech startup. Recruiting an efficient team requires a tremendous amount of effort, energy, and resources. From the trial and error of outsourcing developers who delivered pathetic results to spending heavily on full-time developers only to end up with an incompetent team, it brought me a lot of stress and frustration.

Non-technical founders need to be well-prepared for this. The market is full of tech talent, but finding the right fit for your startup can be both challenging and costly. In fact, 86% of companies struggle with hiring qualified technical talent and 23% of startups fail because they don’t have the right team. 

To hire effectively, you need a strategic recruitment process. Start by identifying the key roles you need and the skills your team requires. Then, figure out where to find that talent. Try various options like job boards, Github, and LinkedIn. 

Here are a few things I suggest non-technical founders do when hiring tech talent to find the right fit:

• Considering referrals from trusted sources is often my first bet. It helps me find candidates who are not only qualified but also have a good reputation within their network.

• Prefer candidates with ample experience in developing, designing, and deploying solutions. Having experience in business continuity is a plus. 

• See if they can explain and simplify complex solutions. This shows they know what they’re doing.

• If a candidate is less experienced, I prioritise their communication skills, coding knowledge, and eagerness to learn. Communication skills are often overlooked, but they are crucial in a startup environment.

If you struggle to assess the technical skills of potential hires, bringing in a trusted technical advisor or freelance consultant can help evaluate candidates during the hiring process. This was something that also helped me big time. 

Finding an Efficient Tech Co-founder 

When I started my first tech business, I completely overlooked the need for a skilled technical co-founder. I tried to learn everything myself and do it all alone, only to realise that I needed a technical co-founder or CTO. By then, I was nearly out of funds because I had been hiring incompetent people.

In addition, managing everything by yourself can be incredibly difficult. Between brainstorming key tech decisions, deciding on the UI, and defining which technologies to integrate, you might overlook important business aspects like marketing and the overall vision.

You need someone who deeply understands tech and can act as a bridge between your company and vendors. They can assist you in finding the right tech talent, managing development costs, handling infrastructure, and negotiating with vendors.

Some simple ways to find a potential technical co-founder that I’ve personally tried are: 

• Place a prominent “HIRING TECHNICAL CO-FOUNDER” link on your product’s homepage, leading to a detailed page about what you're looking for. This can help you attract a quality CTO or co-founder who understands your startup’s vision and goals. 

• Try co-founder matching platforms like Y Combinator. You may find qualified partners on such platforms. 

• Network with the right people and see what technical challenges they’re interested in—you may find a potential co-founder who shares your vision. 

In addition, you can count on tech support from Million Labs throughout the entire journey, from app scoping to getting your product live, up and running. Whether you need assistance defining your MVP, selecting the right technologies, or navigating the complexities of development, Million Labs can guide you every step of the way to ensure your project’s success.

Not Understanding the Product 

Many founders often believe that their product fails because they “don’t have a technical co-founder.” However, this may not be the real issue. 

What I’ve noticed is that many entrepreneurs don’t fully understand their potential customers' needs and the true why behind their product. 17% of startups fail because they don’t have a user-friendly product. 

The key to developing a successful product lies in having the right solution. You might spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in building a product loaded with advanced features, but does it really solve your user’s problem? This is where you need to understand your product. 

Zynga, for instance, initially launched several games that flopped because they didn’t fully understand their audience's preferences. It wasn't until they focused on understanding player behaviours that they found success with games like FarmVille which attracted 18,000 players on its first day and over 1 million by the fourth.

How can you get this crucial understanding? Become the product. How? For example, if I were to develop a Dubai property search website, I’d try becoming a broker to interact with real-world clients. If you’re launching a fintech startup or building a financial management website, help your friends track their finances.

Airbnb co-founders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia did something similar by renting out their own apartments to better understand the needs of both hosts and guests. They set up a simple website and welcomed three guests who stayed at the homes of co-founders, which significantly shaped their platform. 

Even a day of becoming your own product gives you a much clearer understanding of its interface, design, and user experience.

Developing a Successful MVP

Having a clear understanding of your product makes the development of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) much easier. It gives you a clear view of what you’re building and why. 

However, I’ve seen many entrepreneurs make this mistake of trusting tech talent to create wireframes and a complete roadmap for their product without clearly explaining what they want. This can lead to disaster. 

To avoid this, you must be willing to explain the process as clearly as possible. For me, using a whiteboard to illustrate the process step-by-step always works. I often draw a sequence of steps to make it more understandable.

Remember, a lack of clarity can also demotivate developers. I’ve seen it firsthand—if they sense that the product lacks a clear vision, they might not take it seriously. When you take the time to explain everything as best you can and actively engage in the process, the developer can guide you through and suggest a suitable tech stack as well.

Another common pitfall I’ve noticed among founders when developing an MVP is focusing on too much detail. You might create detailed diagrams with hundreds of features, but the problem is that it makes the product too complex. It might not solve a single problem and can instead be distracting for the user. Plus, it makes it challenging for developers to build those complex features, ultimately costing you more resources.

Startups are typically short on resources, so my advice to founders is to keep the MVP simple. Focus on features based on your product’s vision. What’s the “soul” of your product? Which feature will contribute the most to its success? Prioritise that. 

Instagram is a great example of this approach. They started with a simple photo-sharing feature that addressed a clear need before gradually adding more functionalities based on user feedback. 

Work closely with the development team to estimate time and cost for MVP development. Never assume anything when it comes to technical development. What you think will take seven hours might take 70. So, focus on what matters most and start from there. Involve users in MVP testing to gradually improve and add more features. 

To know more about building a successful MVP, here’s our MVP development guide. 

Difficulty Choosing Tech Stack 

Not being a coding expert can often lead you to invest in unnecessary technology. Your contractor’s recommendation might seem like a great deal, especially when you don't fully understand why you're choosing one technology over another. You may fear that not following their advice could jeopardise your product’s success. But this isn’t the case. 

I can show you hundreds of case studies where founders have built compelling products without investing in an expensive or extensive tech stack. They were rather picky with their technology choices. For example, Notion was built using React, Node.js, and PostgreSQL, but grew rapidly with the right strategy and simple tech stack. 

To save money on your tech stack, have a solid technology strategy in place and invest only in what your product truly needs. This can help you efficiently scale an idea and increase its valuation while keeping costs low. 

With the rise of no-code tools like Bubble, you have the advantage of building your product without needing to learn code. These tools usually come with drag-and-drop functionality, allowing you to easily build your MVP. Plus, hiring no-code developers is relatively more economical compared to professional coders. 

When hiring potential technical talent, see how selective they are with their tech stack and how it can benefit your product. Ask developers why they prefer certain technologies and how those choices will address your business needs—be it time, cost, efficiency, security, or scalability. If a developer can’t clearly explain how their technology is going to address your business needs, they might not be the right fit for your team.

Gather multiple bids, and inquire about the technologies they plan to use and their reasoning behind those choices. Comparing these bids will help you identify talent whose solutions are tailored to your specific challenges. 

Take the Charge of Your Startup with Confidence 

If you have a great idea but find yourself delaying your entrepreneurship journey because you are concerned about the challenges mentioned earlier, you don’t have to hold back. With the right support, building and launching your product can be less stressful and more fun.

Starting with a simple MVP can make you feel more empowered about your decision. Emotional rollercoasters and feelings of imposter syndrome are part of the process, but they shouldn’t keep you from starting your journey. 

Take the first step, and don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you need support along the way.