Tech for Non-Techies

The prototyping process is the first step in the product development journey. To go from idea to live app, site or algorithm, you need to test it with target users.

A good prototype can get you funding, but more importantly, it can show you whether the concept is worth pursuing in the first place.

One of the biggest mistakes non-technical founders make is hiring developers before they have a tested prototype. Listen to this episode and avoid this costly mistake.

Learning notes from this episode:

• The prototype serves as an illustration of your product: it looks and feels like an app / site, but you don't need to write code to make it.
• Algorithms in their simplest form can be tested using a spreadsheet.
• The design process consists of 4 phases: discover, define, develop and deliver
• To make a prototype, start with research: "Design is not just about how to build a solution, but whether a problem needs solving in the first place. Before working on prototypes and wire frames, find a market need." Jane Austin, Chief Design Officer at Flo Health

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Learning notes from this episode:

• APIs are tiny snippets of code that allow one tech product to be integrated into another tech product. For example, each time you see Login with Facebook in a website or an app, that company is using the Facebook API to allow you to login.
• Railsbank allows companies to move money around just like a bank would, by giving access to its services via its API
• To learn more about APIs, listen to episode 37: APIs: Why Uber uses Google Maps

Say hi to Justin Xiao on LinkedIn here.

To go deeper, join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get:

• Weekly live masterclasses with global experts
• Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app
• Supportive Online Community
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• Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA
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Learning notes from this episode:

• The bit of an app or site you interact with is called a front end. If you can touch it, swipe it or speak to it, it is a front end. The front end is a computer that speaks to humans.

• The front end is like your sensory organs: eyes, ears and mouth.

• The back end (the server side) is the bit of the app that you cannot interact with yourself: it is a computer that only talks to computers.

• The server is the brain of your operation: it enables communication and stores data.

To participate in Sophia's workshop on 15 May, register here.

Resources mentioned in the episode:

• Article The Non-Techies Guide to Servers by Hackernoon
• TFNT Podcast ep 37 APIs: Why Uber Uses Google Maps
• TFNT Podcast ep 32 What Developers Do: Front End vs Back End

To go deeper, join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get:

• Weekly live masterclasses with global experts
• Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app
• Supportive Online Community
• Library of masterclasses
• Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA
• Exclusive Resources & Perks

Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership

Say hi to Sophia on Twitter.

Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.

Learning notes from this episode:

• The new breed of tech successes today value people who have a strong understanding of the user, not only engineering.
• Many of the technologies underlying the products we use today are not as frontier as they used to be. This means that products compete on their usability, not just on functionality.
• Learn to think like a designer researching an idea. Study people. Understand what they want. Once you do that, then you can think of products to build and find people to help you build them.

To go deeper, join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get:

• Weekly live masterclasses with global experts
• Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app
• Supportive Online Community
• Library of masterclasses
• Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA
• Exclusive Resources & Perks

Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership

Say hi to Sophia on Twitter.

Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.

Learning notes from this episode:

• Technical debt is the mess that gets left over from writing code and should be regularly cleaned up in order for the engineering team to work properly.

• Alexandre suggests thinking of the tech development process like a restaurant kitchen. Having spillage and potato peels dropping on the floor is a normal part of the cooking process. But if you do not have a regimen to clean up, you will end up with a filthy kitchen that will affect your food (i.e. your product) and your customers will get sick.

• Non-techies need to know that technical debt exists and that time needs to be buffered in to the development team's work to run this clean-up effort regularly. This has an implication on cost because product development cost isn't just about releasing new features, it is also cleaning up technical debt.

Learn more about Stepsize here and say hi to Alexandre on Twitter.

If you want to transition into tech, but you are not sure how, join Sophia's FREE masterclass on How To Transition Into A Career In Tech on 26 April 2021.

You will see five different case studies of successful career transitions and get the chance to ask your questions live.

To go deeper, join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get:

• Weekly live masterclasses with global experts
• Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app
• Supportive Online Community
• Library of masterclasses
• Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA
• Exclusive Resources & Perks

Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership

Say hi to Sophia on Twitter.

Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.

Key learning notes from this episode:

• A product is a solution to a problem someone is experiencing. The goal of your product is to solve that problem.
• Different products focus on different metrics, because they are solving different problems. For example, Airbnb measures the number of nights booked, but Facebook focusses on daily active users.
• Product goals are not the same as business goals. Business goals relate to money, product goals relate to solving a problem. It is then up to you to figure out how to make money from solving the problem, and thus link product metrics to business metrics.

If you want to transition into tech, but you are not sure how, join Sophia's FREE masterclass on How To Transition Into A Career In Tech on 26 April 2021.

You will see five different case studies of successful career transitions and get the chance to ask your questions live.

To go deeper, join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get:

• Weekly live masterclasses with global experts
• Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app
• Supportive Online Community
• Library of masterclasses
• Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA
• Exclusive Resources & Perks

Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership

Say hi to Sophia on Twitter.

Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.

Learning notes from this episode:

• Venture capitalists have three main jobs: sourcing deals and investing, raising capital for their own funds and helping the start-ups in their portfolio.
• Early stage investing, like early stage start-ups, is risky. In the early stages, companies are still finding structure and product market fit. This makes them the right environment for some people, but completely wrong for others. Knowing yourself and where you thrive is important to get this right.
• Venture capital and entrepreneurship are both united by delayed gratification. The returns can be high, but it will take years to get there and they are not certain. This is why finding the job interesting is essential.

If you want to transition into tech, but you are not sure how, join Sophia's masterclass on How To Transition Into A Career In Tech on 26 April. You will see five different case studies of successful career transitions and get the chance to ask your questions live.

To go deeper, join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get:

• Weekly live masterclasses with global experts
• Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app
• Supportive Online Community
• Library of masterclasses
• Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA
• Exclusive Resources & Perks

Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership

Say hi to Sophia on Twitter.

Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.

Learning notes from this episode:

The no code movement is the idea that you can build a digital product using existing tools, which you assemble together without writing any of your own code. It includes everything from website and app builders like Bubble, to tools that automate e-commerce processes and marketing, like Mailchimp.

Building a simple solution using tools that are already out there, means that you can get it into users' hands, get feedback and see if there is a business case.

No code solutions will only get you to a certain point because their functionality is limited. If your initial tests show that there is a market need for your tech enabled solution, you will have to develop your own technology.

There are four spaces on the April Sprint: Idea to Action. The first two people to sign up will get the April Sprint at 50% off.

To go deeper, join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get:

• Weekly live masterclasses with global experts
• Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app
• Supportive Online Community
• Library of masterclasses
• Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA
• Exclusive Resources & Perks

Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership

Say hi to Sophia on Twitter.

Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.

Learning notes:

The tech CEO's job is to work with other people who have different skills to reach a clear business aim. It is not to supervise everything or do everything themselves.

You can use technology and data to answer all sorts of business questions, such as:

• Where shall we drill for oil?
• Should we make more lipstick?
• How should we price our product?
• Who are our most profitable customers?

In all of these questions, the aim is to make the business better, not to build tech tools for the sake of it.

In a tech business or a tech product you do not need to have a clear plan for exactly which features to build or what tools to use. This will become clear as you take steps to reach your aim and get user feedback.

If you're loving what you're learning on the podcast, then come join us in the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get:

• Weekly live masterclasses with global experts
• Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app
• Supportive Online Community
• Library of masterclasses
• Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA
• Exclusive Resources & Perks

Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership

Say hi to Sophia on Twitter.

Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.

Learning notes from this episode:

Beri's first hire was a designer, not a developer. He found her through via a recommendation. This is the best way to hire product talent.

Beri has never had a technical co-founder, like most of the successful non-technical founders we've had on TFNT.

Many people get put off starting work on their venture because they do not have a technical co-founder. We keep seeing that this does not have to get in your way.

Beri has worked with various outsourced developers: again, another pattern we see from our other guests.

Fundraising should not be an aim. It can help to build a business, but it is not the only way to do so. Beri suggests asking yourself "How can I get 10 customers with the minimum amount of investment?"

Learn more about IVY here.

To join our live sessions, get join the Tech for Non-Techies membership community. As a community member, you'll get:

• Weekly live masterclasses with global experts
• Mini-course on how to go from idea to live app
• Supportive Online Community
• Library of masterclasses
• Monthly live coaching with Sophia Matveeva, tech entrepreneur & Chicago Booth MBA
• Exclusive Resources & Perks

Learn more and sign up at https://www.techfornontechies.co/membership

Say hi to Sophia on Twitter.

Following us on Facebook and Instagram will make you smarter.