non-tech ceo seeking advice on working w SWEs

New
minted

New

minted
Sep 1, 2019 11 Comments

I recently founded a fintech startup and act as the CEO, I am technical enough to design and strategize product features according to user needs, but cannot code. We are building our engineering team rn and id love to hear from SWEs on what best practices and attitudes theyd expect from a non-coding CEO?

Are there any good books out on managing and cooperating with engineers for the founder who cant code? Im more than willing to do a basic comp sci bootcamp if needed, but the tech is fairly deep ( C++ finance platforms) and im not sure if basic courses will help me much.

Any advice appreciated thanks!

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TOP 11 Comments
  • "technical enough to design features"

    "Cannot code"

    Error.

    I'm skilled enough to design perfectly tasting and beautiful baked goods but not enough to make them.
    Sep 1, 2019 4
    • New
      minted

      New

      minted
      OP
      How about Reid Hoffman, Aaron Levie, Sean rad? Plenty of non-coding founders
      Sep 1, 2019
    • Yes OP. Anything is possible. Point made.

      You have one hell of an ego to compare yourself to those people though. Good luck!
      Sep 1, 2019
  • New / Mgmt
    evejobs

    New Mgmt

    PRE
    Apple
    evejobs
    Get a solid technical founder (CTO) you can trust. You will never know enough to communicate straight to engs in a performant way. What you really need is a technical leader you can trust who can translate the vision into product scoping and make strong architecture decisions. Engineers should then report to him/her, and your technical knowledge never needs to be that deep, focus on your core strengths and how you could use those to benefit the company.
    Sep 1, 2019 0
  • Apple
    TheNiceGal

    Go to company page Apple

    TheNiceGal
    Don’t you have a CTO? This is basically his/her job.
    Sep 1, 2019 0
  • Facebook
    SuperHot🔥

    Go to company page Facebook

    SuperHot🔥
    First piece of advice is not to be a poseur. If you can’t code, you are not technical.
    Sep 1, 2019 3