The Essential Skills of Starting a Tech Company

I was reading this  article by John Saddington yesterday on being a “Full Stack Founder”, and it prompted me to think through all of the skills required as a founder of a tech company (in addition to the general willingness to learn anything you need to learn and do anything that comes up as John talks about).

To start a tech company, you’re going to need to be able to do the following, at a minimum:

• Create a working financial model in Excel / Google Sheets
• Read, create and understand basic financial statements
• Run a marketing campaign in Facebook / Google
• Manage an email list through MailChimp
• Write copy and content reasonably well
• Set up a website using WordPress (or similar tools) to capture leads
• Communicate clearly and concisely via email and in person
• Give a public presentation about your company
• Build your personal network
• Understand how to build tech products (by reading this blog)
• Maybe even write a little code

In short, you have to be an accountant, a marketer, a sales rep, a developer, a content writer, and an IT manager, and most of all a humble student.

I highlighted the first two because, at it’s core, business is about creating value, and you measure that value using money. It’s remarkable to me how many people start a company and don’t understand how money flows through a company.

I highlighted the skill of understanding development because without it you’re like a contractor who doesn’t understand how a house gets framed.

Your Assignment

Pick the three things on my list that you’re worst at and make a firm commitment to yourself to learn something about each of them over the next two weeks. Tell someone else what you’re working on and what you hope to have accomplished, and ask them to ask you about it.