Ask HN: Who are the most successful non-technical founders of tech companies?

3 points by regnum 14y ago ↗ HN

After learning that Dennis Crowley started both Foursquare and Dodgeball as a non-technical founder, I am curious to know if there are any others.

6 comments

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timmm 14y ago ↗

Reddit's founder Alexis Ohanian was not technical at all, he just took care of PR/marketing.

Incidentally I graduated from the same high school as Dennis Crowley, from what I've gathered he was pseudo technical - he had the domain knowledge and had built products but hired others to build those particular products you named.

timmm 14y ago ↗

I also think some of the most successful iphone app companies are founded by non-technical people who outsource their software development.

[dead] shahedkhan30 14y ago ↗

I believe Kevin Rose is non-technical as well, he plays more on the Product side for Milk, as well as Digg.

dholowiski 14y ago ↗

Steve Jobs?

mrkmcknz 14y ago ↗

I would go as far to say in today's meaning of technical Steve wasn't.

I agree.

freshfey 14y ago ↗

Mark Cuban wasn't very technical (although self-taught programmer) and had a multi-million and billion dollar exit before 2000.

The AirBnb founders are designers AFAIK. Jason Fried is non-technical (strong design and writing skills though), as well.