Do I need a technical co founder to get my MVP?

Test your idea and validate it. If it shows promise build the MVP by paying someone to build it or find a technical cofounder.

Hi Kris,

As you said, you probably already know the answer. Getting visuals / video done to promote your idea is great/necessary/required, but when you do go out to pitch, your audience of investors is not looking at investing in an idea - they are investing in a team.

You need to have the core team together, with the experience required to get the job done - not just a vision. Everyone has ideas, the devil is in the details and execution. So as you already know, you will have to know who the team will be.

There are a few options, however, if you don't have a technical team. A few incubator/investor groups already have development/marketing etc. in-house and can build your idea if they buy into the vision. The downside is that those groups will take 25-50% of your equity off the top which is an awful vantage point to start your venture.

I would suggest looking at your network, looking at people in your area that might be a good fit and recruit the technical team in advance. If I can be of any further help, feel free to reach out to us.

-Greg

greg@realhive.com

Hi Kris,

The MVP is usually a tool to get you closer to your goal in a way that is fast an cheap. So it really depends on what that goal looks like and what you can get away with.

If your goal is to show a non-working or semi-working prototype to an investor or to better illustrate the problem you're trying to solve, then you can probably get away with a tool like Invision.

But if you're trying to create something that actually works, you definately need a technical co-founder (or consultant) with enough experience to guide you.

Best,

Cezar Halmagean

Mix & Go - Helping early-stage startups bring new products to market

mixandgo.com

That is one classic question. Even if you have a technical Co Founder, you will need a trusted product developer. Sometimes, it is better to stay a layman and set you business needs and have checkpoints to verify it your targets are met. So, yes, you need a tech CoFounder.

I am a technical founder with a usability background. This is a question comparing doing the right thing (product market fit) vs. doing things the right way (technical excellence). Having a technically elegant product that no one wants will not satisfy anyone except the programmer's ego. But knowing you have the right feature set and showing excited future customers will attract investors and eager volunteers, including technical people who can take the right design, and do it a better way. So yes, go with in design or marvel for now, find out what people want and then reimplememt later.

It's pretty much like you already know. An MVP is a product, something people have or can use. If you can do this without a technical person, you're good. If you need a technical person, they don't need to be a co-founder but you will need to figure out how to fairly compensate them. If you don't, they may sue for part ownership of your product. Messy.