I’ve always known that I’ve needed a co-founder, but I haven’t really found one that is interested in what I’m working on, has the same level of commitment, or can put the nose to the grind like I want them do (I’m a workaholic).  Recently however, I finally understand why you really need one.

From a tech point of view, I’ve never really grasped what was needed to get a product off the ground.   Honestly, I always thought the most difficult part of the job was writing the code (and it’s a never ending job).  However, now that I have a better understanding of HOW to get users, executing it is a different matter.  It’s literally just as difficult and time consuming as writing code. This is where your non-tech co-founder comes in.

I should say that because i’m trying to do most of both jobs by myself right now (with some help from wifey), it has given me a better understanding of what I’m now looking for in a co-founder.  What you really need to look for (if you’re a coder) is a person who understands how to market your product.  And not in that bullshit fluffy amorphous definition of marketing (like how most of the blogs i’ve read define it), they need to have a solid concrete marketing/strategy plan that they can execute.

Some the things they’ll need – You’ll need someone who understands what SEO is.  Someone who understands what keywords to target and attack, that your competitors haven’t attacked yet.  if you have some $$ for user acquisition from adwords, they have to understand how to do that.  Aside from that, he/she must write for your blog consistently and frequently.  Not only do they have to write blog postings, they have to comment on other blogs. They have to comment on forums.  They have to reach out to respected leaders in your vertical and speak to them.  They have to also speak out to the industry as a whole, via meetups, speaking arrangements, demos, and if they can, throw their own events on your subject matter.  They have to twitter about interesting things they find on your subject matter.  They have to reach out to other twitterers who also tweet about your subject matter.  They have to consistently pitch blogs to review/post about your product.  Then they have to relay any feedback to you, so you can integrate it into your next development cycle.

But they just can’t do all that without an overall ‘story’.  They need to craft a strategy that they can sell to bloggers who they pitch your story to.  All the marketing has to align with the story you’re trying to paint.   Then comes the press release portion of it.  They need to make sure to release press releases often enough for you to stay relevant and to build to crescendo of some major event/release.

Ok… i think I got most of what I think is necessary in a non-tech co-founder out.  The more and more I get into this game, the more I see why VCs and Angels talk about the team.  You really do have to work in tandem to succeed.  One without the other is REALLY HARD (it’s sort-of what im going through right now).  Luckily I have my wife helping pick up some of the slack, but I would urge every tech out there to find a good co-founder, it just helps with the number of things you have to do.