一位技术出身的创始人，为何反对创业公司一开始就招聘程序员？
编者按：本文作者David Pichsenmeister 是澳大利亚最大的协作平台 sharedspaces.at 的创始人，他本身就是个技术男，但是他却在文中反对在创业公司一开始就招聘程序员写代码。
对于很多非技术创始人来说，首先会找一个技术人员去开发产品。但是在很多情况下，这种决定是严重错误的。对创业公司来说，程序员、开发者或者技术联合创始人也会是一种干扰。
技术人员（尤其是之前没有在创业公司工作过的技术人员）所接受的培训主要是让他们集中在搭建系统上，而非创造新产品上。他们的专长是尽己所能编辑高性能、稳定的系统。这是一件好事情，并没有错。
但是在创业早期，你想要的并不是这样的人才。在开发产品（并不是一个技术系统或者代码库）初期，你可能自己对产品并不是太了解。我知道这样说会有点刺耳，但是这只能说明你有了对产品的愿景，以及该产品如何被用户所用，但是并不能反映现实。一开始你只是在做假设，甚至谈不上计划。因此，你必须将精力全部集中在产品上，而不是底层的代码库上。
以PieterLevels为例，他通过简单的 Google Sheet 开启了著名的Nomad List项目。等有了足够的吸引力之后，创建了自己的平台。他的很多其他项目也都采取了这种方式。
另一个示例是Ryan Hoover。他所创建的Product Hunt实际上是由一个简单的邮件简报发展而来的。他还有很多其他的项目都是采用这种方式，并获得了成功。
如果你手里有人们喜欢的东西，那么你没必要一定要做出一件完美的产品。与其花费时间创造一件 “无关紧要” 的东西，不如集中精力做最重要的事情：创造人们会喜欢的产品。
因此项目应该遵循 “无代码原则”，即：一行代码都不要写！如果不写代码，看看你的产品想法能走多远。试图将自己的想法落实到现有平台上。外部的很多平台可能都会满足你的产品需求。如果你能在 “别人的” 平台上吸引一些用户，并且能够获得最初的吸引力，那么你会发现你的方向是正确的。
因此，在开展项目之前，要设定一些原则：
在满足你需求的现有平台上设置项目
吸引用户
学习
经历小型失败（=抛弃，从头再来）
它会逼迫你从每个创业公司最为困难的任务开始——寻找用户。通过遵循上述原则，你不可能一再拖延，或者让自己忙于 “不重要的” 事情，如设计、写代码，等等。你只会关注寻找用户，让他们使用你的产品，并从他们身上进行学习。
此外，如果你在创业初期不得不聘用一名程序员，最好找有创业经验或在创业公司工作过的程序员。不要只看中他们的专业技能，更要看中他们是不是 T 型人才（既有较深的专业知识，又有广博的知识面），以及是否能够与你现有的团队（这是另一个重要的方面）和谐相处。
Programmers are distraction for your startup
(Disclosure: I'm a tech guy by myself)
For many new non-tech founders, usually the first step is to find a tech guy to build the product. But in some cases, that could be a crucial wrong decision. Programmers, Developers or Technical Co-Founders can also be a huge distraction for your startup.
Tech guys (especially when they haven't work in a startup before) are trained to focus on building a system rather than a product. Their main expertise is to program a system in the most performant and stable way they can. This is actually a good thing and there's nothing wrong about that.
But it might not be the kind of guy you want to have in your startup when it's still early stage. You are in the beginning of developing a product (not a technical system or a codebase!), which means you probably not even know your product by yourself. I know, that sounds harsh, but it's very likely that you have an imagination of your product and how it's used by your users, that doesn't reflect reality. The only thing you have in the beginning are assumptions, not even plans. Therefore you really have to focus hard on your product and not the underlying codebase.
One of the best examples is Pieter Levels. He started his famous project calledNomad List with a simple Google Sheet. At some point he got enought traction to build is own platform. He also did this with several other projects.
Another great example is Ryan Hoover. He started Product Hunt as a simple Email Newsletter. There are plenty more of projects who were build like this and are now successful.
You don't need a perfect product if you have a something that people want. Instead of procrastinating and building nice-to-haves, focus on the most important thing: building a product people will love.
That's why your project should start with the "No-code-principle", which means: Do not write a single line of code! See how far you can get with your product idea without writing code. Try to build your idea on an existing platform. There are plenty of platforms out there, which have features that might fit well with your product idea. If you can attract a few users and get some initial traction on a "foreign" platform, you can see that you are on the right track.
That's why we have set up a few principles when starting a project:
Set up your project on an existing platform which fits best for your needs
Attract users
Learn
Build or Microfail (= discard, restart at Step 1)
It forces you to start with tasks which, in my opinion, are the hardest to achieve for every startup - getting traction. By following this principle, you are not able to procrastinate or keep yourself busy with "unimportant" work like design, code or whatsoever. Your only focus is to find users, make them use your product and learn from them.
P.S. If you have to hire a programmer in an early stage startup, prefer the ones who have founded or worked in a startup before. Don't only proof their technical skills, furthermore proof their T-shaped skills and if they fit well into your current team (which is another crucial part!).
本文编译自：tightstartup.com
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