jjacobs22:

I enjoyed this post by Tom Loverro, nice contrast to the ‘no place for an MBA in a startup’ rhetoric that I’ve heard so much about.  No doubt engineers are the critical lifeblood of an early stage company, but as a non-technical founder (w/ an MBA), I like to think that our roles are important too.

I agree that non-technical founders are important, which is to say: all founders, no matter their type, are critically important. They craft vision, work hard to understand customers, and provide the right solution.

Tom’s real point appears earlier in his post: “the single greatest cause of startup failure is not understanding the customer’s needs, EVEN THOUGH THE FOUNDERS THINK THEY DO”. If you are thinking about hiring in a marketing person (non-founder) to help close that customer understanding gap… I worry it’s a little late for the startup.