Tech for Non-Techies

“The business strategies employed by highly successful start-ups and the career strategies employed by highly successful individuals are strikingly similar," says Reid Hoffman in his book The Startup of You. VC premise 1: technology is a tool that solves a problem Ask yourself: what problems is your industry facing now? What problems are you dealing with on day-to-day basis? VC Premise 2: the problem must be important enough to solve Even if the problem exists, it might not be important enough to solve. This is why, you need to think: where is the biggest money drain? Where is the biggest productivity drain? VC premise 3: Invest in the future, not in the now VCs are not investing in today. They are investing in years and even decades ahead. Let’s use the same approach to your career. Does your industry or the company you are working at look promising? Make a plan for how to adjust for future changes. Making a career change always takes longer than we want. VC premise 4: diversify your assets This means doing well in your current role well, and also getting involved with other projects. One of the best ways to do this is to get involved with start-ups, because this helps you understand how innovation works in practice and gives you fresh ideas.  Resources mentioned in this episode: Speak Tech: the top 10 tech concepts for business leaders (FREE GUIDE) Non-Technical Founders Don’t Need to Cod‪e‬ - Sophia's podcast interview with Alexandra Zubko, 3 x tech founder 74. How I got to the top in tech - Sophia's podcast interview with Jennifery Byrne, ex CTO Microsoft US ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- Tech for Non-Techies clients  Reach senior leadership positions in Big Tech firms Lead digital transformation in established businesses Create tech businesses as non-technical founders Pivot into careers in venture capital If you want to have a great career in the Digital Age, then APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL.   What happens when you apply for a consultation call: Sophia and her team will look through your application. If they genuinely think Sophia could help you, you will get a link to her calendar.. You will have a 20 – 30 minute call to discuss your goals and see if you are a good fit for each other.  If we establish that Tech for Non-Techies courses + coaching could help you and believe we would enjoy working together, we will discuss a relevant approach to suit you. The aim of the call is not to sell you on anything that is not right for you. We both win if you get results, but we both lose if you don’t. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. 

Software updates can have weird unintended consequences that the company doesn't even know about. Existing features that worked perfectly can stop working, leading to lost revenues and annoyed customers. Listen to this episode to learn why this happens and how non-technical leaders deal with it when it does. Learning notes from this episode: A developer could write a line of code to affect one outcome, and there could be a completely different unintended outcome that they don’t even know about it. When an app, site or algorithm gets complicated enough, these unintended consequences are more and more likely to happen. To prevent this, make sure that different people test the new version on different devices and browsers. In tech teams, this function is called Quality Assurance. Remember that these unintended consequences are inevitable. The key is to catch them early and correct course. Create a process for your users to quickly tell you if something goes wrong. The beauty of software products is that you can usually get rid of a bug in the system in the next release. The key is to find out about it in the first place. Resources mentioned in this episode: Speak Tech: the top 10 tech concepts for business leaders (FREE GUIDE) The Metaverse: And How it Will Revolutionize Everything by Matthew Ball ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies.  BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. 

Technology is a tool, not an end in itself. The quickest way to bridge the gap between tech and business teams is to relate business outcomes to technology.  Learning notes from this episode: In every company, you always have two sides: the people who make the product, and the people who sell the product. The aim of both sides is to grow the business, but they solve the same problem using different expertise. (It’s like Oceans 11, but legal) As a leader your job is not to know everything, but to set a vision and break it down into goals. You need to learn, but you also need to know when to stop. This is how non-technical founders build tech ventures and how corporate executives transform traditional organisations into digital leaders. One of the biggest reasons non-technical leaders struggle to collaborate with their technical counterparts is fear that they will not understand what the technologists are talking about. To solve, this, you need to learn to Speak Tech. A quick hack, even without knowing any tech concepts, is to relate business outcomes to technology. Most tech tools help companies achieve these four business aims: Reach scale Increase efficiency Increase customer satisfaction Improve security You can start learning how to become a Digital Leader today by asking your tech colleagues how their work impacts these four areas.   Join our next FREE Training on 28 September, 12 pm EDT / 5 pm BST How To Speak Tech For Leaders Previous class attendees said: “Super helpful content that can be applied to a wider range of professions, presented in a fun, personable way.” “Love presenter's extensive knowledge and experience, and use of concrete examples to convey points” “Presenter brought energy, humor & clarity.” “The inspiration I needed to hear the stories of non-tech people getting involved in tech.” Sign up here.   ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies.  BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. 

"Successful entrepreneurs don't have better ideas, they have a better process," says Eric Reis in The Lean Start-Up. To learn how to innovate with speed, listen to this week's episode. Learning notes from this episode: “A start-up is a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty,” says Reis. Do not to apply your corporate experience to start-ups. Corporates have: Departments A known business model A known problem Start-ups have: 3 people and a dog No proven business model A problem hypothesis To test new ideas in conditions of extreme uncertainty, follow the Build-Measure-Learn cycle. (Pictured here) This process is not only for tech products. Use it to invent new products and services, and if you get traction with existing tools, then consider investing in tech. If you do not have a technical background, you will not know how to build a product so you could measure and learn. This is why The Lean Start-Up is a great theoretical guide to innovation, but does not present a clear path to product for non-technical innovators. The Non-Technical Founder's Introduction To Tech course shows how to apply Build-Measure-Learn in practice.    Join our next FREE Training on 28 September, 12 pm EDT / 5 pm BST How To Speak Tech For Leaders Previous class attendees said: “Super helpful content that can be applied to a wider range of professions, presented in a fun, personable way.” “Love presenter's extensive knowledge and experience, and use of concrete examples to convey points” “Presenter brought energy, humor & clarity.” “The inspiration I needed to hear the stories of non-tech people getting involved in tech.” Sign up here. ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies.  BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. 

When investing in Deep Tech, remember that technology is just a tool, not an end in itself. Understanding who will use it and why is key to becoming smart money. Learning notes from this episode: When investing in any business, you must consider these questions: What problem are you solving? Who are you solving it for? Are they willing and able to pay for it? Understand what stage of the innovation cycle the start-up is in. This will help you evaluate risk properly. For example, the first lab grown burgers were unaffordable for most people. The risk at that stage was not whether the product can be made, but whether it can be made at a cost that would allow wide scale sales. Get a technical expert to evaluate the start-up’s invention and help you understand their risk. Take note if no other deep tech investor is involved. This is what happened with Theranos. Prominent biotech VCs passed on the round because they had the expertise to know that what Elizabeth Holmes was promising could not be built. One of the best ways to learn about Deep Tech investing is to attend accelerator demo days. Listen to start-up pitches and take note of what experienced deep tech investors are asking about. For example, you could start with the Duality accelerator ran by the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center, which focusses on quantum computing start-ups. Resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 4. What Non-Technical Founders Need to Know About Tech (interview with David Segura) Episode 31. How To Transition Into Venture Capital Episode 114. What is Deep Tech?     ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies.  BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. 

Great technology is not enough to build a successful business. You need customers who understand its benefits, and are willing to pay for them. This is why storytelling is a key part of commercialising innovation. Lauren Xandra, Head of Marketing at Two Sigma Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in deep tech, talks about her role in building successful tech businesses and how she transitioned career into deep tech. Learning notes from this episode: "Just as important as supporting startups' technical growth, is helping them to be understood and able to tell a story that no only resonates with their end users, but also with potential corporate partners and outside investors, who are often less technical," says Lauren. Venture Capital is usually a job that people transition into, rather than start their careers in. 68% of venture capitalists in the US have backgrounds in start-ups, according to research by Diversity VC. "Making a strategic career move requires thinking entrepreneurially," says Lauren. This means investing time and effort into activities that will pay off in the long run, but not today, like volunteering for start-ups or accelerators. Resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 114. What is Deep Tech? Episode 103. How I got into deep tech investing (with Colin Beirne, Two Sigma Ventures) Episode 108. How to work with a data scientist ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies.  BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter. 

Companies like Deep Mind fascinate investors and innovators, but what is a deep tech company really and how does it differ from other types of tech firms? Listen to this episode to find out. Learning notes from this episode: Deep Tech is a sub-sector of the technology sector where the emphasis is on tangible engineering innovation or scientific advances and discoveries. It includes artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, advanced material science, photonics and electronics, biotech and quantum computing.  Deep Tech is usually B2B: these companies usually sell their innovations to other businesses, rather than directly to consumers. Deep Tech companies are usually founded by technical founders, and sometimes have non-technical co-founders who help them commercialise the innovation. A good example is biotech tech start-up Vitro Labs, where a scientist teamed up with a fashion industry expert to create laboratory grown leather. The biggest risk to Deep Tech companies is getting over-excited by technological innovation at the cost of seeing whether the new technology is creating any actual value.  “The winning company is not always the one with the best technology. Tech can be a differentiator, but usually it’s only temporary. The job of a venture capitalist is not to figure out which company has the best tech. It’s to figure out which company has the best business that can ultimately be the biggest impact,” said Colin Beirne, co-founder of Two Sigma Ventures, a deep tech investor. Resources mentioned in this episode: Episode 103. How I got into deep tech investing (with Colin Beirne, Two Sigma Ventures) Tech Target: Deep Mind ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies.  BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.   

The porn industry is behind many of the innovations that drive e-commerce and the consumer internet today. If you want to know what new trend is going to be the hottest thing in tech, the makers of smut probably have the answer. Learning notes from this episode: The adult industry pioneered streaming video, tracking devices and online credit card transactions. Even before the advent of the internet, porn drove consumer tech. Author Patchen Barss  says that without porn, the VCR might have never taken off as a consumer product. Pornographers are not necessarily the inventors of new technologies, but they are  the first to use them and thus drive consumer adoption. Once a technology works for porn users, they often flow down to the mainstream. If you are a tech investor or a tech innovator, seeing what new products or use cases are happening in the adult industry, can help you spot the next big trend. The more you can pick up ideas from wherever they come from, regardless of whether they are from culturally approved places, the more creative you will be in your work. Resources mentioned in this episode: Business Insider: How porn drives innovation in tech Web root: internet Pornography by the Numbers Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age, by Frederick Lane  The Erotic Engine, by Patchen Barss   Join the The Non-Technical Founders Introduction to Tech workshop You will learn: The framework for how to go from idea to live product Product management fundamentals How to work with developers effectively How and when to hire a product team ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies.  BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.   

A tech start-up begins its life with a tiny team. The founders are either technical or tech savvy, but as the company scales its team has to change.  Learn about the three stages of start-up team growth here. Learning notes from this episode: At stage 1, the start-up is focussed on building its first product and getting the first customers. The team is usually tiny, and each team member is either building the technology themselves or is very closely involved in the process. Everyone learns from each other on the job. At stage 2, the start-up has raised Series A or Series B and is focussed on scaling. This is when specialists in non-technical fields start getting hired: HR experts, sales people etc. The gap between the techies and the non-techies widens, and this is where opportunities get lost. At stage 3, the start-up is a late stage venture and is either preparing for a merger or an IPO. At this point, the original founder is very unlikely to be the CEO. According to analysis by Harvard Business School professor Noam Wasserman: “by the time the ventures were three years old, 50% of founders were no longer the CEO; in year four, only 40% were still in the corner office; and fewer than 25% led their companies’ initial public offerings.”  Resources mentioned in this episode: Harvard Business Review: The Founders' Dilemma by Noam Wasserman Join the The Non-Technical Founders Introduction to Tech workshop You will learn: The framework for how to go from idea to live product Product management fundamentals How to work with developers effectively How and when to hire a product team   Listen here on Apple Podcasts Listen here on Spotify ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies.  BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co   Say hi to Sophia on Twitter and follow her on LinkedIn. Following us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will make you smarter.  (Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash)

The biggest difference between business to business and consumer facing ventures is how they grow. The growth curve and costs of B2B vs B2C growth is what surprises (and sinks) many start-ups. Learning notes from this episode: Consumer to business start-ups growth through paid marketing. If you launch a consumer app on the Apple App Store, expect to pay around 40% of the money you raise on Facebook advertising. Business to business start-ups grow through sales. Sales is much more dependent on relationships and human interaction, than digital marketing.  In the early stages of a B2B start-up's life, the founder is usually the one doing sales outreach. Both approaches have serious costs. Do not make the mistakes that because marketing requires money and sales requires elbow grease, that sales is free. Always remember opportunity cost: if you are doing something, you are not doing something else.   ----- If you like learning about how tech products and profits get made, you'll like our newsletter. It's funny too. Sign up here. ----- There are 2 ways to apply this work to your goals: For individuals, APPLY FOR A CONSULTATION CALL for Tech For Non-Techies membership. For companies: If you want to increase productivity, innovation and diversity, then your non-technical teams need to learn how to collaborate with the techies.  BOOK A CALL to discuss bespoke training & consulting. We love hearing from our readers and listeners. So if you have questions about the content or working with us, just get in touch on info@techfornontechies.co