Programmers employing business people

Question

Some guy with an MBA can hire a programmer or network manager to do all that incomprehensible technical stuff.

Why can't I hire an MBA or two to do all that incomprehensible "people" stuff?

Update : someone just posted me this. http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/DevelopmentAbstraction.html which might be another way of phrasing my question. How can programmers get the infrastructure that Joel talks about here - I mean hire it, or outsource to it - while still staying in control. Instead of going to work for a big company that has the infrastructure but also has someone else calling the shots?

Historic : I wondered why this is getting voted down. Are "business model" or "running software company" questions unwelcome on StackOverflow? (Anyway, it got voted up again so that's alright.)

Answer 1

Go for it! Let us know how it goes!

Answer 2

you can. then the MBA will think he's your boss, and your lack of understanding or appreciation for the 'people stuff' will cause your business to fail.

Answer 3

One problem you have is hiring a good one. Just as a non-technical salesman could never tell the difference between a great developer and a great talker, you can't tell either. Can you afford to hire someone who screws up your company for a year?

Are you sure you need an MBA? I've built a multi-million dollar software company without one, as have many others. If you just need some ideas/direction/advice, I write about business and marketing for geeks, as do Eric Sink, 37signals, ...

If you have to do this, at least hire someone who has done this before. And by "this" I mean: Taken over running a company from an engineer and where that engineer says that in retrospect he'd do it again. They are out there -- I know a few -- but you can't vette them from interviewing alone.

Answer 4

I'd say in these scenarios, you need to develop a social network. Pull in your contacts (whose judgement you trust), see if there are people they can recommend. Get advice from many friends in this area. Don't go for a random MBA off the street, even if the resume looks good.

This isn't a sureproof route, but it will reduce the risk.

Answer 5

Make sure you know what you want the person to do. Do you want someone for HR, for sales, for management? Define the job, then you can find people who meet the requirements for that job, which may or may not require an MBA.

Answer 6

look for programmers that have an MBA => I do and I can still hang out here

Answer 7

Think of the type of problems, you're MBA-guy is supposed to fix. Draw up a few cases/stories about:

• Handle a customer who wants his money back, or better service
• Let him do a sales pitch on whatever,
• See if he can point out conflicting views or interest and how to resolve it