So let me get this straight: to be valued in a startup you have to actually do the coding or design? There's a lot to be said for the value of vision and passion. They are probably the only two things you can't hire.
To be clear, this isn't directed specifically at the person who wrote the blog post but from my point of view to be valued in the startup you have to do more than tell everyone else what to do. Passion and vision are great, but you should be able to use these to practical value. Anyone can say "let's make this really awesome video game where you can do anything" but unless you are actualy coming up with some practical direction for the team your "vision" is useless.
No one said they just stand there are shout words off a task list.
How many non-technical founders do you know? There are a ton of successful ones out there, and when you meet them [as long as you don't say what you just did] you'll understand why they are successful.
Fair enough. I know a couple of non-technical founders actually and they seem to be focusing on sales and marketing + VC connections. I don't get that impression from some of the founders I'm reading on HN though. I certainly appreciate the stories but the impressions I get, and this may be incorrect, is that they are taking credit for the "design" (in the overall looser sense of the term) of their product when they have just given broad reaching goals and let the actual employees make all the little decisions that make or break the product.
