Hot Take: You don't need to be technical to build a tech company

When Nomiki Petrolla founded PDS Lab, a product accelerator helping women build tech, she gathered data from hundreds of non-technical female founders to prove that you don't need to be technical to create a software solution.

Prior to helping women build tech, Nomiki worked with early-stage startups for 15+ years, building and designing software. Her software has been used by millions and generated billions in revenue. Needless to say, she has a lot of perspective on what it really takes to build something in tech.

In learning from these women building solutions for both B2B and B2C markets, Nomiki found that where there is a will, there is a way:

• 28% built their MVPs in less than three months!
• 73% that raised funds had a product in the market first
• 58% bootstrapped their businesses to success

Each female founder she spoke with shared one trait: they were exceptional problem solvers.

So, when they lacked access to resources and education in software development, they sought other solutions to bring their MVPs to life.

What’s an MVP? An MVP is a minimum viable product of your offering. This version of your software is the scrappiest your product will ever be. It's not intended to be perfect, it just needs to solve a deep pain point for your customers.

And guess what... You don't need to be technical to build it (with exceptions of course).

If your solution solves a problem that makes your customers' lives easier, it doesn't matter if it uses the latest tech stack or has a fancy algorithm in the backend. The whole goal of an MVP is to prove that what you're building is needed and that people are willing to pay for it.

Here are some examples of MVPs:

• Excel sheet with formulas
• Landing page with clear messaging
• Text messaging service for reminders
• Productized service as a subscription
• Community platforms and forums

Ultimately, building a tech solution isn't about being an engineer; it's about solving problems. And if you can solve problems really well and wrap them up with some out-of-the-box tools, then you've essentially bypassed the biggest obstacle.

An Important Note: don't let the fear of not knowing how to get started stop you from starting in the first place.