One of the most common questions in the startup space is how to find a technical co-founder to design and build your product. In this episode of Ventures, we discuss in depth both how to become a great startup CTO and to find one in your network. We also talk about the founding story of Stix (https://stix.golf/), a new golf brand focused on middle-market, stylish clubs for the casual golfer.

See below for detailed notes and links to resources mentioned.

You can watch this episode below or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

My guest this week is Gabe Coyne (Co-Founder & CEO of Stix, and General Partner at Prota Ventures) and we cover the following:

2:00 - Gabe intro, his journey of becoming a designer/developer/entrepreneur, co-founding a technology startup, and starting a new golf brand.

14:30 - What advice does Gabe have for young creative people - e.g. out of high school - considering how to educate themselves in design and software development?

23:00 - What was the journey like co-founding Influence Mobile? What were the different stages like of being a CTO of a growing startup?

31:20 - How can a non-technical founder find a technical founder?  What is the best way to find and screen for a CTO of a brand new startup?  

34:26 - How should a non-technical founder think about the spectrum of finding a hero “unicorn” developer (like Gabe) to hiring a shop to build it all?

37:20 - Why startups fail (i.e. founder/team conflict)

38:09 - How do you get into a position where you can become an “angel developer” and work for equity in a bunch of different startups?

41:45 - The Stix founding story, early validation, market positioning, etc..

46:55 - Where can people find out more about Gabe & Stix? https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabecoyne/ and https://stix.golf/