As a non-technical person with two technical co-founders, I found this to be a great list. Here are a few more from my experience as the non-technical founder:
1. The ability to explain things in simple, non-technical terms, even though the issues are usually neither of that. My company builds really cool things -- I need to sell those things to keep it alive. Without co-founders who can help me understand the details and speak at intelligently about our technology, I couldn't do half the pitches I do.
2. The willingness to do technical work "beneath them.". It's grand if your partner is a super talented developer, however, in a startup, they won't be able to always work on the exciting stuff due to bandwidth, and you'll need someone who is willing to deign to do some of the not so fun stuff. For example, the more technical of my partners will still pitch in with simple CSS and HTML tweaks when the rest of the team is stretched thin. His willingness to occasionally do BS that he did in his early teens allows us to keep moving forward with happy clients.
3. Patience and politeness! Your technical co-founder needs to have an attitude that makes them approachable and not intimidating. Staff and yourself need to feel comfortable asking them questions, even dumb ones.
The willingness to do work "beneath you" is a fundamental requirement for any founder really in my opinion. Besides the trivial advantages (tedious minor things get done too) it sets an example for the employees.
When I was studying mechanical engineering, I was doing a summer internship in a medium sized industrial plant in southern France. Every now and then, the owner of the company got into a forklift and did warehouse duties himself, just like his workers. This is a very old trick in the book.
Oh, most definitely. I think most of my requirements could be extended to just about any founder. I still spend probably 10% of my time making simple text changes in our CMS.
1. The ability to explain things in simple, non-technical terms, even though the issues are usually neither of that. My company builds really cool things -- I need to sell those things to keep it alive. Without co-founders who can help me understand the details and speak at intelligently about our technology, I couldn't do half the pitches I do.
2. The willingness to do technical work "beneath them.". It's grand if your partner is a super talented developer, however, in a startup, they won't be able to always work on the exciting stuff due to bandwidth, and you'll need someone who is willing to deign to do some of the not so fun stuff. For example, the more technical of my partners will still pitch in with simple CSS and HTML tweaks when the rest of the team is stretched thin. His willingness to occasionally do BS that he did in his early teens allows us to keep moving forward with happy clients.
3. Patience and politeness! Your technical co-founder needs to have an attitude that makes them approachable and not intimidating. Staff and yourself need to feel comfortable asking them questions, even dumb ones.