why <strong>every</strong> software company should have a technical co-founder</a>. But it’s also common for technical founders to be told by investors and advisors that they would benefit from a co-founder with non-technical expertise in things like business or marketing. </p><p>Are they correct? In this episode of <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/library/carousel/Dalton & Michael/">Dalton & Michael</a> we dive into exactly that question.</p><figure class=\"kg-card kg-embed-card\"><iframe width=\"200\" height=\"113\" src=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/43RhhwpiSk0?feature=oembed\%22 frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen title=\"Do Technical Founders Need Business Co-Founders?\"></iframe></figure>","comment_id":"65a03520f55b5d0001807992","feature_image":"/blog/content/images/2024/01/business-co-founder.jpeg","featured":true,"visibility":"public","email_recipient_filter":"none","created_at":"2024-01-11T10:36:16.000-08:00","updated_at":"2024-01-11T11:44:29.000-08:00","published_at":"2024-01-11T11:35:00.000-08:00","custom_excerpt":"Every software company needs a technical co-founder. But what kind of co-founder does the technical founder need?","codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"custom_template":null,"canonical_url":null,"authors":[{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a71085","name":"Dalton Caldwell","slug":"dalton-caldwell","profile_image":"/blog/content/images/2022/02/Dalton.jpg","cover_image":null,"bio":"Dalton is Managing Director, Architect and Group Partner at YC. He was the cofounder and CEO of imeem (acquired by MySpace in 2009), and the cofounder and CEO of App.net.","website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/dalton-caldwell/"}],"tags":[{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71172","name":"Video","slug":"video","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/video/"}],"primary_author":{"id":"61fe29e3c7139e0001a71085","name":"Dalton Caldwell","slug":"dalton-caldwell","profile_image":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/content/images/2022/02/Dalton.jpg","cover_image":null,"bio":"Dalton is Managing Director, Architect and Group Partner at YC. He was the cofounder and CEO of imeem (acquired by MySpace in 2009), and the cofounder and CEO of App.net.","website":null,"location":null,"facebook":null,"twitter":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/author/dalton-caldwell/"},"primary_tag":{"id":"61fe29efc7139e0001a71172","name":"Video","slug":"video","description":null,"feature_image":null,"visibility":"public","og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"codeinjection_head":null,"codeinjection_foot":null,"canonical_url":null,"accent_color":null,"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/tag/video/"},"url":"https://ghost.prod.ycinside.com/why-do-investors-say-you-need-a-business-co-founder/","excerpt":"Every software company needs a technical co-founder. But what kind of co-founder does the technical founder need?","reading_time":1,"access":true,"og_image":null,"og_title":null,"og_description":null,"twitter_image":null,"twitter_title":null,"twitter_description":null,"meta_title":null,"meta_description":null,"email_subject":null,"frontmatter":null,"feature_image_alt":"Y Combinator Group Partners Dalton Caldwell and Michael Seibel in front of the text \"Business Co-founders?\"","feature_image_caption":null},"mentions":[],"related_posts":[{"id":"61fe29f1c7139e0001a71bcd","uuid":"fc4ee9d2-93ac-4052-9d66-b4ce182dd591","title":"ICYMI: Watch 40+ founders pitch at YC's Work at a Startup Expo","slug":"watch-yc-founders-pitch-from-work-at-a-startup-expo","html":"<!--kg-card-begin: html--><p>If you’ve ever wondered what <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.ycombinator.com/demoday/">YC’s Demo Day</a> is like, YC’s annual <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.workatastartup.com/events/startup-career-expo-s20/">Work at a Startup Expo</a> is a peek behind the curtain. Founders share what’s unique about their company, business and team, and attendees get to meet founders 1-1 to learn more. Granted, these pitches are geared a bit more towards hiring and engineering, but the stakes are still high and founders share the same energy and drive as during Demo Day. (And hiring a great early team is often as important as raising an early round.)</p>\n<p>We were lucky to be joined by 40+ founders for this year’s virtual event. There was a wider range of startups, from up-and-coming seed-stage startups like <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.workatastartup.com/companies/13208/">WhatNot and <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.workatastartup.com/companies/13290/">Candid Health</a>, to post-Series A companies <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.workatastartup.com/companies/13097/">Pulley and <a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.workatastartup.com/companies/13227/">Welcome./n
We’re sharing the recording in case people are interested in crafting their pitch, learning about new technology or even joining a YC startup themselves. (Joining a startup is often the best way to learn what it’s like to start your own.) Watch the pitches above, and learn more about the companies and see open positions on YC’s Work at a Startup:</p>\n<p><a href=https://www.ycombinator.com/"https://www.workatastartup.com/events/startup-career-expo-s20/">https://www.workatastartup.com/events/startup-career-expo-s20
/n by
Ryan Choi