It is possible to startup a sucessful software company without being a programmer?

It has advantages and disadvantages.

The advantages are:

• That you are not side tracked from your business goals by new shiny ways of doing things.
• That you have a large amount of the skills a developer doesn't have, (Marketing being one of my main issues).
• For me the writing of the code is the easy bit, all the other stuff, like engaging with the market, doing pitches, getting known through the media, managing the finaces, hiring and firing, being visable ... thats what I find challenging ... if you have a lot of these covered then your in good shape.

The disadvantages

• Developers think differently and in detail, if you are not used to it you may struggle to manage them.
• You have to rely on a developer who may or may not be on the same page as you.
• Not knowing the details about implementation means you are unable to help when the site stops working and you are loosing money ... You can hire the skills but its not the same as being able to think through the problem yourself from the beginning.

Approaches you may take:

• Find a technical co-founder. This is a "key brain" who is going to be on the same track as you and help naviagte your ship from the technical side. As you say the world is full of developers, but much rarer as developers who think from a business standpoint ... finding, attracting and working with one may be hard.
• Find a contractor/developer. If you have a very solid project, broken down into 2 week to a month "mini-projects" and you can hand out each one as a discrete entity then you can manage and work with a contractor or general developer. The level of detail I describe is high but it is required if you don't really know what your getting when you start ... assuming the developer "gets it" is your fastest way to failure ... not because developers OR you are stupid but because they just have a different view of the world, different experience and differnt set of priorities.

(Full disclosure, this is what my company does, I will try to be as unbiased as possible)

• Find a development company. This is a good option if you have the funding, they have all the established practices, systems and teamwork already, you don't have to waste time working out all the "surrounding details". You will need a solid specification or find a company who is big on doing this before you start ... DO NOT commit to a development until you can walk through wire frames and have a good design. The key issues you will face
  • Upfront development costs are typically higher, but for good reason. They can scale up to more people easily, they have huge amounts of library code/standards/processes which get you there faster and more coheseively, especially the larger the project the more you consider this option.
  • Not their sole priority. Obviously they have other clients and if you can't commit they have no choice but to reassign people to whereever the money is coming from ... this can be very good and very bad all in one ... if you don't have any more work for 3 months, it doesn't cost you that much and you still have kept the "domain knowledge" (a major problem when swapping contractors). If you need a big thing RIGHT NOW then it may be hard or costly to get it as the resources are reassigned ... often though there is an ability to shuffle.
• Find a Venture Development company / technical partner. These are typically development companies who will perform the same roles as the 2 above and add in contacts to the Venture Capital community and hopefully some more experience you can draw on. They are looking for people with ideas and drive who can be the public face, business drive and the "industry expertise".
  • Their good points are they usually can get the development done quickly, understand the trends in the industry, help guide you through the issues and understand the business need
  • Their bad points are that they typically want more ownership in your company than you may have given to a technical co-founder. They are backing several companies so are not solely focused on just your idea ... which means that you need to be on the ball more as far as the product is concerned over a technical co-founder, but less than a developer.

How to ensure you remain owning your idea.

• Divide and conquour Break the problem down into bite sized bits and pay for each bit, source code and all. Basically if you can break the design down into small subsets and hand over enough or have several developers work on "areas" you effectively are the only one who holds the entire solution.
• Draw them to your side. Give the developer shares in the company,his has 2 key benefits, firstly they are now motivated by the same things you are and it ensures the longer term "investment" from them ... which is a key thing you need after you have released as they will be the one who knows the details.
• Describe the IP and take out a patent or copyright. For specific classes of idea/problem you can take out protection for the idea ... this is somewhat expensive and painful but if its the right sort of thing then you can protect it.
• Own your market. Any developer who doesn't have a good idea themselves and needs to steal yours are likely not to have the marketing and business skills required ... if you own your market and your side of the equation then their side won't go as well as yours.
• Worldwide scope. Depending on your developers background, your risk of losing the idea will vary pick a suitable one ... if you don't then it isn't the end of the world, they may put it into their language or take it in a different direction ... its annoying and "not right" but practically your ability to address 100% of the worldwide market in the next 3-5 years is as close to nothing as makes no odds. Pretty much every very successful website has 3 or 4 rip offs in different languages and different cultures.