This month we’re featuring a guest post from one of our Founders and Tanooki PM Noelle Francois. 

My name is Noelle and I’m the co-founder and Executive Director of Heat Seek , a hardware/software startup that builds web-connected temperature sensors to help tenants prove when they’re not receiving adequate heat in their apartments in the wintertime. I took a fairly non-traditional route to become a startup founder, and prior to starting Heat Seek, I had no experience with tech entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship and social impact are hot topics, so how does one break in if you’re not technical? Where should you start?The following is advice I’d give to other non-technical folks looking to break into tech entrepreneurship.

First, aim to solve a problem you know intimately. A problem you’ve experienced yourself, and one that you feel passionate about solving. You have a unique perspective on this problem, and are likely a domain expert on this subject and problem.I lived for two years in a freezing row house with windows from the 1920s that we struggled to keep at a livable temperature, no matter how high we turned up the heat. I became an expert in space heaters and electric blankets, and the experience has stayed with me almost a decade later.If you find yourself wondering, “How has no one has solved this yet?” you are on the right track.

It’s unlikely that you are the only one who has ever thought about or worked on this problem. You may have a unique approach, but you’ll benefit immensely from understanding what others have tried before. Learn from their mistakes.Understanding what others have already tried is the only way to really know that your solution is contributing something new and unique. You’re not here to reinvent the wheel. You want to build something that only someone with your particular blend of skills, knowledge, and perspective can dream up.You might also be thinking, “I need a technology focused solution to my problem, and I don’t know the first thing about coding/hardware!”Don’t worry. On to my next point…

Find a partner who can make up for your lack of tech experience. They should be someone you trust. Your partner might be a CTO, or it might be a tech agency like Tanooki Labs. At Heat Seek , we’ve had both.What works for your company will depend on the maturity level of your company. A Google search for “Do I need a CTO?” may lead you to think you absolutely HAVE TO get a CTO, but I advocate for partnering with a tech agency for the following reasons:Crowdsourced product thinking — instead of one brain, you’ll work with a whole team of folks invested in building the best tech possibleStartup guidance — agencies that have been around for a while have seen all kinds of startups, and can help you avoid mistakes they’ve seen founders make in the pastStability — while someone from the agency team might come or go, you’ll always have someone on call who knows your product and can jump in in a pinch

You’ve got a team. You’ve got a problem to solve and a hypothesis about how to do it. Now it’s time to see where the rubber meets the road. Validating your solution early and often is critical to success.Your unique perspective allows you to bring creative new ideas to the table. But you aren’t just building this solution for yourself. Get out there and test it with real people in the community you care about.Testing doesn’t have to be expensive. A nonfunctional (not-coded) prototype someone can click through is often more than enough to demonstrate the value of your solution. Ask tough questions and try and understand as much as you can about whether people will want to use your tool. Once you have something built, go out and watch real people use it. Conduct interviews. Talk to folks! It’s time intensive but absolutely invaluable.

I’ve learned more on my journey with Heat Seek than I can possibly share here. No doubt there is an enormous amount of time, effort, and learning that will go into your new venture, too.I hope you can see from my example that you don’t have to have a degree in computer science or an MBA to be an entrepreneur.The people who live and breathe the problems in their communities are often the best people to solve those problems.What are you waiting for?

Find out more about HeatSeek at https://heatseek.org/.
Find out more about Tanooki Labs at https://www.tanookilabs.com/.

What do you want to build?