Launching a startup? Don't learn to code.

I've been a coder for a long time and founded multiple startups. I've been successful, but I might have been a lot more successful if I never learned to code.

Don't get me wrong. I love coding. That's the problem.

When you're a technical founder — you tend to spend almost all of your time coding. It's what we know, love and do best. So, it's our default mode.

The problem is, there is a lot more to building a successful tech company than writing code. In fact, knowing how to code will have a lot less to do with your success than you might think.

Sure, the coding is important. However, finding the right market fit, figuring out a repeatable sales model and building a killer team are more important.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with wanting to learn how to code — unless what you really want is to build a successful tech startup.

I hear a lot of people say that everyone should learn to code. I disagree — especially for non-technical founders. In fact, the best advice I could give a non-technical founder is DON'T LEARN TO CODE.

The general mission for any startup founder is to figure out how to go further, faster with less. Is learning to code the best way for you to make that happen? Probably not.

While I don't believe non-technical founders need to learn how to write code, it's extremely valuable to learn more about the higher-level aspects of developing technical products.

For example, learning about technical project management, team management and product marketing. The time you spend learning about these things will be exponentially more valuable than any time you spend learning how to code.