The Tuesday Roundup
Last week, I shared my tips for building software as a non-technical founder. For this week’s Tuesday Roundup, I’m going to offer some resources that may help you put those tips into action.
The first tip I shared was to build visuals that clearly communicate what you want. One of the best ways to do this is by creating wireframes with a tool like Balsamiq. You don’t have to be an amazing artist to create good wireframes, but you may need to practice a bit before your wireframes are clear enough to send off to your developer. Balsamiq’s Wireframing Academy has lots of resources that will be helpful.
I also discussed the usefulness of using project management tools with your development team. One of the ones I’ve used and recommend is Trello. They have some great software engineering-specific resources on their website, including this post with sample boards that might help you get started on your own project management tool.
While you may be nontechnical, it’s still important to start familiarizing yourself with the tools your development team is using. This Hubspot tutorial will give you some background and first steps on GitHub. It also links out to some other helpful resources, like this overview of basic commands. You don’t need to reach the same level of proficiency as your development team, but you should start learning enough to understand the status of the project.
Daily standups play a big role in keeping you and your development team in sync. It can be a little daunting to start leading such a focused, efficient meeting. This guide from Atlassian gives some helpful tips to run your standups, including some examples of how their team does standups. You certainly don’t have to follow these exactly, but they should be a helpful starting place.
I hope these resources add some context and help you take action in response to last week’s newsletter. If I missed any essential resources for non-technical founders, let me know here or on Twitter (@sotulana).