Now what?

How can non-technical people add value to a startup?

Paul Buchheit has a great post on Ideas vs. Judgement and Execution that I think indirectly raises an interesting question…

Imagine that products are mountains. To build a product, you will need to climb that mountain. Some mountains have a big pot of gold at the top, and some do not. In order to make money, you will need to pick the right mountain and then successfully climb to the top and gather up the gold…

Successfully executing a trip to the top of the mountain requires a certain level technical ability — how much will depend on the mountain and route. It also requires good judgment in order to choose the right route, or to change course when you realize that the current path isn’t working out.

Judgment isn’t talked about as much as execution, but it’s obviously very important. A technically brilliant team, upon encountering a sheer cliff, may excitedly think to themselves, “this is the perfect opportunity to use Erlang!”…A team with better judgment would notice that there’s an easier route that goes around the other side.

Are non-technical people less likely to fall into the trap of solving difficult but less valuable problems because they have a different sense of judgement? Asked in a Paul Graham-esque way, are non-technical people better able to determine what people want ?