When Does a Startup Need Management?
swombat: "Manager" is such a vague term that it's hard to give any useful advice here.I'm going to make an assumption that what you mean is not "product manager" or "project manager" or any other kind of specialised manager, but a "general manager", aka a managing director or CEO of some kind.I read somewhere that start-ups go through 3 phases to become established companies:1) Develop the product (build something that can be sold)2) Sell the product (create a process of selling it that makes money)3) Optimise the money-making process (i.e. squeeze every last drop out of that process).You don't need a non-tech CEO before phase 2, but at that point, if your team is mostly technical, and don't want to learn a whole new field (sales), or feel that they won't get good at it quickly enough, then it might be worth bringing in a CEO with sales experience to help build your ability to sell the product. Selling is a difficult problem, as difficult as building a product, and putting an expert in the lead can make a difference.