Data nerds, computer geeks, science morons, Im speaking to you.
The freaks that push the frontiers of tech every day but still cant keep up with the Kardashians.
The cliche goes further.
And dont even think of appointing such people as a CEO.
Of course, this is a stereotype.
Most techies I know including myself are interesting, multi-faceted people with exciting hobbies and beautiful personalities.
Most techies I know score as high in human skills as they do in their area of technical expertise.
Most techies I know would be fantastic managers and CEOs.
But thats not the point.
The underlying problem is that these cliches exist and that enough people still believe in them.
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This culture of keeping techies out of business is especially strong in Europe and the Middle East.
But it has some foothold in the US and parts of Asia, too.
This culture, however useful it may have been in the past, is causing serious harm.
Not only does it push too many career paths into pre-modeled shapes.
It also hurts the overall economy and its capacity to innovate.
Its about time we debunk the myth that techies cant be great CEOs.
When you think about who is leading these stellar-performing companies, theyre all holders of a tech degree.
Larry Page, Sergei Brin, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg are all techies turned entrepreneurs.
Thats not to say that less technical people cant lead their companies to outstanding growth.
Tim Cook, for example, has beenbusiness-orientedsince the days after hed earned his bachelors degree in industrial engineering.
Other career CEOs do similarly remarkable jobs.
Funnily enough, this phenomenon often doesnt serve as an example to other companies and investors.
Most people acknowledge the existence of techies that excel at business, like the CEOs mentioned above.
But they think that those are outliers and that the statistical norm is that all techies are boffins.
This couldnt be further from the truth.
Not only do techies lead the top-performing companies of today.
History is equally full of examples of tech entrepreneurs.
Thomas Edison,inventorof the lightbulb, is another stellar example.
Other examples includeGeorge Eastman,Marie Curie, and many more.
These are no statistical outliers theyre a clear demonstration that techies are capable of being entrepreneurs.
People without a tech background often put their soft skills forward as an advantage.
Im not saying that humanities are less skillful or sophisticated than sciences.
Thats not to say that techies know everything about humanities.
They, too, get lost when two philosophers discuss the ins and outs of a passage in AristotlesProverbs.
It just so happens that microprocessors contribute more to todays economic growth than the works of Aristotle.
In adata-driveneconomy, techies clearly have an advantage when it comes to their skillset.
Not only can they make use of it when it comes to the product of a tech company.
They also know the customer base pretty well and know about all the strengths and weaknesses of the company.
This puts them in a unique position of expertise.
In hindsight, this was a genius move, but at the time most people thought he was mad.
The third point, long-term commitment, may not apply as much as it used to.
These days, many companies get founded with a possible exit in mind.
There are, however, many other founders who view their company as their lifes work.
Research shows thatintroverts are better leadersanyway.
Indeed,the researchbacks up this standpoint.
As a result, they might block out all advice.
Note that I didnt say that they dont follow advice.
Some of thegreatest business decisionshave been taken against all advice.
Founders should take advice into account, however.
Even if they finally decide against it, they should at least have thought through all the options.
Founders who dont listen to anybody have slim chances of succeeding.
A techie-turned-entrepreneur cant live only for their product; they need to understand the business side, too.
In industry, once youve secured funding, you get to work.
You cant take investments forever instead, you want to be profitable at some point.
Some founders are so in love with product development that they fail to recognize this extra dimension.
A culture where every employee feels welcome and accepted, and where teams work productively and effectively.
Worse even, they might create a culture that is dominated by fear.
This can lead to situations where employees dont talk about problems anymore because theyre scared of being reprimanded.
Eventually, this kind of leadership creates places where nobody wants to work.
The good news is that this last problem can be resolved in many cases through additional training.
As a founder, however, its important to have people who believe in you.
If customers dont believe in you and your product, why should they buy your product?
And if investors dont believe in you, why should they ever hand you a check?
The status quo is that the boffin fallacy is everywhere you look.
Its still hard to make it as a techie.
To some degree, it will always be hard to make it anywhere.
But slowly, people seem to be letting go of the boffin fallacy.
Times are changing, folks.
This article was written byAri Jouryand was originally published onStart it Up.
