Ch. 4 What Every Non-Technical Founder Should Know About DevOps A non-technical founder can run a successful IT or software development company without much programming knowledge or in-depth IT expertise. However, a founder still needs to understand the important jargon and details so that they can keep track of what their more technical employees are building. In this chapter, we will help non-technical entrepreneurs by detailing what DevOps at a startup entails and how the different elements of DevOps combine in a software-based business product. Additionally, we will cover other tech knowledge that non-technical founders need to understand to run their business more efficiently. Overview of DevOps at a Startup DevOps is the convergence of development processes with operations. The advantage is that there’s no need for separate teams to communicate back and forth if a product requires changes. In a DevOps team, members with different strengths and skillsets collaborate to build a product. DevOps also facilitates automation, as many tasks in a startup require repetition. These jobs include data collection, approvals, updates, and more. The DevOps team can use computer algorithms to automate redundant processes to eliminate human mistakes and enable the IT team to focus on more important work. DevOps needs are different for each company, and every firm needs to figure out what they require. 26