The document discusses essential concepts in technology development for non-technical founders, covering topics such as types of startups, application development, databases, environments, version control, and deployment. It emphasizes the importance of understanding technical aspects for building and scaling tech products. Key components addressed include identifying risks, understanding app structures, and differentiating between web and native app deployment processes.

1. TECH 4 NON-TECH SERIES
Tech Development:
How it All Fits Together
Alex De Simone
Founder, Caller Zen & Jobr
MS ME‘11, MBA ’16
alexds@stanford.edu
Stanford Graduate School of Business
November 5, 2015
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Survey Results

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Do I need a technical
co-founder?
Summary of Alan Chiu’s previous session…

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1. Which type of startup
are you building?

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Technology
As A Product
Tech-Enabled
Business
Tech-Leveraged
Business
Which type of startup are you building?

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Technology
As A Product
Tech-Enabled
Business
Tech-Leveraged
Business
Which type of startup are you building?
YES MAYBE NO
Technical
Co-founder?

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2. What is your biggest
risk right now?

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2. What is your biggest
risk right now?
=> Focus on it

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Market Execution Technical
What is your biggest risk right now?

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Market Execution Technical
What is your biggest risk right now?
- Can you build it?
- Does it work?
- Can it scale?
- Can you put it in the
hands of users?
- Can you generate
buzz and press?
- Retention/growth?
- Beat competitors?
- Do people want it?
- Will they pay for it?
- Is there a real
need?

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Today, focus on technical
From zero… …To deploy
Blank App ?

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Key Concepts
• Applications
• Databases
• Environments
• Version Control
• Deployment

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What is an App?

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=> A collection of folders and files to be executed
What is an App?

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Text Editor

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2 Types of Applications
1. Web 2. Native
Desktop
Mobile

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Programming Languages To Build Apps
1. Web 2. Native
iOS:
Android:
* many others not included

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Example: Twitter 1.0
Web (desktop & mobile) iPhone and Android apps
iOS:
Android:

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What is a database?

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What is a database?
=> A collection of tables that store your data

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Example: Twitter 1.0
Users Tweets
* many others not included
id name email
pass
word
time
stamp
1 Jane j@...
534dr
229sl
10-11
3:22
2 Rich r@...
2d5s3
4hi1
10-21
8:11
3 Eva e@...
6hs2b
s26
10-4
07:31
id
user
id
tweet
time
stamp
1 2
Hey! This is my
first tweet…
10-11
17:22
2 1
Twitter is
awesome!
10-21
18:11
3 3
Hello World! I’m
on Twitter…
10-24
10:45

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Programming Languages For Databases
* many others not included
Relational Non-Relational

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Example: Twitter 1.0
Web App iOS App
Android
App
MySQL DATABASE

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Example: Twitter 1.0
Web App iOS App
Android
App
MySQL DATABASE
So far, everything is on your local machine…

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What is an environment?

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What is an environment?
=> The system in which an application is executed

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3 Types of Environments
Development Staging Production

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3 Types of Environments
Development Staging Production
- Live version of your
application
- What your customers
interact with
- Replica of production
environment
- Used for testing bugs
- Also known as “local”
or “dev”
- Unique to a computer

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3 Types of Environments
Development Staging Production
- Live version of your
application
- What your customers
interact with
- Replica of production
environment
- Used for testing bugs
- Also known as “local”
or “dev”
- Unique to a computer
NOTE: Each environment may have different versions
of an application and its database!

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What is version control?

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What is version control?
=> A system that records changes made
to your application over time

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Version Control
- Git generates a snapshot in time of your entire application
- Saves the history of changes made & who made the change
- Used for all environments (dev, staging, production)

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Version Control
Apps
MySQL DB
local
“git push”
repository (cloud)

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https://www.railstutorial.org/book

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How does my app go live?

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How does my app go live?
=> Deployment for a web app is different
than a native app, and may have different
timeframes

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Web App Deployment
Web App “git push”
Server
(cloud)Local
* Assuming you don’t use your own servers. Many others not included

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Native App Deployment
Native App
PlatformLocal
* Assuming you don’t use your own servers. Many others not included
Submit for approval

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Native App Deployment
Native App
PlatformLocal
* Assuming you don’t use your own servers. Many others not included
Submit for approval
NOTE: The approval process for native apps can take over 2 weeks.

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Concepts Covered
From zero… …To deploy
Blank App
• Applications
• Databases
• Environments
• Version Control
• Deployment

41. TECH 4 NON-TECH SERIES
Tech Development:
How it All Fits Together
Alex De Simone
Founder, Caller Zen & Jobr
MS ME‘11, MBA ’16
alexds@stanford.edu
Stanford Graduate School of Business
November 5, 2015
41