How to Launch an App as a Non-Tech Founder
- Ariana Hakman
- Apr 23
- 4 min read
I am not a techy person. In fact, I’m a late adopter of tech—I wait until I'm basically forced to go with the new. I was born in an age before cell phones, when kids played outside until the streetlights came on. And sometimes, I think we were better off that way.
But if you want to grow, you have to adapt. And whether we like it or not, technology has become deeply woven into every part of our lives.
There’s never been a piece of technology like the smartphone—something we keep within five feet of ourselves 24/7/365. It’s how we learn, communicate, do business, and show up in the world.
So, when you want to change the world—no matter what industry you’re in—it only makes sense to look to the app market.
I never thought I’d be an app founder. And yet, here I am—creator of a health and fitness app that’s live, growing, and making a real impact. If you're a non-tech entrepreneur thinking about building an app, I want to give you the honest, behind-the-scenes version of what it took to get here.
Spoiler alert: It’s not easy. But it’s absolutely doable.
I Developed an App Because I Had To
I didn’t set out to create an app to make money. I built it to solve a problem—and fill a hole I saw in the market.
When COVID hit, my gym shut down. We livestreamed our workouts and ran our nutrition program through email and text. And it worked. It also opened my eyes to something huge: we could help people beyond our four walls.
That experience changed the way I looked at everything. I’ve always had a passion for helping people with their fitness and nutrition. This showed me we could take what we were doing—to the world.
Step 1: Get Clear on the Problem—Not the Tech
As a non-tech founder, your job isn’t to build the app yourself. It’s to define the problem your app is solving, and who it’s solving it for.
Before I ever hired a developer, I mapped out what I wanted the LunaFit app to do. I didn’t need to know how to code it—I just had to get crystal clear on the user journey and experience.
My advice: Don’t go down this road unless it’s a problem you’re deeply passionate about. You’re going to need that fire to keep going when it gets hard. And it will get hard.
Step 2: Build the Right Team (and Expect a Learning Curve)
I talked to a lot of developers and agencies. Some tried to oversell. Some underdelivered. Eventually, I found a small team who really listened and could translate my vision into functionality.
But I also hit a wall—I realized my lack of tech knowledge was slowing us down. Communication was getting messy. So I brought on a high-level technical counterpart, someone who could speak both “founder” and “developer.” That decision changed everything. We started working in focused sprints and built the MVP (minimum viable product).
My recommendation for your first three hires:
Full Stack Developer(s): your builders
UI/UX Designer: your “make it beautiful and usable” expert
Product Manager or Tech PM: your translator and timeline boss
Biggest lesson? Communication is everything. Don’t assume your dev team knows what your customers want—you have to live in the gap between your users and your tech team.
Step 3: It Will Cost More and Take Longer—Plan for It
You’ll underestimate the timeline. You’ll underestimate the budget. I did both—by a lot.
Why? Because we pivoted multiple times. And every change added time, cost, and complexity. So: define things clearly in the beginning, but stay flexible enough to shift when needed.
If you’re bootstrapping, have a serious cushion for time and money. If you’re working with investors, make sure they’re in it for the long haul—and consider lining up additional capital sources in case things change (because they will).
And don’t just budget for “launch”—budget for:
Post-launch improvements
Bug fixes and updates
Marketing and user acquisition
Your own mental energy
Step 4: Beta Test With People Who Will Tell You the Truth
We rolled out our beta to a small group of gym members, coaches, and friends. I told them: Break it. Critique it. Tell me the truth.
Some of our best features came directly from that feedback. And you know what else? Those early testers became our biggest fans, advocates, and promoters.
Beta test early, test often, and be ready to adjust.
Step 5: Launch With Heart (and Hustle)
You are the best marketer for your app and you don’t need any technical skills for this. You need heart and hustle.
While your dev team is building the app, you should be out building momentum. Make sure you create a landing page and start telling your story. Create social accounts so you can reach out to journalists, influencers, podcast hosts. Partner with local businesses and offer value trades for promotion. Leverage your current clients and community.
These are many of the things we did, and it wasn’t fancy—but it was effective. We didn’t have a big marketing budget. We had results, relationships, and a mission. That was enough.
Final Advice for Non-Tech Founders:
✅ Be obsessed with your user.
You don’t need to code—you need to know what your users feel, need, and struggle with.
✅ Keep it simple.
You don’t need every feature at launch. Build a clean version 1, then grow.
✅ Get help early.
A good developer or PM isn’t just a hire—they’re a strategic partner.
✅ Use your network.
Your current audience can be your testers, marketers, and launch team.
✅ Stay in your lane.
Your job is the vision—not the code. That’s more than enough.
If you're a founder sitting on an idea for an app, but you’re stuck because you're “not techy”—I get it. But here’s the truth: your vision matters more than your technical skills.
You don’t have to be a coder to build something powerful. You just have to start.
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