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Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#171

Post by justinlardinois »

jnbiche wrote: post #142
thesmallestcat wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You shouldn't need to network to get a job programming or to advance your career. It doesn't hurt, but it's unnecessary. That's at least half of the allure of this line of work.

> You shouldn't need to network to get a job programming or to advance your career. I think some of you forget that the rest of the world isn't New York/Austin/Bay Area. For most of us, just because we're competent programmers and have a pulse doesn't mean we'll get snatched up off the street. Programming is a very competitive job situation in many mid-sized cities across the USA and Europe, and networking is unfortu…

> I think some of you forget that the rest of the world isn't New York/Austin/Bay Area.

Hell, even if you do live in one of those places you're screwing yourself to shun networking.

The tech industry isn't special in this regard. Being a good programmer is important, but if your only approach to career growth is reading job boards and sending cold resumes, you're going to hit a ceiling.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#172

Post by erikb »

aasarava wrote: post #7

For me the most eye-opening lesson about the business world was the realization that you are not an entrepreneur just because you can build something. You become an entrepreneur when you build something that people are willing to pay for. You may be good at writing software, but are you writing software that solves a problem for anyone? If not, you're going to be hard-pressed to find external validation. You don't sa…

Actually I would even go a step further: Entrepreneurs are people who make things happen and then sell it. You can get around being able to make it yourself, but you can't get around figuring out what to make or how to sell it. Therefore despite being a programmer myself I would argue that a good salesman is more an entrepreneur than a good programmer.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#173

Post by erikb »

metafunctor wrote: post #79

On getting a job: it's not just about coding chops. You should also appear to be not-an-asshole, a good communicator, a positive team player, exhibit a certain kind of humility, yet appear enthusiastic about other people's ideas, etc. My (shallow) first impression based on 4 minutes of reading your writings is that one of the above might be why you're getting rejected. With entrepreneurship, it's almost entirely not…

"appear to be not-an-asshole" In some regards yes, but if you just appear like that it can only work in the short term. You really need to learn not to be, and sadly a huge part of not being one is something programmers need to learn (I'm one myself). E.g. even if other people really are a-holes themselves it makes you one if you tell them that.

In my experience though, you can get around the a-hole show stoppper also with time. If people see you are an a-hole and for some reason still continue to work with you and see you really provide value for them, then after some time they will support you (and also tell you what you need to stop doing).

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#174

Post by ChoHag »

Your web site says "yet another entitled CS-grad hipster" and so I suspect you do too. Entitled coders are impossible to work with, however good their code is. Entitlement combined with the exhuberant inexperience of youth...

You deserve nothing. Anything more is a bonus.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#175

Post by erikb »

welanes wrote: post #93

This reads like a parody of all the other 'help, I'm stuck' HN posts. > I’m a 26 years old “entrepreneur” Apparently not....yet. > I’ve written more than the equivalent of 32 Bibles (around 4M lines of code) Sadly, nobody cares how late you stayed up or how many loc you wrote. They just care about how awesome/useful/reliable/beautiful/addictive your product is. > My dad has always told me...I’m really pissed off with…

I think it's quite important though, that he already starts calling himself an entrepreneur. He has the right to ask for money for his programs, because he is an entrepreneur. He has the right to incorporate his own business and handle the taxes for it, because he is an entrepreneur. He has the right to talk to CEOs of other companies to ask them for investment or product ideas or buying his software, because he is an entrepreneur just like them.

At least for me getting that thing straight was quite important.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#177

Post by muse900 »

david927 wrote: post #45

Since you're asking, I will tell you what I would do, and what you will think is blasphemy: I would take your dad's offer. I would start working with him. I'm sure you're a very good coder; don't get me wrong. But despite what you'll hear, there are a lot of them out there. If you think you're the best programmer around, it just means you haven't looked very hard. Remember, software is never an end but always a means…

Couldn't agree more.

Also OP think of coding as your hobby as well, because it is. Sometimes it might be hard to turn your hobby into work.

E.g I enjoy playing World of Warcraft. And I'd say due to some of my achievements etc am very good at it. But I could never make it my workplace. Its just something I enjoy on my off-time.

I think the same applies to you. Go work with your father and don't think about your past that much but what you are doing right now. When you get home after a full day at work and you've made the money you need to live etc sit on your computer and code your game or your bot or anything that you'd like.

P.S I think it would be hard for you to find a coding job other than freelancing or getting a job with a massive company. I got a coding job and I'd say even me that am not as motivated as you are find my self blocked sometimes. Obviously you get blocked when you are working for someone, they will definitely ask you to do something you don't want or find right, and you'll have day to day tasks that are not pleasant. You'll find yourselfs sometimes having no actual challenge etc. So judging from your letter your character says that you wouldn't stay at a job like that and in reality most coding jobs are like that, the freedom you've been given is limited. So I think best thing for you is keep it as a hobby unless you find a job you like, and yes go work with your father, great experience and bond with your father as well through that. Remember our parents are not gonna be there with us forever unfortunately :(

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#178

Post by glandium »

Deimorz wrote: post #18
mrcabada wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, remove a 0 to that 40. Did the maths wrong. Fixed.

Averaging 680 lines every single day is still much, much too high.

I'm sure it's easy to reach, if you inline all your function calls.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#179

Post by namaemuta »

chillacy wrote: post #156
armandososa wrote: post #130

Dude, your english is not great. I am Mexican myself and believe it or not, that's a big show stopper. I applied to 37Signals back in 2008 or 2009 and my english was so bad that they won't even bother to reply (And they wrote a blog post shortly that they wouldn't even respond to poor communicators :P) That wouldn't explain why the holagus guys wouldn't hire you, tho ;) This is my advice: 1. Forget about going to a j…

Side question: how did you improve your english? Was it deliberate practice or just something you get better at

I don't know about him but, when you have a certain skill level in English, the best way for me to improve is by reading tons of books in English. That's the way you learn vocabulary/expressions you usually don't use and how to use them properly.

Re: Ask HN: How do you keep motivated if nobody supports you?

#180

Post by joepater »

I think I know how you feel but you have to remember this one fact. Most people are living life for themselves, nobody else. So, you can't rely on someone else's support to make something happen.

It sounds like you have grinded long enough and are due for something positive to happen.

YC apps are due tomorrow. If I get selected I'll interview you for a role at our startup. We are working in the energy efficiency space. www.rebatebus.com

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