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Ask HN: Best resources for non-technical founders to understand hacker mindset?

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Re: Ask HN: Best resources for non-technical founders to understand hacker mindset?

#31

Post by _curious_ »

tensor wrote: post #5

I have to admit, even I'm not sure what a "hacker mindset" is. As one technical cofounder to another, I think the most important thing is for you to understand the business side. Most importantly, how interpersonal skills matter and how emotions play out in a business setting. Beyond that, a solid understanding of scientific approaches to understanding is the second most important. Being able to tease apart correlati…

"well I did X and I'm successful so clearly X must work!"

If they did something...and that thing was successful then by definition that thing they did...it works, right?

Re: Ask HN: Best resources for non-technical founders to understand hacker mindset?

#33

Post by fouric »

some_furry wrote: post #24

> I've thought perhaps Mythical Man Month and How To Become A Hacker (Eric Raymond essay) but not sure they're quite right. Please don't recommend Eric Raymond's work to people. > technical founder wondering what reading to recommend to a business focused founder for them to grok the hacker mindset What does "the hacker mindset" mean to you? If you ask me: The most important thing about a hacker mindset is that it mu…

> Please don't recommend Eric Raymond's work to people.

Why? Do you have some problem with his advice on how to ask questions[1]?

[1] http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

Re: Ask HN: Best resources for non-technical founders to understand hacker mindset?

#34

Post by lwhalen »

some_furry wrote: post #24

> I've thought perhaps Mythical Man Month and How To Become A Hacker (Eric Raymond essay) but not sure they're quite right. Please don't recommend Eric Raymond's work to people. > technical founder wondering what reading to recommend to a business focused founder for them to grok the hacker mindset What does "the hacker mindset" mean to you? If you ask me: The most important thing about a hacker mindset is that it mu…

What's wrong with ESR's work? I know the man himself can sometimes be controversial, but many of us came up on his works like The Jargon File, Cathedral and Bazaar, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Best resources for non-technical founders to understand hacker mindset?

#35

Post by derefr »

tensor wrote: post #5

I have to admit, even I'm not sure what a "hacker mindset" is. As one technical cofounder to another, I think the most important thing is for you to understand the business side. Most importantly, how interpersonal skills matter and how emotions play out in a business setting. Beyond that, a solid understanding of scientific approaches to understanding is the second most important. Being able to tease apart correlati…

> As one technical cofounder to another, I think the most important thing is for you to understand the business side.

But the OP isn't asking for help themselves, and has said nothing about needing help themselves. Maybe they already understand the business side?

Re: Ask HN: Best resources for non-technical founders to understand hacker mindset?

#36

Post by factorialboy »

It's not that hard. Try to build / construct something. You will soon discover a layer of detail that you never anticipated. And then some more.

Hackers / programmers are trained to be cognizant of these details and complexities that aren't obvious on first glance.

Heck sometimes this weighs us down. I'd rather have someone ignorant and brave on my team. :)

Re: Ask HN: Best resources for non-technical founders to understand hacker mindset?

#37

Post by some_furry »

fouric wrote: post #33
some_furry wrote: post #24

> I've thought perhaps Mythical Man Month and How To Become A Hacker (Eric Raymond essay) but not sure they're quite right. Please don't recommend Eric Raymond's work to people. > technical founder wondering what reading to recommend to a business focused founder for them to grok the hacker mindset What does "the hacker mindset" mean to you? If you ask me: The most important thing about a hacker mindset is that it mu…

> Please don't recommend Eric Raymond's work to people. Why? Do you have some problem with his advice on how to ask questions[1]? [1] http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

> Why?

Because promoting ESR's work to people has the unfortunate side-effect of elevating ESR's prestige.

See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15513086 for more on why ESR is bad.

> Do you have some problem with his advice on how to ask questions[1]?

No, I think he's a bad person and we do our entire industry a disservice by continuing to elevate his status.

Find better heroes, should you even want heroes.

Re: Ask HN: Best resources for non-technical founders to understand hacker mindset?

#38

Post by jfkebwjsbx »

_curious_ wrote: post #31
tensor wrote: post #5

I have to admit, even I'm not sure what a "hacker mindset" is. As one technical cofounder to another, I think the most important thing is for you to understand the business side. Most importantly, how interpersonal skills matter and how emotions play out in a business setting. Beyond that, a solid understanding of scientific approaches to understanding is the second most important. Being able to tease apart correlati…

"well I did X and I'm successful so clearly X must work!" If they did something...and that thing was successful then by definition that thing they did...it works, right?

No, it could have worked for a reason independent of the thing.

Re: Ask HN: Best resources for non-technical founders to understand hacker mindset?

#39

Post by derefr »

_curious_ wrote: post #31
tensor wrote: post #5

I have to admit, even I'm not sure what a "hacker mindset" is. As one technical cofounder to another, I think the most important thing is for you to understand the business side. Most importantly, how interpersonal skills matter and how emotions play out in a business setting. Beyond that, a solid understanding of scientific approaches to understanding is the second most important. Being able to tease apart correlati…

"well I did X and I'm successful so clearly X must work!" If they did something...and that thing was successful then by definition that thing they did...it works, right?

The broken thought-process there is mostly about when you take a shotgun approach that involves many different things that could all individually pan out (or not); or which could all be multipliers for one-another (or not.) If, in the end, you succeed, you end up believing that everything you tried was a necessary part of your success. When, in actuality, you might have succeeded despite some of those approaches, rather than because of them. They might have been actively harmful to your success, but just not harmful enough to overcome the other successful things you tried.

In another instance, people who try one main thing (e.g. applying to a particular college) but who succeed entirely through no effort of their own (e.g. through nepotism), will end up thinking that what they did mattered.

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