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Ask HN: How to learn business being a software engineer?

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Re: Ask HN: How to learn business being a software engineer?

#61
I second the ideas around learning accounting, and also becoming comfortable working a spreadsheet.

Learning business strategy as a corporate executive is really the kind of skill best paralleled in certain forms of gaming - tabletop games with a lot of trade/barter mechanics, MMO guilds, and such: it's some combination of people knowledge, planning, negotiation, and internal controls and mechanism design.

What you're designing from the top of a large organization is a "machinery of people", and if you formulate all of the quantifiable stuff into a spreadsheet, it won't be a crystal ball, and it can bias you towards nonsensical "works in theory" decisions, but it will give you a sense of how to manage events proactively and leverage specific strengths instead of just reacting to crises. The spreadsheet's answers ultimately reflect the philosophy you bring to it, so a general study of philosophy(best done in a classroom dialogue) can pay off as well.

A last thing to check out would be Wardley mapping. This is a good brainstorming mechanism for getting a sense of the terrain and the dependencies in your industry.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn business being a software engineer?

#63
post #6

I think getting basics of accounts/finance will go a long way. Being able to read a balance sheet/profit & loss statement/cashflow statements will help you understand the health of business. Next I would say, reading up on basic marketing/consumer psychology will help develop/acquire product and sell it. Since you mentioned being CTO, I am assume you have development/programming background. This series [1] is good re…

"learn business" was mentioned but there seems to be a lot discussion here around accounting and finance - those aren't "business", at least not the core of it anyway. Accounting for one is recording what has already happened in a business - its merely reporting, nothing more. Its a reporting function of business. There is far too much focus I feel on accounting and finance in MBA courses. Its not business. An MBA de…

Completely disagree with this. To use an analogy the purpose of an artist is to communicate emotions from the artist to the public through works of art. But training to be an artist is learning brushstroke, chiseling technique and what not. Sure the purpose of business is selling products and making profit and that’s the big picture but a huge part of the daily practical reality of doing business will involve accounting/finance. They are fundamental and necessary skills for any business of decent size and unlike the other skills you mention which are more intuitive they can be taught.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn business being a software engineer?

#64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"learn business" was mentioned but there seems to be a lot discussion here around accounting and finance - those aren't "business", at least not the core of it anyway. Accounting for one is recording what has already happened in a business - its merely reporting, nothing more. Its a reporting function of business. There is far too much focus I feel on accounting and finance in MBA courses. Its not business. An MBA de…

Completely disagree with this. To use an analogy the purpose of an artist is to communicate emotions from the artist to the public through works of art. But training to be an artist is learning brushstroke, chiseling technique and what not. Sure the purpose of business is selling products and making profit and that’s the big picture but a huge part of the daily practical reality of doing business will involve account…

Business will involve accounting/finance, sure. It will involve lots of other functions - but business is not defined by accounting/finance.

Its defined by people buying a product or service they find of value - that is core to business (just like the definition of an artist is someone that actually produces art). If you don't have that you don't have a business (no matter how many accountants or MBAs you have).

Any skill can be taught.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn business being a software engineer?

#65
You may have heard people say that “business” is not a deep discipline and I think the theory of business is pretty accessible.

Go to any business school site and just look at the MBA curriculum:

https://www.hbs.edu/mba/academic-experience/curriculum/Pages...

I would then focus on the introductory courses (typically Accounting, Valuation, Marketing, Org theory etc).

Find the syllabus for those courses or the text book and just browse it.

That won’t teach it all but it will sort of give you a map of the territory so you can look it up when you need to. About the level of memory most MBA grads have 5 years after graduation.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn business being a software engineer?

#66
post #6

I think getting basics of accounts/finance will go a long way. Being able to read a balance sheet/profit & loss statement/cashflow statements will help you understand the health of business. Next I would say, reading up on basic marketing/consumer psychology will help develop/acquire product and sell it. Since you mentioned being CTO, I am assume you have development/programming background. This series [1] is good re…

"learn business" was mentioned but there seems to be a lot discussion here around accounting and finance - those aren't "business", at least not the core of it anyway. Accounting for one is recording what has already happened in a business - its merely reporting, nothing more. Its a reporting function of business. There is far too much focus I feel on accounting and finance in MBA courses. Its not business. An MBA de…

Eh, accounting breaks down to tax, financial, and managerial accounting and it's more like the modeling language of business. You definitely should learn to speak the language to run a business and your decisions will be expressed in that language. You can leave the specialists to optimize your taxes, and financial posture since they need to know all the little laws and GAAP rules and techniques, but you should definitely know more than the basics.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn business being a software engineer?

#67
post #23
post #19

Others have said CFA. CFA is the obvious paved path to what you are looking for. A few grand to add some letters to your name, and it will forever alter the way you think about business. But probably just ask someone who you think knows a lot to teach you.

A CFA is completely absurd for a CTO to pursue, even if that CTO were working for an investment management company. The OP wants to study to learn, not study to pass an exam. You can do one or the either for the CFA, but not both. Also, one doesn't learn "business" with the CFA but finance and accounting.

i'm a cto persuing a cfa because i have an interest in business. i think its completely absurd that you would think a CFA would be irrelevant to business.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn business being a software engineer?

#69
Go take evening classes and get a business degree or graduate certificate specifically designed for students from a science/engineering background.

Finance and accounting is literally child's play for anyone with a strong math background. The harder part is understanding business models, human psychology, and developing a useful network.

Since completing a tech focused business program, I've done very well financially and found myself sitting on grant panels focused on commercializing academic research. It's astounding how naive hugely successful researchers are when they try to write business plans. Sometimes my scientific idols submit grants with kindergarten level understanding of business. It's shocking.

The opportunity that exists for a talented technical person with a holistic understanding of the art and practice of business is astounding. They literally throw money at you. More importantly you can leverage your knowledge to actually do what you want with your life.

Re: Ask HN: How to learn business being a software engineer?

#70
post #50

You learn business by becoming a businessman.

I wanted to say the same thing. Start a small business on the side. Something you enjoy; there's a million ideas. A friend of mine buys and sells classic motorcycles. Someone builds new replacement parts for unsupported industrial equipment. Car accessories, anything. It should not have the potential of losing a lot of money, because you don't want to worry about it and you have a full-time job already. So that rules…

What the heck. Your advice to a new CTO is to start a small business on the side? I would immediately fire them if I were on the board and they did that.
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