I wrote a post on this topic back in 2013. Can a software developer be a successful entrepreneur: http://adeelraza.co/blog/can-a-software-developer-be-a-succe... 4 years later, happy to report that I have a successful startup.
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Ask HN: Best business advice for software developers
321–325 of 325 posts
Re: Ask HN: Best business advice for software developers
#322Re: Ask HN: Best business advice for software developers
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think one thing a lot of startups think is that they absolutely have to be able to attract the best and brightest. In 90% of cases, average level programmers can build your product just fine. Unless you are building for enormous scale or your product is using cutting edge technology, you simply don't need a bunch of programmers from the top 1% or even top 10%. In my company, we hire middle of the pack programmers f…
> you simply don't need a bunch of programmers from the top 1% or even top 10% Having done some recruiting at a startup last year, even getting the top 50% to reply to an email is a tough proposition. The problem really stems from brand awareness. No one has heard of your startup, so in a sea of "help wanted" postings on Angelist, Stack Overflow or Craigslist or cold emails, it's extremely easy to be ignored. Using n…
I'm sure he's right when you are building a one percenter company. But my team will likely never grow to a size that it will ever take on a life of its own outside my control. 5 engineers tops when we hit market saturation. Each new hire I make is more skilled than the last because I can pay more as time goes on.
I just don't think research done from the perspective of the biggest tech company in the world has any relevance on 99.9% of small tech startups.
Re: Ask HN: Best business advice for software developers
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think one thing a lot of startups think is that they absolutely have to be able to attract the best and brightest. In 90% of cases, average level programmers can build your product just fine. Unless you are building for enormous scale or your product is using cutting edge technology, you simply don't need a bunch of programmers from the top 1% or even top 10%. In my company, we hire middle of the pack programmers f…
Doesn't this say more about the flaws of the business and/or the management than it indicates this being a good idea? Many of the most successful software companies do everything they can to attract and retain the upper end of software engineers and they don't do this because it's bad for businese. Presumably they do this because it provides more value for the company than having more programmers or trying to save mo…
Perhaps, but I actually think getting the best and brightest is more of a factor of having tons of VC money. In that case, you need to move as fast as possible, and every little bit helps. If you are building a niche business with limited TAM, you just don't need the top tier, assuming of course you aren't building something groundbreaking from a tech perspective.
Re: Ask HN: Best business advice for software developers
#325Earlier quoted context omitted.
> you simply don't need a bunch of programmers from the top 1% or even top 10% Having done some recruiting at a startup last year, even getting the top 50% to reply to an email is a tough proposition. The problem really stems from brand awareness. No one has heard of your startup, so in a sea of "help wanted" postings on Angelist, Stack Overflow or Craigslist or cold emails, it's extremely easy to be ignored. Using n…
I'm sure he's right when you are building a one percenter company. But my team will likely never grow to a size that it will ever take on a life of its own outside my control. 5 engineers tops when we hit market saturation. Each new hire I make is more skilled than the last because I can pay more as time goes on. I just don't think research done from the perspective of the biggest tech company in the world has any re…
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