11–20 of 37 posts
Has anyone seen a post saying "All I need is a business guy?"
In each case, they believe that the hard part of their business is the part they are doing/have done, and teh sales/marketing/bizdev is a slam dunk.
Has anyone seen a post saying "All I need is a business guy?"
Maybe not a post, but I know several entrepreneurs who say--on a regular basis--"All I need is a sales guy," "All I need is a marketing guy," and/or "All I need is a bizdev guy." In each case, they believe that the hard part of their business is the part they are doing/have done, and teh sales/marketing/bizdev is a slam dunk.
If they know exactly what they want, the programmer is exchangeable. Maybe one is faster than the other, maybe the code will be ugly. It doesn't really matter.
That sure would be nice. Too bad it almost never happens.
"the programmer is exchangeable. Maybe one is faster than the other, maybe the code will be ugly"
I couldn't disagree more. Read this
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/HighNotes.html
and see if that changes your thinking. Joel refutes your statement much better than I ever could.
(My favorite line: Five Antonio Salieris won't produce Mozart's Requiem. Ever. Not if they work for 100 years.)
Ideas aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Unless it's nice paper.
If they know exactly what they want, the programmer is exchangeable. Maybe one is faster than the other, maybe the code will be ugly. It doesn't really matter.
"If they know exactly what they want" That sure would be nice. Too bad it almost never happens. "the programmer is exchangeable. Maybe one is faster than the other, maybe the code will be ugly" I couldn't disagree more. Read this http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/HighNotes.html and see if that changes your thinking. Joel refutes your statement much better than I ever could. (My favorite line: Five Antonio Salier…
Also the comparison to Brad Pitt really makes no sense. People don't go to see Brad Pitt moves because he is an x times better actor than others. Not saying he is bad, but surely some cheaper nobodies could be found who acts well, too. But they wouldn't be famous and therefore would not draw a crowd.
Same with Salieri. Sorry, but there are zillions of programmers who could program a Twitter, for example. Sure, there are some kinds of programs that most programmers would be unable to write, but it doesn't apply to most Web Apps.
Even if the programmer thing would make a difference, the business guys still could not possibly care, because they have no way of knowing if a programmer is good or not.
Think about building a house. Once the architecture is done, surely there are lots of building teams who can build it. Sure, some will screw it up, but most won't.
Also, I think in the beginning the business guys might be looking for a prototype. If it takes off, they can still worry about finding rockstar programmers.
This is typical of the sort of person who believes that the value of something is entirely the idea, rather than in the implementation of the idea. Unfortunately, that mindset never actually accomplishes anything. Ideas aren't worth the paper they're printed on. Unless it's nice paper.
"The reason for this, I think, is that Lisp allows you to be so productive that a single person can get things done without having to work together with anyone else, and so Lisp programmers never develop the social skills needed to work effectively as a member of a team." That's IT! I just decided to quit Lisp and program in C from now on. And all this time I wondered why I have no social skills... But now everything…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"If they know exactly what they want" That sure would be nice. Too bad it almost never happens. "the programmer is exchangeable. Maybe one is faster than the other, maybe the code will be ugly" I couldn't disagree more. Read this http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/HighNotes.html and see if that changes your thinking. Joel refutes your statement much better than I ever could. (My favorite line: Five Antonio Salier…
I only skimmed it, but I don't think it applies. Who says those guys wanted to start a Software Company? Quote: "This is a conversation about software companies, shrinkwrap software, where the company's success or failure is directly a result of the quality of their code." Also the comparison to Brad Pitt really makes no sense. People don't go to see Brad Pitt moves because he is an x times better actor than others.…
There are certain things that 10% of the hackers I ever met could do in x amount of time that the other 90% could never do. In any amount of time.
The longer I work in this field, the truer that seems.
And managers have never understood that. They look at us as "person hours" to be mixed and matched to achieve their goals. I've never seen that work well.
How many times have you given an estimate like this:
For me: 1 day. For me and Joe together: 2 days. If you give it to Joe first and then give it to me: 1 week.
Idea guys understand this about as well as managers. And often they need someone from the top 10% whether they know it or not. Not just for programming, but also for analysis, design, testing, scaling, and deployment.