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The Rise Of The Gentleman Hacker

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Re: The Rise Of The Gentleman Hacker

#11

Post by smackay »

krmboya wrote: post #4

Maybe then, they can focus on 'real' problems like global warming and green energy.

With money to burn you could certainly make great strides in improving software in many areas of the sciences. A lot of tools used daily in areas of biology for example are very capable but were typically designed for use by the original author only. You could improve the lives of countless grad students and other researchers simply by providing a decent UI and good documentation. The savings and benefits would be enormous but you certainly would not make any money doing so.

Re: The Rise Of The Gentleman Hacker

#13

Post by wyclif »

grevutsky wrote: post #2

There's no need to wait for a $100 million dollar exit to do this. If you have a lifestyle business (say, a web design company, or an online agency) that throws off enough cash, you can set up a team of hackers and UI people and start throwing stuff at the wall. In fact, if they are truly free to be creative, yet have some constraints in terms of time and money, its likely to work better.

Can I just say that I despise the phrase lifestyle business? I know what you mean by using it, but wouldn't it be more accurate to describe a project that didn't take VC and has paying customers as simply a business? I would suggest that not aiming for a Google or Facebook acquisition (or big IPO) actually allows that kind of experimentation.

Re: The Rise Of The Gentleman Hacker

#14

Post by trotsky »

Get someone really young who wants responsibility and they may even work for next to nothing in exchange for big equity stakes in their projects – sort of a modified Y Combinator model.

It doesn't sound very gentlemanly to me to be rich enough that you've decided to open a business just to screw around (hence force referred to as "the club house") but to target employees that are young and dumb (tm) enough to accept little to no compensation while you drive your SL class into the office every day. If you can afford to pay a baseline wage but seek not to it's just a type of exploitation.

Re: The Rise Of The Gentleman Hacker

#15

Post by steveklabnik »

wyclif wrote: post #13
grevutsky wrote: post #2

There's no need to wait for a $100 million dollar exit to do this. If you have a lifestyle business (say, a web design company, or an online agency) that throws off enough cash, you can set up a team of hackers and UI people and start throwing stuff at the wall. In fact, if they are truly free to be creative, yet have some constraints in terms of time and money, its likely to work better.

Can I just say that I despise the phrase lifestyle business ? I know what you mean by using it, but wouldn't it be more accurate to describe a project that didn't take VC and has paying customers as simply a business? I would suggest that not aiming for a Google or Facebook acquisition (or big IPO) actually allows that kind of experimentation.

It's about being more specific about the intentions. Yes, lifestyle businesses could be simply 'a business', but startups are also 'a business.'

Try reading your post with s/lifestyle business/startup/g;... it's the same point. More specific language isn't a bad thing.

Re: The Rise Of The Gentleman Hacker

#16

Post by wyclif »

steveklabnik wrote: post #15
wyclif wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I just say that I despise the phrase lifestyle business ? I know what you mean by using it, but wouldn't it be more accurate to describe a project that didn't take VC and has paying customers as simply a business? I would suggest that not aiming for a Google or Facebook acquisition (or big IPO) actually allows that kind of experimentation.

It's about being more specific about the intentions. Yes, lifestyle businesses could be simply 'a business', but startups are also 'a business.' Try reading your post with s/lifestyle business/startup/g;... it's the same point. More specific language isn't a bad thing.

As I said above, I understood what you meant. I just find the phrase slightly damning--and indicative of a problem in this space. I see a trend in commentary on tech blogs and conferences that imply that as a developer, either you're creating the next Google or Facebook acquisition, or you've traded the big payout for a "lifestyle business" that is probably turning a profit and carrying no debt, with no hybrid examples in the vast middle. It's a bit like saying, "Poor Joe Startup, he has a nice lifestyle business there, but it'll never be Twitter, Foursquare, or Path.com." Personally, I'd love to have those problems.

Re: The Rise Of The Gentleman Hacker

#17

Post by steveklabnik »

wyclif wrote: post #16
steveklabnik wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's about being more specific about the intentions. Yes, lifestyle businesses could be simply 'a business', but startups are also 'a business.' Try reading your post with s/lifestyle business/startup/g;... it's the same point. More specific language isn't a bad thing.

As I said above, I understood what you meant. I just find the phrase slightly damning--and indicative of a problem in this space. I see a trend in commentary on tech blogs and conferences that imply that as a developer, either you're creating the next Google or Facebook acquisition, or you've traded the big payout for a "lifestyle business" that is probably turning a profit and carrying no debt, with no hybrid exampl…

I agree, it's unfortunate when 'lifestyle business' is used in a derogatory manner. I'd rather just take the term back, like "monkeypatching." Words can mean good things in one crowd, and bad things in another.

(and I'm not the OP. ;) )

Re: The Rise Of The Gentleman Hacker

#19

Post by winxordie »

kayoone wrote: post #12
tomjen3 wrote: post #3

This sounds like a really good solution to the classical problem about what to do, once one has made enough money in a successful exit event.

yeah, what a horrible problem to have in the first place.

For me at least that's equivalent to solving the knapsack problem, but hey - if it's easy for you to optimize usage of absurd amounts of capital according to your utility function, then more power to you.

Re: The Rise Of The Gentleman Hacker

#20

Post by blakeweb »

wheaties wrote: post #18

So, um, where do I sign up with these folks?

To generalize from my very limited experience, people doing this use the same hiring strategies as companies, but 1) rely on personal connections and relationships more, since they're often trying to stay a bit under the radar, and 2) are more connected with academia than your average hirer. One approach could be to network at non-mainstream events in your area that are more about creating and seeing cool stuff than networking, such as dorkbot. Also, probably just networking aggressively would work, at whatever are the best gatherings in your interest area, such as the web 2.0 summit, or health 2.0. These people are probably there somewhere, and if not, their friends are.

If you're awesome and into bioinformatics, and are in austin, the bay area, or the pacific northwest, ping me. I'm not in the same league as the folks in the article, but this is more or less my approach right now, and I know another couple people in similar situations.

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