Watch other people code • Hacker News Board

Re: Watch other people code

#81

Post by AndyNemmity » Thu, Sep 15, 2011, 4:03 AM UTC

richcollins wrote: post #73

AndyNemmity wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So that's what it's been called. Lately I've been having people trying to schedule interviews with me about their service. It's so incredibly annoying, because it wastes my time, and I get to learn that they are considering charging way way way more than I'd ever want to spent, so I stop using them regardless. It's like a lose/lose scenario. I get the impression their pitching out different money numbers to try and s…

Testing pricing isn't usually a big part of interviews unless you are addressing an enterprise market. Also, Customer Development is larger in scope than pricing or interviews: http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2008/11/what-is-custome...

Thanks for the link to the article. I think that certain people have the time, or are willing to do this for a startup. There's nothing wrong with that.

But I think it's important to not think of it like a sales pitch.

I am getting "Customer Development" calls as if they are a sales pitch. As if it's okay to sort of bully me into trying to respond to the questions, like a sales person refuses to accept no.

This is incredible annoying, and it's good to see where the (good) intentions of this thing come from.

Re: Watch other people code

#82

Post by spodek » Thu, Sep 15, 2011, 4:43 AM UTC

revorad wrote: post #18

spodek wrote: post #14

I bet I have a better idea for you. Set up the same thing for watching people design. I don't design much, but I love and learn incredible amounts from watching people design. Could be any format -- web, print, architectural, etc. Design is inherently more visual, so watching others communicates more and is probably more fun and engaging. Also I suspect more people design than code so you probably get a bigger audien…

This is a brilliant suggestion. I've seen countless posts here on "how should I learn design?". When I think about learning to design, I want to learn the process of a good designer, not just theory or tricks. For example, I learnt a lot more design from this post and video than other stuff: http://paulstamatiou.com/startup-web-design-ux-crash-course http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYEQpwduyPU

I had an idea a few years ago to create a tv show -- basically The Iron Chef but for designers. Two design teams would have a limited time to design a logo or web page or restaurant menu or commercial. They'd have to meet separately with the client so you'd see their human interaction.

Plus we would create an online community around it for people to trade ideas.

I told a director friend who had sold several shows and he loved the idea. We wrote up a treatment and started pitching it.

Then the recession hit and no one was interested in new show ideas.

We still have the treatment. Maybe one day...

Re: Watch other people code

#83

Post by bostonvaulter2 » Thu, Sep 15, 2011, 10:44 AM UTC

re_todd wrote: post #65

varikin wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. It isn't just pure programming that I have learned either. It is learning more about tools, different apps, different workflows, and new debugging tips. Also, I don't think the experience matters. Someone fresh out of school may have a new trick to teach me or a 20 year veteran has an old school trick I never new.

Yes, it is often the non-programming tricks that allow me to be a more productive programmer. Watching other programmers use a few powerful commands in vim, plus a cool flag for grep I didn't know about, plus how to efficiently organize things in directories to quickly find things, etc. All these little tricks I learned from a couple programmers my first year probably doubled my productivity as a programmer.

So basically, watching people solve problems?

Re: Watch other people code

#84

Post by drstrangevibes » Thu, Sep 15, 2011, 10:51 AM UTC

er cant you just share your screen in skype?

Re: Watch other people code

#85

Post by richcollins » Thu, Sep 15, 2011, 6:05 PM UTC

AndyNemmity wrote: post #81

richcollins wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Testing pricing isn't usually a big part of interviews unless you are addressing an enterprise market. Also, Customer Development is larger in scope than pricing or interviews: http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2008/11/what-is-custome...

Thanks for the link to the article. I think that certain people have the time, or are willing to do this for a startup. There's nothing wrong with that. But I think it's important to not think of it like a sales pitch. I am getting "Customer Development" calls as if they are a sales pitch. As if it's okay to sort of bully me into trying to respond to the questions, like a sales person refuses to accept no. This is in…