11–20 of 35 posts
I guess yeah, don't be a 'I just need a developer to build exactly what I say' dick about it, but I don't think I've met many of them.
"I also have a great idea, I'd like to start an electric car factory in india. I just need an engineer who plans the factory, designs the electric car blueprints, manages the building of the factory, organizes the machines, and implements the structure for mass producing cars. Shall we do a 50/50? You build the factory, I do the rest."
The problems the author describes aren't limited to just hackathons. Developer-entrepreneurs are constantly bombarded with requests for free labor from idea people. Don't code for free!
I talked about that one a few years ago too: http://caseysoftware.com/blog/startup-risks-for-developers
Those seeking free work are inadvertently preying on those with imposter syndrome. Many devs refused free work in the pit of the tech recession (2002-2003). Expecting that to happen today is laughable.
The problems the author describes aren't limited to just hackathons. Developer-entrepreneurs are constantly bombarded with requests for free labor from idea people. Don't code for free!
If you're really lucky they'll offer to split any income with you 80:20.
If not - think of the exposure! (Etc.)
When I run into people like this, I always say the follwing: "I also have a great idea, I'd like to start an electric car factory in india. I just need an engineer who plans the factory, designs the electric car blueprints, manages the building of the factory, organizes the machines, and implements the structure for mass producing cars. Shall we do a 50/50? You build the factory, I do the rest."
At these early stages, the risk/effort split isn't even close to 50/50.
I remember seeing a page here on hn listing 1001 great ideas. So if you are out of ideas, then just pick one from there and adapt it to a problem you have identified.
There are an endless number of ideas you can come up with that combine some of your domain knowledge with a problem you can identify in your local community. I was just reading an article about pot holes in Oslo. How about an app that lets you quickly log a pot hole. Or use the accelerometer to identify pot holes and warn other users. Or let you plan a bike route to avoid pot holes.
Everyone is capable of coming up with ideas. Just because they come from a developer doesn't make them any better than coming from a non-developer. Then again lots of terrible ideas come from both devs and non-devs.
The upside for the developer is that they can evaluate the complexity of an idea much better than non-devs and can make a nice little demo to show others.
I'd say a lot (most) tech companies are similarly places where "idea people" sometimes known as "business" are having developers implement their ideas. And even though in this case the developers are paid, I'd say same advice applies - it's not a good place to work. Find a place where you are paid to implement your ideas, or ideas you really understand and believe in.
It is a star in my book though, when someone has managed to convince other people to part with their money before they come asking for people to help with the building. Gives the idea a bit more merit.