I just need a programmer • Hacker News Board

Re: I just need a programmer

#101

Post by run4yourlives » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 5:20 PM UTC

dasil003 wrote: post #94

afterburner wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm going to keep this on file if the situation ever comes up again... I couldn't quite articulate the sentiment then. Although it might burn bridges.

To be Machiavellian about it, it's worth burning bridges with the two-bit hacks if it furthers your reputation as a truly badass developer.

Assuming you can evaluate "two-bit hacks" in a way that is accurate enough that you don't create false positives.

One burnt bridge that turns out to be a major success later on, even if they are a hack, actually, can kill you.

The parable of the Lion and the Mouse should always be heeded.

Re: I just need a programmer

#102

Post by dasil003 » Fri, Dec 03, 2010, 5:55 PM UTC

run4yourlives wrote: post #101

dasil003 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be Machiavellian about it, it's worth burning bridges with the two-bit hacks if it furthers your reputation as a truly badass developer.

Assuming you can evaluate "two-bit hacks" in a way that is accurate enough that you don't create false positives. One burnt bridge that turns out to be a major success later on, even if they are a hack, actually, can kill you. The parable of the Lion and the Mouse should always be heeded.

No that's not the assumption. The assumption is you can increase your reputation with a group of people who matter more, thus opening more doors on average. No one can see all ends, you just work the angles you have.

Re: I just need a programmer

#103

Post by run4yourlives » Sat, Dec 04, 2010, 1:15 AM UTC

dasil003 wrote: post #102

run4yourlives wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assuming you can evaluate "two-bit hacks" in a way that is accurate enough that you don't create false positives. One burnt bridge that turns out to be a major success later on, even if they are a hack, actually, can kill you. The parable of the Lion and the Mouse should always be heeded.

No that's not the assumption. The assumption is you can increase your reputation with a group of people who matter more, thus opening more doors on average. No one can see all ends, you just work the angles you have.

It's not a zero-sum game though. You can be professional and ethical to all persons you have business dealings with, it just usually means saving your breath/actions for things that are more important. :-)

Re: I just need a programmer

#104

Post by d0mine » Sat, Dec 04, 2010, 6:58 AM UTC

raganwald wrote: post #38

sudont wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More like regular beans and magic water.

Are you, by any chance, an expert in fluid dynamics?

The field of fluid dynamics is enormous to the point that experts from its different branches may not understand each other (how much resemblance bear under the hood the modeling of weather, internal combustion engines, oil wells).

Re: I just need a programmer

#105

Post by naithemilkman » Tue, Dec 07, 2010, 12:06 AM UTC

yoshyosh wrote: post #56

naithemilkman wrote: post #41

I am currently one of these guys in transition. Using Gladwell's 10,000 hour as a proxy for mastery. I estimate getting between 100 - 250 hours of programming time is good enough to get a working MVP out. Does anyone think this is overly optimistic or unrealistic?

Ive read it takes about 6 months. To be honest a lot of it is about deliberate practice rather than just 'getting in the hours'

You mean it just takes a fixed amount of time to internalise yourself with a new field of study just like anything else? And for programming that lead time is about 6 months to get up to speed?

Re: I just need a programmer

#106

Post by storborg » Wed, Dec 08, 2010, 4:41 AM UTC

raganwald wrote: post #87

storborg wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To continue along the same analogy: the entrepreneur doesn't need to know about water, they just need to know what a good beanstalk looks like. That's my problem with "I'm the magic water" software developers. I can work out how to pay them, but I can't work out how to make them understand users well enough to make good business decisions about a consumer-focused company. (Note: I'm actually a developer. And I see th…

I don't agree with your first line. If a manager knows what a good product looks like but not how to make it, he cannot manage its development. The same is trivially true of business things as well. We all know that good sales are high sales with low numbers of customer complaints. How does one manage a salesforce to achieve this? If the salespeople say that the customers don't want what we sell, are the product mana…

It was a tongue-in-cheek way of pointing out that an entrepreneur needs to be able to wear all hats. Business students like to think that it's 95% business and 5% development. Developers like to think that it's 95% developers and 5% business. Obviously neither is right.