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Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

thenextweb.com

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Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#21

Post by apl »

hej wrote: post #11
simondlr wrote: post #3

Not entirely true though. He's been coding for a long time. He studied management science and engineering. It's not as if he wasn't technical before he started with instagram.

Today, nearly everyone has been coding for a long time. Everyone learns the basics in school. At college or university many will have a lot of further contact with many computer science concepts. It’s a lot like math, really: everyone knows the basics (or has at least heard them once and promptly forgotten them), but that doesn’t make everyone a mathatician. (My dad, a construction engineer, learnt programming at col…

  > Today, anyone who studies anything to do with social
  > sciences – for example – needs to have some coding skills
  > if they want to do effective statistical analysis.
Only if by "coding skills" you mean "Click somewhat appropriate buttons in SPSS". Realistically.

Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#22

Post by pagekalisedown »

capdiz wrote: post #8
StCroix wrote: post #4

From the article: Unlike Mark Zuckerberg, the man responsible for acquiring the popular photo sharing app for $1 billion, Systrom received no formal engineering training. From Systrom's bio on Instagram: Kevin graduated from Stanford University in 2006 with a BS in Management Science & Engineering—he got his first taste of the startup world when he was an intern at Odeo that later became Twitter. He spent two years a…

Spin aside. His story would be really inspiring for folks i have met who think that for one to learn how to program, they need to go to Uni and apply for a cs degree which is bullshit.

The problem is that a lot of HR departments won't consider people without degrees. A Stanford degree opens a lot of doors.

This is one of the reasons I have a lot of hope in online education. When it becomes mainstream, HR departments won't be able to ignore it.

Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#23

Post by ed209 »

brunohq wrote: post #14
Maro wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, there are plenty of people with determination and focus who aren't successful in the Instagram sense of walking away with $100M+ after 2 years of work.

still, you can be successful without making millions.

depends on your definition of success

Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#24

Post by hej »

apl wrote: post #21
hej wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Today, nearly everyone has been coding for a long time. Everyone learns the basics in school. At college or university many will have a lot of further contact with many computer science concepts. It’s a lot like math, really: everyone knows the basics (or has at least heard them once and promptly forgotten them), but that doesn’t make everyone a mathatician. (My dad, a construction engineer, learnt programming at col…

> Today, anyone who studies anything to do with social > sciences – for example – needs to have some coding skills > if they want to do effective statistical analysis. Only if by "coding skills" you mean "Click somewhat appropriate buttons in SPSS". Realistically .

That may be enough to get you through - realistically - but students are usually taught more. Data manipulation is frequently needed and doing that by clicking buttons is seriously no fun. Again: I was talking about what students are taught, not so much what they actually need to pass. I guess technically you don't even have to know how correlation coefficients are calculated (as in: have an intuitive understanding why they are calculated the way they are calculated), clicking a button in SPSS is all you need. But students are taught how correlation coefficiencts work in detail.

Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#25

Post by melling »

Maro wrote: post #12
dmk23 wrote: post #2

This just goes to show that the most critical ingredient to success is determination and focus, not any specific training. If you are committed to a goal, picking up any specific hands-on skills (coding included) is just the matter of sticking to it. Something to keep in mind when hiring.

On the other hand, there are plenty of people with determination and focus who aren't successful in the Instagram sense of walking away with $100M+ after 2 years of work.

True, like the guys at Rovio. It took years before they had success.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rovio_Entertainment

Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#26

Post by MatthewPhillips »

pclark wrote: post #20
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My take away was that he had connections that let him pursue his ideas more than just as a weekend project.

He just went to a party. He didn't have rolodex of investors or anything.

He went to a party where Andreessen Horowitz happened to also be attending. I'm assuming he didn't crash this party. I didn't say he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, just that he was in a position where his hard work was likely to be recognized.

Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#27

Post by robk »

shalmanese wrote: post #7
StCroix wrote: post #4

From the article: Unlike Mark Zuckerberg, the man responsible for acquiring the popular photo sharing app for $1 billion, Systrom received no formal engineering training. From Systrom's bio on Instagram: Kevin graduated from Stanford University in 2006 with a BS in Management Science & Engineering—he got his first taste of the startup world when he was an intern at Odeo that later became Twitter. He spent two years a…

I believe he was working as a Product Marketing Manager on Gmail and Google Reader, not an engineer.

He was definitely a PMM. Started as an Associate PMM.

Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#28

Post by teja1990 »

dmk23 wrote: post #2

This just goes to show that the most critical ingredient to success is determination and focus, not any specific training. If you are committed to a goal, picking up any specific hands-on skills (coding included) is just the matter of sticking to it. Something to keep in mind when hiring.

Absolutely.Determination , hard work and commitment.This is what college taught, it doesn't matter how smart you are , if you don't work hard . It will all go waste.

Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#29

Post by mikecane »

dmk23 wrote: post #2

This just goes to show that the most critical ingredient to success is determination and focus, not any specific training. If you are committed to a goal, picking up any specific hands-on skills (coding included) is just the matter of sticking to it. Something to keep in mind when hiring.

Read the history of Hollywood. Not a single person who formed the major studios -- Cohn, Mayer, Goldwyn, etc -- ever created a movie themselves.

Re: Instagram’s founder, a marketer who learned to code at night

#30

Post by mikecane »

MatthewPhillips wrote: post #26
pclark wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He just went to a party. He didn't have rolodex of investors or anything.

He went to a party where Andreessen Horowitz happened to also be attending. I'm assuming he didn't crash this party. I didn't say he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, just that he was in a position where his hard work was likely to be recognized.

Being at that party is precisely what luck is all about.
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