Steve Jobs on Average vs Best Software Developers

> "So what do B and C developers do?"

Strive to be A developers.

Sorry if it sounds too harsh, I personally classify myself as a B developer.

Because you obviously aren't an A programmer. :P

Is the meta-leaning here that you should not hire programmers in the Bay Area, until you can pay $120-200K + stock for experienced guys, and 80-90K for top college grads?

Maybe that sets a hard target when you know to grow your start-up to the third developer, when bootstrapping. Can you pay someone 100-200k per year? Time to grow.

I believe that the top trait in A players is the same as in the top founders, which is determination [1]. That determination often manifests itself as the desire to understand how something really works, rather than glossing over the details, the drive to learn a new language well enough to use it to implement ideas, to take on the learning curve for a new tool or system, to automate something, or to test their code before releasing it into the wild.

I've seen less-than-enthusiastic programmers who release shoddy work, expend more effort moving work onto other's plates that they'd expend just doing it themselves, let bad ideas stand without a fight, and never bother to keep up with changes in technology.

I've also seen very smart developers who've constantly been taken in by the latest shiny new thing to cross their path, think that testing is for the weak, and have no real determination to get something up and running completely.

If I have to be honest, I would describe very few of the developers I've worked with as "dumb". But many of them are either too passive [2], or lack the determination or desire to really compete a project.

One thing I've done to grow is to not try very hard to gloss over the details. Software is supposed to abstract away details, but it's too easy to think "I'll never learn that." or "Who cares what's under the covers? It just works." Understanding the subtleties isn't just an intellectual pursuit. Knowing the internals of a system allows a developer to know the limitations and strengths of a system, so it can be built upon or even repaired and improved.

1. http://paulgraham.com/determination.html 2. Sadly, in some situations, these are people who've simply been overwhelmed by the bureaucracy of their workplace. Fortunately, we are currently in a job seeker's market, and determined people can find better work conditions.

Fake it 'til you make it. Throw yourself at problems that you think are over your head. If you care and you want to do good work you'll figure out a way to get something done. Especially if you have a good mentor or someone that can guide you to answers to hard questions or take you under their wing.

Learn to effectively communicate and then communicate with your peers. You'll never know what you don't know unless you discover it (and there are only so many hours in a day), or you learn from other people. And you'll have an easier time trying to articulate your visions when you can communicate them effectively.

Don't worry about how good other people are. In fact, it's good to surround yourself with people that are more talented than you are, because it's easier to learn from them. Try to surround yourself with people smarter than you are. This is a lot easier if you contribute heavily to OSS or work in a product-focused group or company. It's pretty easy to let your skill set stagnate if your primary responsibilities are writing internal-use-only software.