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Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

al3x.net

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Re: Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

#61

Post by pod4369 »

beatpanda wrote: post #51

>Maybe the best way to meet your goal is starting a non-profit or going into politics. I'd like to know whose, or which, goals are better met going into politics. Politics, at least in America, are a machine that eats good ideas and shits murder, and anybody with half a brain and the desire to change the world should know, from even casual observation, to steer clear. For example, Elon Musk and entrepreneurs like him…

"For example, Elon Musk and entrepreneurs like him have done more to move the world away from fossil fuels and towards alternative energy"

Wait, how does Elon Musk generate electricity?

Re: Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

#62

Post by btilly »

oblique63 wrote: post #45
dustingetz wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

i totally understand and respect your position and that's definitely a strategy that can work. The other end of the spectrum is, you could contract someone like Tony Morris[1] at $250 an hour for 20 hours a week, and he will build your product faster than a team of untrained engineers, or more likely, build a product that untrained engineers aren't capable of building, with a defect rate close to zero. Not every stra…

Yeah, but I think the over-arching idea that the OP was getting at, was "what if we can breed these 'superstars'?" That would certainly seem feasible if you interview for personality traits, interests and learning skills, more than actual/concrete knowledge and working skills. And of course, this would be a lot more cost-effective as well. In that case, I would say that the key would lie in paying more attention to h…

To a point that is possible. However there are key lessons that don't really sink in until after you have made certain mistakes and have seen the consequences. For instance I understood the value of forcing variable declarations, and of having multiple layers of safeguards after a typo in a variable name caused me to take down Bloomberg's ftp server about 15 years ago.

Judging from ability and personality, it was clear at that point that I had potential. And I received some excellent mentoring. But potential and mentoring do not ensure a smooth path to success.

Re: Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

#63

Post by beatpanda »

pod4369 wrote: post #61
beatpanda wrote: post #51

>Maybe the best way to meet your goal is starting a non-profit or going into politics. I'd like to know whose, or which, goals are better met going into politics. Politics, at least in America, are a machine that eats good ideas and shits murder, and anybody with half a brain and the desire to change the world should know, from even casual observation, to steer clear. For example, Elon Musk and entrepreneurs like him…

"For example, Elon Musk and entrepreneurs like him have done more to move the world away from fossil fuels and towards alternative energy" Wait, how does Elon Musk generate electricity?

For the supercharger stations, it's from the sun, using technology developed by another private company, Solar City.

Re: Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

#64

Post by pod4369 »

beatpanda wrote: post #63
pod4369 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"For example, Elon Musk and entrepreneurs like him have done more to move the world away from fossil fuels and towards alternative energy" Wait, how does Elon Musk generate electricity?

For the supercharger stations, it's from the sun, using technology developed by another private company, Solar City.

Solar City and Tesla would have been possible without government subsidies? Are you sure about that?

Do you know what Elon has stated regarding government support?

Re: Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

#65

Post by rhizome »

jcampbell1 wrote: post #35
dustingetz wrote: post #3

one point al3x didn't talk to: not all startups will teach you to be an awesome engineer. If a startup is really hiring the best of best, a less experienced programmer is not likely to make the cut. Ever look at your code from 6 months, a year, 5 years ago? and how bad it is? Many tech startups don't have time for that, the quality of your work can make or break a startup. Elite startups want "ex-googlers". So if you…

I run a bootstrapped company and we hire the cheapest engineers we can find. I interview for competence in the one thing they understand, and then just how fast they learn. I cannot overstate the number of people out there that are incredibly smart, but can't describe basic information like how the HTTP protocol works. It is completely baffling. These people can be explained how the protocol works in 10 minutes, and…

Just out of curiosity, do you phrase the question, "how does the HTTP protocol work?"

Re: Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

#66

Post by venus »

beatpanda wrote: post #59
danso wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For example, Elon Musk and entrepreneurs like him have done more to move the world away from fossil fuels and towards alternative energy in the last decade than the U.S. government (at any level) has in the 25 years they've been aware of climate change. Musk is inventing the future, and in Congress they're still arguing over whether climate change exists or not. And that's just how fast things move in that arena. I…

We have 16 years at current burn rates to end fossil fuels, and there is 0 political will to do anything on the scale it will take to do that. The emissions standards were great, I agree, but in the face of the challenge they're meant to address, ultimately meaningless. The emissions standards Obama proposed in the campaign were far more ambitious, and it went along with a plan to put a price on carbon that is 100% d…

> We have 16 years at current burn rates to end fossil fuels

16 years? Where did you get that figure? What is this deadline you're talking about?

Re: Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

#67

Post by pod4369 »

beatpanda wrote: post #59
danso wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For example, Elon Musk and entrepreneurs like him have done more to move the world away from fossil fuels and towards alternative energy in the last decade than the U.S. government (at any level) has in the 25 years they've been aware of climate change. Musk is inventing the future, and in Congress they're still arguing over whether climate change exists or not. And that's just how fast things move in that arena. I…

We have 16 years at current burn rates to end fossil fuels, and there is 0 political will to do anything on the scale it will take to do that. The emissions standards were great, I agree, but in the face of the challenge they're meant to address, ultimately meaningless. The emissions standards Obama proposed in the campaign were far more ambitious, and it went along with a plan to put a price on carbon that is 100% d…

"We have 16 years at current burn rates to end fossil fuels"

And what's your source for this?

Re: Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

#68

Post by sillysaurus »

pg wrote: post #54

"Yet, there is no enduring formula for creativity and rebellion." This is a fine sounding statement, but it's false. We've been accumulating and refining techniques for having new ideas for centuries, at least. Leonardo da Vinci mentioned several in his writings.

We've been accumulating and refining techniques for having new ideas for centuries, at least. Leonardo da Vinci mentioned several in his writings.

Several? The only one I remember from reading DaVinci's journal was along the lines of "have the students work alongside each other," referring to his apprentices. The idea was that seeing each other's work would motivate each apprentice to excel and one-up one another. The YC dinners would be the modern incarnation of that.

It's a good idea. I thought that it was the only remark DaVinci wrote down about fostering creative process, though. Most of his journal is dedicated to observations from his research projects.

Re: Letter To A Young Programmer Considering A Startup

#69

Post by yarou »

pg wrote: post #54

"Yet, there is no enduring formula for creativity and rebellion." This is a fine sounding statement, but it's false. We've been accumulating and refining techniques for having new ideas for centuries, at least. Leonardo da Vinci mentioned several in his writings.

True, we have been refining techniques for incremental improvement. But what of disruptive technology? Can something that is chaotic and non-deterministic have a deterministic set of steps to achieve? Is it reproducible, ceteris paribus? That's how I parse "creativity and rebellion".
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