Unfounded Fears
First-time founder paralysis is dangerously common.
Talking about starting a business is easy and fun. There's no risk, and anyone can do it. Leaving your job and going full-time on something you created, on the other hand, is incredibly scary.
I've talked to a lot of would-be founders over the years and the biggest things holding most back are:
- The product isn't good enough
- We just need this investment first
- We don't want others to steal the idea
Here's what I say:
- Your product will never be "good enough."
- Fear of running out of money is legit, but you've gotta learn to run lean.
- Ideas are worthless. Execution and iteration is everything.
If you're still on the fence, what's holding you back? Is the excuse real or just in your head? Hit reply and let's talk about it without judgement!
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Business
6 Months in - A Few Lessons Learned
"If you have amazing engineering chops, congratulations... but it doesn't matter half as much as growth does. If you can't grow the product you just bought, find someone who can and partner with them or start studying. This is where 80% of the work is."
Entrepreneurs run on a spectrum from Pure Artist to Pure Capitalist
There's not one "right" way to go, but it is helpful to know where you land on this scale.
A new wave of tech entrepreneurs are building startups without any coding knowledge
“Startups are all about speed of execution. The speed at which you can iterate and test ideas increases tenfold with these no-code tools. These tools essentially shave off latency from idea to product from a few months to a few days. So you can launch fast, fail fast and iterate fast.”
Karl Hughes at DevRelCon 2021
I'm really excited to be speaking at DevRelCon in November. If you want to hear four proven methods for coming up with technical content ideas, this is going to be a very tactical look at what we've seen work with our clients at Draft.dev.
Technology
Becoming a Senior Software Engineer
I used to speak regularly at many of the Chicago-area coding bootcamps and one of the common questions that students posed to me was, “How can I become a ‘senior software engineer’?”
PostgreSQL vs. MongoDB: Evaluating Structure, Speed, and More
"Whenever you start a new application, you have to choose a database. This can be a scary prospect as it’s nearly impossible to change your core data model once you’ve built something significant. That’s why the debate is important, even now."
Why Don't Developers Write More Tests?
"Test-driven development was oversold by its proponents as a cure for all problems…but testing, when done well is very valuable. Write tests for the future you, who will be trying to understand what this method does in the future."
Leadership
The math behind reading 30 books per year
Here's how 5 minutes of reading per day adds up to 6 books per year (sadly, twice the average that people read).
A lot of new managers just "wing it"
Management is a skill in its own right. Being a great practitioner says nothing about your skills as a leader.
Willingness to look stupid
"The benefit from asking a stupid sounding question is small in most particular instances, but the compounding benefit over time is quite large."