The Entrepreneurial Coder is cool!

I was 13 when I started to build on my entrepreneurial urges by learning how to code. My motivation to learn was to code to build businesses. In 2003 this was frowned upon, a programmer wasn’t someone who loves business and reads The Economist in his free time. He was guy who lived for coding, loved Assembly and at least once a year strongly considered writing his own operating system.

Over the years though there has been a changing trend. With the rise of internet companies being run by hackers, there has been segregation in the world of programmers. Those who code because they love it, and those who love what they can do with it. The first we call the Hackers and the second I call the Entrepreneurial Coders. I think the rise of these guys has been one of the largest factors of success for companies like 37signals. There has been a redefinition of the way an IT company has to be run and this time by the people who have been in the trenches.

Now the fundamental problem of ICT companies is being overcome; communication. The breakdown of it between management and coders is infamous. At almost every programmers cubicle you can find a cartoon about it posted on the walls. For those who lived through the first bubble I am sure you remember the CEO’s that were put in charge by VC’s. Please share your horror stories.

Now only 4 years later when I talk to the hackers who helped me learn how to program, I am ‘cool’. The entrepreneurial coder is becoming more and more accepted and it will slowly change the world of IT. I would love to hear in the comments; how you experienced this change, if you agree or disagree and what you expect for the future.

July 16, 2008 | Filed Under Mini Essays 

Comments

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    I don't know about 'cool' but I think that coding with intent (to solve a problem) is more fulfilling than just coding to write clever code and impress other monkeys.

    I've spent about 2 years gathering my initial requirements & re-learning coding for my upcoming major project. Apart from some VBA & LISP in AutoCAD to automate some boring tasks, my last major project was a 9-screen graphical adventure game on a Vic 20 in the mid 90's.

    I wrote that for the same reason I am writing my new project. Yes, I'm going to write code because I love what I can make a computer do for me.
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    "Yes, I'm going to write code because I love what I can make a computer do for me."

    A real coder at heart! I would love to hear more about your project. Is it to be a business or opensource?
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    Hi Eiso - yes, I'm it for the results. I no slave to geekness nor to any language although I'm leaning heavily towards .NET simply because of the RAD aspect, Visual Studio's IDE & the vastness of the /NET library. The fact that AutoCAD only runs on windows has a lot to do with it too.

    Mine is a business venture - basically I'm automating some process and using a database to track changes in the process of designing broadcast systems. My approach is different to that of existing solutions in that I respect existing procedures which generally involve drawing the designs in AutoCAD. My aim is to analyse the designs and find errors & omissions as well as track changes on both the design and installation side.

    The target market is ... well, it's me and people who design television stations. I plan to offer it as a service rather than as a packaged piece of software because it will need setting up for each design environment and on-going tinkering. It's the sort of thing I can lob in (international travel - cool), set up & nick off, administering and tinkering remotely.

    Even if I never get an external client it will streamline my job a lot which means I can charge by the job and my effective hourly rate goes up ... lots. Presently most places do a lot of the design process manually and it is horrifically error prone. The network I am at these days has about 60,000 cables to keep track of. Other automated solutions hijack your existing workflow and force you to work their way. Engineers don't like change much and they don't have time to learn new shit. My theory is that if my system needs any RTFM then it's a failure.

    My project isn't open source but that's not to say I have no plans to contribute to the ether that is the on-line community, and also to the community that I plan to market to. I plan to blog my opinionated methodologies on AutoCADding in the manner to which I am accustomed. I also plan to write some helper tools for AutoCAD, some of which may be offered free of charge.

    Enough about me ...

    Your chosen path sounds like an interesting adventure. You have a tenacious and rabid curiosity which is the one thing you will need to make your life interesting. That will scare the shit out of the doubters and nay-sayers. F**k 'em.
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    You're solving a problem and you're passionate about doing it. What I like the most about your comment is when you say "My theory is that if my system needs any RTFM then it's a failure." If only more companies thought about it in this manner. I had a 2 month internship at a software company in Holland; amongst many things they built software for a large cable company , I remember the constant phone calls coming in asking for support. I don't know if it was in the same segment you're in, probably not but it shows the need for solutions that work. I look forward to reading more about it on your website (I see you're setting it up, if you need any help let me know).

    p.s. Thank you, doubters and nay-sayers have no place in my life and never will ;-)
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    I think that this is part of a trend i have been thinking about lately. That of the entrepreneur that does not have one but easily 10 little companies, all creating revenue for him. Often, one of these would not be profitable, but the combination is. Logically this is the urban nomad entrepreneur, who walks around with a laptop and a cell phone, goes online anywhere and is not tied to the normal structures or methods.
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    That is exactly the trend I am starting to live now. However I do sometimes ask myself the question if it is better to put my focus on one project instead of multiple ones.
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    Cool is such a relative term (lol)

    We have a main developer at work. I'm the IT Director. On our walls we have various code charts and web app cheat sheets. Every time Roger puts one up he stands back, stares at it, and says "Chicks will dig me."

    The truth is, only other programmers will really dig it - even my dual monitors aren't that cool, or the server rack I built in the corner.

    I have much better luck telling people I wrote one of the Star Trek books (I did) And soon hope to be cool again when the wife and I write one for Stargate Atlantis...

    D
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    Very true I could have been a bit more literary there (knowing a writer would read it). However a trend is also a wide phenomena, just like "cool".

    I wrote mainly here about the trend amongst coders. However there is also a mainstream change, while a server rack ins't cool yet , having built a web application is.
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    Yes, and if you happen to build a web application that turns into a social thing...well, you're golden.
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    That's the master plan
 
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