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Ask HN: I am turning 20 today.Got some advice?(as an entrepreneur or a developer)

9 points by pvsukale1 ↗ HN
I am a newbie web developer. and a wannabe entrepreneur . I am confused about a lot of things .like grad school , to focus on studies or some idea. I am asking for some advice you got for me as an developer or entrepreneur.

46 comments

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[dead] actionwords
Listen, kid. It's a tough world out there far away from the mommies and the daddies. You gotta pay taxes. You gotta pay your loans. And boy oh boy, will Uncle Sam make you pay. One way or another. You will. You pay to play. And you wanna play, don't ya kid?

It's not as easy as they say it is either, kid. It's not like you can make a program that has no commercial value and somehow net millions of dollars. Not anymore, kid. Not like it used to be. Good luck getting your 'ay' app funded now. With all the VC's out there, kid, let me tell you how to it really is. It's tough. You'll program till your fingers callous over. And then you'll keep going. You'd better. I've instantiated more classes than I can count and believe me, kid, i've tried.

So you want advice? Let me tell you a piece of advice and here it is.. Vim > Emacs.

sharemywin
entrepreneurship is about sales. Even the SV hype machine is doing a major sales job on people. If you don't like to sell or know some one that does that you like to work with. Find a hobby you'll be happier.
pvsukale1
ok ;)
sharemywin
I've built several sites/businesses that if I could sell I would be a millionaire.
pvsukale1
what you gonna do about the selling part? I mean how do you develope it ?
sharemywin
I mean sell a service not sell the sites.
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trost
Read the book "So Good They Can't Ignore You" by Cal Newport. It's not about web dev or entrepreneurship, but it's well worth the read. (I'm a web dev turned entrepreneur, so I know it suits your situation). I'm finally reading it and it is eye-opening. In short: Become really good at what you do through deliberate practice. This will open doors and get you where you want to go.
pvsukale1
thanx man for the suggestion :-) will read that book ..for sure.
noir_lord
Don't take your health or general physical condition for granted.

It's a lot harder to get back in shape than stay in shape.

pvsukale1
sure will keep that in mind!! ;)
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FlopV
Do everything you do, with a sense of passion. Don't half ass anything. This isn't limited to learning web development or starting a company as an entrepreneur. Have passion in your personal relationships, your health, your fun, your downtime. Enjoy the ride and execute, don't be afraid to make mistakes and don't get stuck "thinking" about what you need to do, you're better off "doing".
pvsukale1
thank you for this advice. will try to live with passion:)
J-dawg
Do you have any practical tips for doing this on a daily basis? I read your comment and completely agreed with the sentiment, but then found myself thinking "what can I do differently?"

I'm a lot older than the OP, and fear I have spent a lot of my life living without passion.

FlopV
1. Get quality sleep, if I don't sleep well, my mind is foggy all day, and I'm just going through the motions. 7-9 hours is key for me depending on the night. 2. Wake up a little earlier than you need to be up. This way you won't be rushing to start your day, and you'll feel a less stressed. 3. Write down/be aware of your goals. Break them into small achievable tasks, this way you aren't overwhelmed, but you're constantly working towards them. 4. Block your schedule for what you want to achieve, this way you do that specific thing, instead of trying to do 10 things, and focus on what that block is for. 5. Look at things with prospective, you've only have so much time on this earth. This is tough and my own view changed with a near death experience, although I'd avoid that one...ha!
pvsukale1
yeah and the "you've got only one life" perspective kept me inspired many times. and good sleep is rare (I am in college) but I have realized the importance of it . :) I am trying to wake up early and go for running and stuff !
BjoernKW
Learn about marketing and sales. Talk to and connect with people. More importantly, listen to them first.

Don't try to focus on ideas, rather train your mind to be aware of problems - big and small - around you. Take notes about problems you noticed and review those notes from time to time.

Talking to people and noticing things will let you discover true opportunities while thinking about ideas for yourself is more like a gamble: You might fluke it but it'll really be down to sheer luck.

A word about passion: Doing something you love is essential but don't limit yourself to something that you've determined to be passionate about early on. As with problems around you rather be open-minded and let passion come to you. There can be passion in the most unlikely places (I for one am quite passionate about creating boring enterprise software because there's plenty of improvement to be made in that area, particularly in terms of usability and UX)

pvsukale1
thank you for your advice. and yeah it is true ..unless you keep an open mind you don't know what else are you passionate about :)
thecupisblue
I am not much older than you and started working professionally when I was your age, tho I did toy with programming since I was a kid. There is one quote I like that really makes the huge difference in everything.

"No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, show up".

Go to meetups. Considering another language? Go to their meetups. No meetups for your field of interest? Start one. Join slack communities. Join local facebook groups. Help others. Like, if you know someone who wants to learn development, needs help finding a job, needs advice or similar - as long as they aren't a leach/asshole, help them, it will come back to you. Reputation matters. Learn from older developers around you. Ask questions, be polite, if you think they won't help, try their ego: "Hey, I know you're an expert on X...". As people below said, learn about marketing and sales, learn people skills, knowing that stuff is a ticket to be more than a code monkey and will make you a better entrepreneur. Speak at as many conferences, panels, talks as you can. Don't tie your identity to the company you work for. Read books by people smarter than you. Don't argue with people on the Internet, it's useless, especially on social networks.

pvsukale1
thank you for your advice. being part of developer communities really helps.I have gained a significant amount of knowledge in these online meetups, forums.
alc90
Just start - build things - don't stop. Don't fear failure. Make big bets starting yesterday - because at 20 you have nothing to lose - no wife, no kids.
tmaly
try to identify patterns of things that work for you. No one likes taking advice, but if you can figure out some good shortcuts, you can focus on creating value.

I am just finishing up an audio book of Linchpin by Seth Godin. It has some great ideas in there in regards to being a remarkable artist instead of being a cog in the machine. I think this is important, especially as we are moving away from a manufacturing based economy.

pvsukale1
:) can you explain a little more about creating a value? thanks
MalcolmDiggs
Work less. Smile more. :)

Seriously, this is one of the best times of your life...unless you take a job that squeezes every bit of energy and life out of you. Achieving work-life balance early in your career will make this profession sustainable for you in the long run; so I'd focus on that.

Beyond that: do whatever jobs interest you at the time, live on less than you make, and don't forget to backup your work.

pvsukale1
:) thanks. I just want to ask .. work-life balance is it important in your 20's ?
MalcolmDiggs
Life is important in your 20s. If you max-out the time you're working, you'll miss some of the best parts of life. You're only young once.
bo_Olean
Just Two things:

1) Always be writing code to build things.

2) Be selling what you build.

Without (1) you won't grow professionally.

Without (2) you won't survive.

pvsukale1
thanks :) . how to learn about the selling part?
hvo
First of all,happy birthday to you. My advice to you is to avoid distraction at all cost.When you set goals to achieve something meaningful in life,you will almost always come to face distraction at some point.Distraction can come in different shades and shapes. I encourage you to learn how to separate signal from noise. I wish you well.
pvsukale1
thank you very much for your advice!
kdamken
Happy birthday. Go to this site, and read through this article - http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/02/22/getting-rich-from-....

Focus on saving. As a developer, you can save a lot of money by the time you're thirty, likely enough that you won't ever need to work again. I'm not saying you'd have to, but you can give yourself the ability to choose when you work, how often you work, and what you work on.

pvsukale1
thank for your advice ! :)will keep this in mind!savings!
kdamken
No problem! Basically you'd want to follow these steps:

1. Keep your living expenses as low as you can while increasing your salary as much as you can.

2. Try and save at least 50% of your income. After you have six months of living expenses saved as an emergency fund, focus on maxing out your tax sheltered retirement funds - your 401k and IRA's. Make sure to invest in low cost index funds.

3. If you have money left after, open a brokerage account with Vanguard and look into investing in their low cost index funds as well. Poor as much money as you can into this.

More on picking index funds https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Lazy_portfolios

dividual
Don't seek trophies. Nearly every endeavor in our modern world is some form of gamification. Degrees are gamification, or traveling is gamification (Think of those stamps they put on your passport. Did you really travel just to get a little stamp, or learn something new?).

Build on strengths. We all have weaknesses and it is worthwhile finding these weaknesses early so that you're not hung up about them later. You can only build on strength. Don't waste a thousand lifetimes fixing weakness.

Get a routine. The secret of success is invariably found in daily routine. Everyone has their own routine. The key is to make progress with the routine and have an 'upper hand' over others.

pvsukale1
thank you very much for your advice!that gamification thing is really true!
erac1e
When you are 30 you will probably be less enthusiastic about cutting code. Have a backup plan.