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Ask HN: Should I Learn to Code?

4 points by slymerson ↗ HN
My goal is to start a tech company. I tried learning how to code and spent months learning HTML, CSS, JavaScript, React, React Native, and a bit of Python. I can understand code, but I can't write it very well. I was wondering if you think I should keep learning to code, or if i should instead focus on learning marketing/sales/design (non technical founder skills), and then try to onboard a technical founder once I have something to show for myself other than an idea.

I'm 21, and I feel like right now I should take risks at starting businesses instead of focusing time on learning to code, especially since I know it takes a couple years to become "good" at coding.

What do you think?

6 comments

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throwawaysalome
I'm 21

Rest assured this will all pass in a couple years when you grow up and get your first job.

Neuro_Gear
Knowing how to code well will give you the design, sales, and marketing insights you want, while also honing an important skill that not only is valuable in and of itself, but will push your cognitive abilities in a positive direction while you're still young.

I don't see how coding precludes you from exploring starting a business now, either.

I was curious what GPT4 has to say:

It's great that you have a clear goal and have already gained some coding skills. The right approach for you ultimately depends on your interests, strengths, and how you envision your role in the tech company you want to start.

As the founder of a tech company, it's valuable to have a basic understanding of coding and technology, which you have already acquired. This knowledge will help you make informed decisions, communicate effectively with your technical team, and understand the development process.

Given your current situation, here are some suggestions to consider:

    Focus on your strengths: If you feel more passionate about marketing, sales, design, or business strategy, consider focusing on these areas to build a strong foundation. You can always collaborate with technical experts to bring your ideas to life.

    Evaluate your ideas: Analyze the business ideas you want to pursue and determine how critical it is to have deep technical expertise. If your ideas revolve around complex software or require extensive technical knowledge, you may want to continue learning to code.

    Networking: Start attending tech meetups, hackathons, and networking events to meet like-minded individuals and potential technical cofounders. Building a strong network will be invaluable when you're ready to start your company.

    Balance your skills: You can continue learning to code at a slower pace while also focusing on marketing, sales, and design. This way, you'll develop a more rounded skill set that would be beneficial in the long run.
Remember that there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Reflect on your interests, strengths, and goals to determine the path that suits you best. As a founder, having a mix of technical and non-technical skills can be advantageous, but it's essential to understand where your passion lies and focus on the areas that will bring the most value to your future company.

Good Luck!

themodelplumber
It really depends on what the code produces for you, and what that means to you.

Is the code meant to be pure product code? If so then you could at least maintain that as a side project of a given level of commitment per your own specification, and see how it goes--there's the meat of discovery for you in this kind of situation.

And despite your question being kind of specialism-focused, your actual experiences already show sustainable energy is available for you as applied toward a broad approach to a variety of skills, rather than a specialized approach. This can be really helpful to consider.

For related reasons, I'd almost hesitate to recommend even answering your original question. I'd rather recommend questions like: When and how much to learn to code; What kind of code to write; What kind of code best supports my goal for this month; etc.

Similar with marketing, sales, and design. At 21 you should be able to leverage huge swaths of time toward learning a variety of things, and understanding their value as expressions of who you need to be in given contexts.

The result should be a more nimble approach toward your personal & career decisionmaking, with enough of a foundation to shift your perspectives between specialties as required to support your interests as they develop into firmer paths and more specific opportunities.

Just some thoughts though, good luck.

slymerson
The code for me would be a way to create the MVP for whatever idea I have. I started learning to code because I didn't want to depend on others to create my idea. Once I create the MVP, I would like to switch the technical side to a more technical person.

Thank you for the feedback

amrb
You're going to learn a lot of skills on the way to your goal.

The good news being anything you work on will look good on a resume.

Overall don't know how many months of rent/food budget you can cover and so no one here can really answer how much risk to take.

Good luck!

poisonborz
Nobody can give you a surely working advice on this. There's no "best way" on starting a company and you shouldn't search for one. Do what you think is good and makes you happy.