Ask HN: What skills do you want to develop or improve in 2025?

Ok, you say you are bad at marketing but the Nuenki homepage is one of the best I've seen. The product and benefits are so clearly explained. Well done.

You may eventually want a small project to create a recognizable logo (think how much mileage Duolingo has got from their little owl fellah).

One thing I often see with SaaS offerings is no clear & simple concept / theme that separates the free and paid plans of a service. For Nuenki I would just lean into "works on mobile" being the clear value you get from the paid plan. Hopefully over time you can bring it to more mobile platforms with a small app or something.

Congrats on what you've built and hope to see more growth in 2025! Great idea well executed.

The marketing trick that had the most impact on my mindset has been this article about how to structure landing pages https://marketingexamples.com/landing-page/guide.

If you didn't know about it already, I think that you could use it to tweak the Nuenki landing page, and you'll possibly have some aha moment that'll help in marketing down the line.

The site is solid, but as somebody who has also built a foreign language partial translation extension over a decade ago, there's a TON of competition in this area.

Off the top of my head, I can think of Langulearn, Language Immersion for Chrome, Polyglot, Alpharabius, Mind the Word, Gloss (I think defunct now though), and Toucan. These are all extension-based approaches and range from individual words to entire sentences.

> Marketing. I'm hopeless at it, and I need to be at least OK at it in order for my project (https://nuenki.app) to succeed.

This project looks great and the homepage does a great job at explaining what it does. Especially the slider. And it supports Firefox which is a rarity in this space. I think you should take pride in what you have accomplished from a communication perspective.

> Physics and maths! I'm in my gap year at the moment, but I want to be prepared for my physics degree next year. I'm already really quite rusty.

You should really check out Math Academy! It'll diagnose where your gaps are and build you up to all the math you need for a physics degree and then some [0].

[0] https://jonathanwhitmore.com/posts/2024-09-10-MathAcademy-af...

Would love to help you learn Git. What’s the best way to reach out?

I can't think of any effective marketing in my entire life that didn't involve repetition.

I think when people say they need to learn marketing they really mean they want to learn to skimp on spending on marketing.

Nothing anyone could come up with for 1 or 2 passes would really beat a white background with black text that just says https://nuenki.app that the target market sees 10 random times for 10 seconds.

I am hopeless at marketing because I think it is just that stupid at this scale of market size and being good at it goes against all my sensibilities.

If blender is a bit overwhelming for you (it was for me), give blockbench a try. I love how simple everything is, and you can always add plugins if you miss something. Its open-source too!

Same here! I really underestimated marketing. I've got a lot more respect for it now.

I assumed "build it and they will come" would work, and while there are definitely areas I could improve my product, the bottleneck for me is getting people to see it and try it. Once they're using the trial, I have an excellent conversion rate.

I've been running my brand of scented products and cosmetics (https://yuma.gr) for 2 years now. 2 months ago we completed a rebranding and we're steadily gaining national consumer awareness of our existence as a brand.

From the top of my head, in order of importance:

1. Your perspective is unique - no one else shares your exact point of view. Try everything.

2. Master digital marketing: Google & Facebook Ads, Server Side Tracking, Google Tag Manager, and Analytics. Recommended communities:

- reddit.com/r/PPC

- measure.chat

3. Keep creative talent in-house (designers, developers)

4. Study pricing psychology (eg. kolenda.io/guides/pricing)

5. Good books with warstories:

* Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini

* The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing & of Branding (2 separate books) by Al Ries

6. Learn accounting essentials, each country has its own system

7. Provide solid support via multiple channels (phone, email, chat, social etc)

Managing The Professional Service Firm by David Maister was recommended on HN for all entrepreneurs. It has a very practical and commonsense way of explaining how to approach all facets of a business and well worth reading.

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1. Your first one is also on my list.

2. I have written technical blogs and it is very rewarding when you see your article ranking at the top of Google, and people sharing it because it is genuinely useful.

I may have some advice here.

If you've never had a blog, you'll be surprised how easily you can rank in search engines and get visitors. Technical blogs that haven't been tainted by monetization aren't as many as you'd think. You probably see many of them here on HN, but in Google most websites fight to stay on top for major keywords to make money.

Furthermore, many experts don't write. You'll be amazed when you start seeing impressions in Google Search Console (their dashboard for search activity).

I highly recommend: - Setup the site quick, in an imperfect state - Post a few articles in an imperfect state - Install Google Search Console

Then follow the data in Search Console - you'll see which keywords and pages are getting traction. From there, keep posting what you think would be helpful for people like you.

Hey! Not sure if you're looking for recommendations, but Andrew Ng's original coursera course for Machine Learning is what you're looking for. I took the course back in 2015 but it's timeless, and gives you the algo and maths foundations you're looking for.

Funny you mention that, while I know quite a few programming languages, I think most desktop applications that don't need a lot of bells and whistles, I'd probably make it with Pharo.

I haven't programmed in a while with Pharo but they have a built-in GUI framework. But there was also Bloc, if remember correctly.

Fun fact: you can then also ship the IDE itself with it, so people can hack into your application, if that's the sort of thing you'd want.

I’ve been working on writing this year. It’s hard. I have countless posts or ideas for posts sitting there because I don’t like them for one reason or another.

For me I don’t collect metrics or really try to think that anyone might read a shred of it. I think that’s been helpful. And also just publish it. In the grand scheme it’s for you anyways to enjoy and develop. One piece of advice that I’ve gotten, is to commit to your points or idea. I think that’s can even include committing to uncertainty. You might need to revise it later, but done thoughtfully if you have readers, they should respect that. If not, well, without comments and metrics what does it matter?

Over the holiday break I’ve migrated to my own blog instead of a platform. So I’ve certainly found it enjoyable even if frustrating!

Who is your blog's target audience? I write https://www.curiosities.dev/ for myself. I'm a non-expert in all of the posts.

When I revisit old posts, I digest the information differently and add more explorations/questions. It's much easier to build upon scaffolding that's already there. Maybe in N years, I'll have something insightful to say about X, but I don't have to hold off writing anything until then -- incomplete notes and rephrasing of other people's ideas already benefit me now.

Personally I think that even if you don't know everything, just make clear what you are certain and uncertain about.

You probably know a lot, and what you write is still good as long as you don't spread misinformation. I have issues trusting most sources that are not clear about what they are uncertain about, cause most people are not experts.

Cool to see more dancers on HN! I'm gettin into it more myself, I was wondering if you could share the software you used in some of your shorts to practice dance?

> as a low level (i.e. C developer), I currently lack the skills to make my own little toy web apps more aesthetically pleasing for not just me, but to share with others

How did you get interested in opposite ends of the tech stack?

I got into Dancing after a breakup as well.

I would advise to learn couple dancing as: * Zouk (and if you are already doing street style dance, you will love black zouk) * Bachata (there are so many Bachata dancers around the world, that any country or trip you do, you can go into Bachata socials and make local friends all over the world) * Tango (it is the hardest dance to learn, but it has the best connection of all)

And definetly go into dance congresses. There are multiple dance congresses on Europe, but if you can go to some of the best dance congresses like zoukmx or into brazilian zouk congresses during January in Rio de Janeiro, it will be a life experience.

Check on youtube "zoukmx social" and "black zouk"

Would love to help you learn rust. What’s the best way to reach out?

Andrew Ng's courses tend to be widely recommended, including by someone I know who went from physics to ML.

This was pre-gpt-3.5 release. It's classical ML.

The two fast.ai courses end up implementing Stable Diffusion from scratch if that’s the sort of thing you are looking for.

I am no expert, but i found the following really helpful to understand AI/ML from the basics;

1) Neural Networks for Applied Sciences and Engineering by Sandhya Samarasinghe. Old book but great for understanding.

2) An Introduction to Statistical Learning: With Applications in R or Python by Hastie, Witten et al.

3) Any Statistics and Probability textbook should be at hand for reference.

I've been following Math Academy's Mathematics for Machine Learning Course and it has been great.

Congratulations just had mine a few months ago so this is certainly the skill I’m working on!

Other than that sharpen guitar skills, linear algebra, and as a rubyist thinking about doing something in elixir. But we will see how the time allotment goes with an infant part of the program now.

Just read the manual that comes with the child. /s

All kidding aside, my kids are 16 and 19 and I am still trying to figure it out.

Pretty sure it is a journey and not a destination.

New parent here !

Best book hands down - “Be prepared A practical Handbook for new Dads” It’s funny and short and every page is insightful. And you will lol while reading it.

Pathways.org - Great app that suggests activities for right age. And it’s free.

Same here but within a few weeks :)

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it sounds like you should look into stoic philosophy. I think it is overly hyped, and actually caused me some damage when I applied it too much, for too long, but definitely one of several worthwhile perspectives to have deeply internalized.

I use this same (or similar) skill to solve the unsolvable problems by listening to a customers needs, which usually somebody hasn't done by the time they get to me, and then work on fulfilling that need in a way the customer never would have expected. It's very rewarding and turns a negative interaction into a positive one. It's customer service 101 type stuff, but when you get the technical side involved, and you're competent, you become more than a punching bag and become the solution. It's so fun.

Those are great skills. Would another course of action work for you ? For example selecting projects that bring more money, so as to spend less time on those boring projects (saved time could be used on things you enjoy then)

Isn't it fulfilling already because you get things done where others may fail? Also how do you do it? I'd love any tip you may have.

Maybe work with difficult high performers? Talented people who are difficult because they're brash rather than untalented people who are difficult because they're messy.

> One of the skills I already have is the ability to work with difficult people or take on projects that need to be rescued and turn them around.

That is one damn good Superpower! Develop it further and charge/ask more for the job. Advertise it in big bold letters to management/clients/everybody. As you say, that is your "brand".

> And if anyone has tips for how to make use of this skill set in a way that's genuinely fulfilling rather than draining, I'm all ears!

Do not let the above take over your life. Practice detachment via "Self-Distancing" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Distancing_(psychology)) and drop it from your mind/consciousness when not working. Also see;

Self-Distancing: What It Is and How You Can Use It to Make Better Decisions - https://effectiviology.com/self-distancing-rational-decision...

> work with difficult people

My strategy, to avoid getting frustrated, is usually to work around them or not take them seriously, rather than work with them. I speak from experience (generally a people pleaser).

That said, sometimes people feel difficult at first, but after giving what they say or do some thought, it starts to make sense.

Sounds like the Learning How To Learn course on Coursera was made for you. Good luck on your new pursuit!

I would look up how medical students use Anki.

The efficient part would be learning to make cards and decks efficiently.

I can't imagine going back to school and not using Anki.

become a freelancer and build interesting sideprojects that you can try to monetize. in a startup, especially one that needs VC funding, the ratrace is replaced with a fox race, but you are the rabbit.

just be aware, entrepreneurship is the rat race but harder (for the average entrepreneur who doesn't "make it"). Its very rewarding though if you have the head for it

> Don't look at the phone or computer in the morning

Avoiding wasting time is okayish but it pales in comparison to the state where you are naturally drawn to doing things that you consider to be more important.

You, sir or madam, should probably focus on one habit at a time. To focus on everything is to focus on nothing. I say this from experience. I can maintain progress on a few things, but as soon as it increases beyond a few things I lose all of them.

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does this scientific 7 minute workout work?