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I found calculus and academia generally very difficult. I'm happy to know that you don't suffer from this terrible affliction which makes studying difficult. Y

I found calculus and academia generally very difficult. I'm happy to know that you don't suffer from this terrible affliction which makes studying difficult. You don't need to know programming if you understand your workers and they understand it enough to convey to you the time & resource constraints. I have a million dollars for this project. What are the features and functions that will maximize my returns? Hire a couple of smart engineers who already holds the technical knowledge, able to communicate when asked all the pitfalls, potential roadblocks and unknowns so that their productivity is maximized. Set expectations on how they will be able to trade their time for money. At the end of the day, it's a naked call option with limited risk and unlimited reward by utilizing the correct knowledge workers. Why spend time learning the reference when you can look it up or hire somebody who already has a distilled version in their head which you can utilize?

YeGoblynQueenne 10y ago
I think people are just saying that if you don't undertstand the technology a little bit yourself you'll never know who to hire. Maybe somebody looks like they know what they're talking about, but they don't. Maybe somebody really knows what they're talking about but they can't put that across very well. Maybe someome is simply unscrupulous and wants to milk you dry and will dazzle you with charts and graphs that they know you don't quite understand. It's, like, inadvisable, to leave yourself vulnerable like that.
- maverick_iceman 10y ago
  Absolutely. I know just enough software engineering to bullshit my way in front of a nontechnical person. If any such person hires me to do serious dev work they'll be in a sea of trouble.
deepnotderp 10y ago
Okay, here's a million dollars a year budget, who do you hire ? If you've read papers and know about deep reinforcement learning , you'll know who to hire.
- brilliantcode 10y ago
  I hire the guy that read the papers and know who to hire :) In an orchestra, the conductor is not replaceable but the instrument players are. Similarly, someone who allocates his or other's capital cannot be easily replaced very much like the worker's. Your engineer leaves there are 100 others ready to take the place. Business owner leaves you'd have to find a buyer to keep everyone going. This is different from a CEO funded by VC's where you are still replaceable but nevertheless a lot harder to replace than the cost intensive worker. Being on the profit generating part of the business and cost intensive part of the business helped me understand why such discrepancy exists-those who are able to read and perform in chaotic and uncertain environments will always be valued than those who directly affect the margin's as a result of the monetary figure attached to their time which is always far more costlier because cost centres do not generate new revenues. Your top sales guy makes $9 for every $1 spent on him (+$8) where as your top engineer costs $3 for every $0 he generates (-$3). tl;dr: revenue generators are king while cost generators are easily swappable due to the high supply of it as a result of it being a far safer and financially stable perception.
  - deepnotderp 10y ago
    Hint hint: you're the most replaceable one in this setup
  - xapata 10y ago
    Funny, I know more people who are asking about machine learning than people who are experts. So who is in high supply?
    - brilliantcode 10y ago
      Machine learning experts are in higher supply, your anecdotal experience offers little weight. High demand creates a high supply which drives wages to zero.
      - notahacker 10y ago
maverick_iceman 10y ago
>Hire a couple of smart engineers who already holds the technical knowledge Then exactly what value are you bringing to the table? Money? Sales skills? If that's the case then why focus on ML/AI technologies? Any company needs money or sales expertise.
- tripzilch 10y ago
  Pretty sure it's going to be his unique talent of making employees feel valued within the business, his charisma and sharp ability to clearly convey his business ideas and cohesive argumentation skills when asked about the giant holes in them ...

YeGoblynQueenne 10y ago

I think people are just saying that if you don't undertstand the technology a little bit yourself you'll never know who to hire. Maybe somebody looks like they know what they're talking about, but they don't. Maybe somebody really knows what they're talking about but they can't put that across very well. Maybe someome is simply unscrupulous and wants to milk you dry and will dazzle you with charts and graphs that they know you don't quite understand. It's, like, inadvisable, to leave yourself vulnerable like that.

maverick_iceman 10y ago
Absolutely. I know just enough software engineering to bullshit my way in front of a nontechnical person. If any such person hires me to do serious dev work they'll be in a sea of trouble.

deepnotderp 10y ago

Okay, here's a million dollars a year budget, who do you hire ? If you've read papers and know about deep reinforcement learning , you'll know who to hire.

brilliantcode 10y ago
I hire the guy that read the papers and know who to hire :) In an orchestra, the conductor is not replaceable but the instrument players are. Similarly, someone who allocates his or other's capital cannot be easily replaced very much like the worker's. Your engineer leaves there are 100 others ready to take the place. Business owner leaves you'd have to find a buyer to keep everyone going. This is different from a CEO funded by VC's where you are still replaceable but nevertheless a lot harder to replace than the cost intensive worker. Being on the profit generating part of the business and cost intensive part of the business helped me understand why such discrepancy exists-those who are able to read and perform in chaotic and uncertain environments will always be valued than those who directly affect the margin's as a result of the monetary figure attached to their time which is always far more costlier because cost centres do not generate new revenues. Your top sales guy makes $9 for every $1 spent on him (+$8) where as your top engineer costs $3 for every $0 he generates (-$3). tl;dr: revenue generators are king while cost generators are easily swappable due to the high supply of it as a result of it being a far safer and financially stable perception.
- deepnotderp 10y ago
  Hint hint: you're the most replaceable one in this setup
- xapata 10y ago
  Funny, I know more people who are asking about machine learning than people who are experts. So who is in high supply?
  - brilliantcode 10y ago
    Machine learning experts are in higher supply, your anecdotal experience offers little weight. High demand creates a high supply which drives wages to zero.
    - notahacker 10y ago

maverick_iceman 10y ago

>Hire a couple of smart engineers who already holds the technical knowledge Then exactly what value are you bringing to the table? Money? Sales skills? If that's the case then why focus on ML/AI technologies? Any company needs money or sales expertise.

tripzilch 10y ago
Pretty sure it's going to be his unique talent of making employees feel valued within the business, his charisma and sharp ability to clearly convey his business ideas and cohesive argumentation skills when asked about the giant holes in them ...