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Personally, whenever I feel lonely I would go volunteer and help people. It makes you feel connected and really puts things into perspective (like, even if your

Personally, whenever I feel lonely I would go volunteer and help people. It makes you feel connected and really puts things into perspective (like, even if your startup doesn't do well, you would still be surrounded by people who enjoys you as a person). Every Saturday, my wife and I volunteer at our local library (northside branch in santa clara) to teach people how to code. We've been doing that for almost a year with surprising results. Now I'm leading about 10 engineers that I've taught from the ground up and they are happily building features for my app for minimum wage (temporarily). I'm hoping that one of my apps take off and I can pay everyone great salary.

danschumann 9y ago
That's a great idea. I could probably start that up pretty easily because I know there's a need.
- simonebrunozzi 9y ago
  Where are you based? If you are in San Francisco, let me know if I can be of help. (my HN name @ gmail, or google my name).
  - danschumann 9y ago
    I'm from Oshkosh, WI. There aren't many tech meet ups around here.
    - j_s 9y ago
      You would do better to look in the Appleton area if you don't want to travel far, otherwise Milwaukee/Madison could be worth a trip (especially conferences) and Chicago should have everything. Rob Walling is in MN right now, might be worth asking this question of him via his podcast, Startups for the Rest of Us. I assume he mostly interacts with his existing network remotely now though, not sure he could offer advice on creating such a network without bootstrapping in-person.
    - tomcam 9y ago
      Email me--in my profile
- songzme 9y ago
  Good luck man! Let me know if you need help. My email is song at garageScript.org
- abhikandoi2000 9y ago
  You can talk to me if you need help. My email is abhikandoi2000 at gmail.com
swyx 9y ago
this is a bit of an awkward question but.. have you ever come across anyone who you tried to teach but in the end was just not suited for coding? can everyone learn to code?
- Joakal 9y ago
  As long they are interested in coding, they can code. It may take longer if they're not as adept. They can try some strategies to assist coding, such as books, checklists, pair programming, etc.
  - anindha 9y ago
    Imagine a graph where one axis is how interested you are and the other axis is how quickly you pick it up. There is a diagonal line the separates those that will persist long enough to be a good coder.
    - exikyut 9y ago
      This perfectly explains my own reaction/opinion when I started reading the comment that started this subthread. Worded much better than I could have put it.
  - danellis 9y ago
    It's takes a lot more than interest. Programming requires intelligence. A lot of people are not very intelligent.
    - songzme 9y ago
      If you compare someone with quite a few of the ai bots out there (image recognition, chat bots), you will realize how intelligent they actually are. Every human person is like a super AI machine.
- lunaru 9y ago
  Not everyone can learn to code (well), imo. But, that's not an elitist coding-is-harder-than-other-things statement -- it's just the truth for any discipline. Not everyone can draw/paint; not everyone can sing; not everyone can learn new languages proficiently; not everyone is good with numbers; not everyone is good at teaching; not everyone is good with working with other people; not everyone is athletic. And by this I mean that some will naturally be good at learning and ultimately mastering the above list of things, while others have to work much harder to get even close, with a lower ceiling. Most importantly though, it's not up to someone else to decide whether you're good at something or not. Everyone should have an opportunity to take class or learn a subject and find out for themselves if that's something that they're good at or naturally inclined to. And if they're not good at it, it's not the end of the world because there is something else that's probably more suitable for them that's just as important to this world as coding. The trouble we run into is that we often think of programming or coding as something more important or more sacred than other disciplines, when in reality it's just another in a long line of disciplines that takes practice and a little bit of natural talent.
jonah 9y ago
Volunteering is awesome and I'm glad you have found a niche and are recommending it. For me, it's been excellent too but I chose something physical, challenging, outdoors and completely unrelated to tech. Selfishly, it's a needed change from sitting in front of a computer but still gives the satisfaction of helping people in deep ways. But yes, directly helping people is deeply rewarding and satisfying.
rdslw 9y ago
I trust you're doing for the good, yet it reminded me a story I heard some time ago. Story went like that: I'm a gold miner. Gold mining is cool, everybody wants to gold mine. So I'll teach you FOR FREE how to gold mine, but during first year I offer you to gold mine for me at minimum wage. It's a shity goldmining you're doing, as you're newbie, so that excuses minimum wage, right? And I'm doing teaching for "free", right? There were hundreds I trained to goldmine and they didnt accept my WORK (sacred word) offer. They didnt also goldmine afterwards. I call it free service and in addition for my goldmining minions get 'feeling good' from it. Others call it sieve just to find enough 'wanna be gold miner' newbies.
- rm_-rf_slash 9y ago
  Plenty of people pay lots of money to learn how to code. If someone is being paid to learn and work, isn’t that a pretty good deal?
  - TomMarius 9y ago
    It depends on what the exact deal is. I'm sure that in this particular case it is a good deal, however I've seen such jobs where they literally exploited these poor people.
    - songzme 9y ago
      yeah. My deal with them is to train them to become great engineers. No paperwork needed to enforce anything. They work with me 100% by choice and they know they could be getting a much higher salary somewhere else (and free to leave anytime).
- taneq 9y ago
  If the only way to get a non-shit gold mining job is to have a few months experience in a 'real' gold mine, then the minimum wage job is well worth doing. I started back in uni doing software dev for McDonald's wages. By the time I graduated I had two years' experience which got me my first 'real' job.
- 9y ago
Blazespinnaker 9y ago
Agreed, volunteer! That’s the best way by far to combat loneliness. That being said a founder support group is an awesome thing. I really want to go to a VR one if such exists.
pancho111203 9y ago
Might I ask what kind of people attend your classes? I am thinking on volunteering on an institution which helps people with less social resources. Your idea sounds like a good way to give those people more possibilities, as you can learn to code without paying anything if you have an internet connection and enough motivation. What I'm afraid of is asking too much from them. Did your 10 engineers start with some background in computer science or math?
- songzme 9y ago
  I try to get people from government assistance (people who really need it). Recently CalWorks agreed to pay each student I take from them $13/hour for up to 6 months, so that really helps lighten the load on my wallet. All of them come with very little computer knowledge, let alone math or cs background. One of them never took a math class in high school. Don't ask too much from them if your goal is to help them. People with less social resources have confidence issues (even though most don't show it) so compliment them frequently and make sure to tell them what they are doing well. Let them take their time! What works for for me is that I have my students teach more beginner students so it lightens my teaching load and I can focus leading the engineering team. If someone is having a hard time understanding something, they just keep teaching that topic over and over again until they get it.

danschumann 9y ago

That's a great idea. I could probably start that up pretty easily because I know there's a need.

simonebrunozzi 9y ago
Where are you based? If you are in San Francisco, let me know if I can be of help. (my HN name @ gmail, or google my name).
- danschumann 9y ago
  I'm from Oshkosh, WI. There aren't many tech meet ups around here.
  - j_s 9y ago
    You would do better to look in the Appleton area if you don't want to travel far, otherwise Milwaukee/Madison could be worth a trip (especially conferences) and Chicago should have everything. Rob Walling is in MN right now, might be worth asking this question of him via his podcast, Startups for the Rest of Us. I assume he mostly interacts with his existing network remotely now though, not sure he could offer advice on creating such a network without bootstrapping in-person.
  - tomcam 9y ago
    Email me--in my profile
songzme 9y ago
Good luck man! Let me know if you need help. My email is song at garageScript.org
abhikandoi2000 9y ago
You can talk to me if you need help. My email is abhikandoi2000 at gmail.com

swyx 9y ago

this is a bit of an awkward question but.. have you ever come across anyone who you tried to teach but in the end was just not suited for coding? can everyone learn to code?

Joakal 9y ago
As long they are interested in coding, they can code. It may take longer if they're not as adept. They can try some strategies to assist coding, such as books, checklists, pair programming, etc.
- anindha 9y ago
  Imagine a graph where one axis is how interested you are and the other axis is how quickly you pick it up. There is a diagonal line the separates those that will persist long enough to be a good coder.
  - exikyut 9y ago
    This perfectly explains my own reaction/opinion when I started reading the comment that started this subthread. Worded much better than I could have put it.
- danellis 9y ago
  It's takes a lot more than interest. Programming requires intelligence. A lot of people are not very intelligent.
  - songzme 9y ago
    If you compare someone with quite a few of the ai bots out there (image recognition, chat bots), you will realize how intelligent they actually are. Every human person is like a super AI machine.
lunaru 9y ago
Not everyone can learn to code (well), imo. But, that's not an elitist coding-is-harder-than-other-things statement -- it's just the truth for any discipline. Not everyone can draw/paint; not everyone can sing; not everyone can learn new languages proficiently; not everyone is good with numbers; not everyone is good at teaching; not everyone is good with working with other people; not everyone is athletic. And by this I mean that some will naturally be good at learning and ultimately mastering the above list of things, while others have to work much harder to get even close, with a lower ceiling. Most importantly though, it's not up to someone else to decide whether you're good at something or not. Everyone should have an opportunity to take class or learn a subject and find out for themselves if that's something that they're good at or naturally inclined to. And if they're not good at it, it's not the end of the world because there is something else that's probably more suitable for them that's just as important to this world as coding. The trouble we run into is that we often think of programming or coding as something more important or more sacred than other disciplines, when in reality it's just another in a long line of disciplines that takes practice and a little bit of natural talent.

jonah 9y ago

Volunteering is awesome and I'm glad you have found a niche and are recommending it. For me, it's been excellent too but I chose something physical, challenging, outdoors and completely unrelated to tech. Selfishly, it's a needed change from sitting in front of a computer but still gives the satisfaction of helping people in deep ways. But yes, directly helping people is deeply rewarding and satisfying.

rdslw 9y ago

I trust you're doing for the good, yet it reminded me a story I heard some time ago. Story went like that: I'm a gold miner. Gold mining is cool, everybody wants to gold mine. So I'll teach you FOR FREE how to gold mine, but during first year I offer you to gold mine for me at minimum wage. It's a shity goldmining you're doing, as you're newbie, so that excuses minimum wage, right? And I'm doing teaching for "free", right? There were hundreds I trained to goldmine and they didnt accept my WORK (sacred word) offer. They didnt also goldmine afterwards. I call it free service and in addition for my goldmining minions get 'feeling good' from it. Others call it sieve just to find enough 'wanna be gold miner' newbies.

rm_-rf_slash 9y ago
Plenty of people pay lots of money to learn how to code. If someone is being paid to learn and work, isn’t that a pretty good deal?
- TomMarius 9y ago
  It depends on what the exact deal is. I'm sure that in this particular case it is a good deal, however I've seen such jobs where they literally exploited these poor people.
  - songzme 9y ago
    yeah. My deal with them is to train them to become great engineers. No paperwork needed to enforce anything. They work with me 100% by choice and they know they could be getting a much higher salary somewhere else (and free to leave anytime).
taneq 9y ago
If the only way to get a non-shit gold mining job is to have a few months experience in a 'real' gold mine, then the minimum wage job is well worth doing. I started back in uni doing software dev for McDonald's wages. By the time I graduated I had two years' experience which got me my first 'real' job.
9y ago

Blazespinnaker 9y ago

Agreed, volunteer! That’s the best way by far to combat loneliness. That being said a founder support group is an awesome thing. I really want to go to a VR one if such exists.

pancho111203 9y ago

Might I ask what kind of people attend your classes? I am thinking on volunteering on an institution which helps people with less social resources. Your idea sounds like a good way to give those people more possibilities, as you can learn to code without paying anything if you have an internet connection and enough motivation. What I'm afraid of is asking too much from them. Did your 10 engineers start with some background in computer science or math?

songzme 9y ago
I try to get people from government assistance (people who really need it). Recently CalWorks agreed to pay each student I take from them $13/hour for up to 6 months, so that really helps lighten the load on my wallet. All of them come with very little computer knowledge, let alone math or cs background. One of them never took a math class in high school. Don't ask too much from them if your goal is to help them. People with less social resources have confidence issues (even though most don't show it) so compliment them frequently and make sure to tell them what they are doing well. Let them take their time! What works for for me is that I have my students teach more beginner students so it lightens my teaching load and I can focus leading the engineering team. If someone is having a hard time understanding something, they just keep teaching that topic over and over again until they get it.