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This extends to software. Don’t start by building an app. Start with a spreadsheet. Figure out every step, get it real ironed out. Do manual work if you have t
by Swizec 6y ago
This extends to software.
Don’t start by building an app. Start with a spreadsheet. Figure out every step, get it real ironed out. Do manual work if you have to.
Only when you’re certain tht your idea solves a real problem and your magic spreadsheet is killing your will to live, then write code and make a real thing.
Too often people jump into building only to realize they have no idea what they need or that their idea isn’t needed.
- PaulHoule 6y agoThere are millions of magic spreadsheets that kill people's will to live, lead businesses to make billion dollar bad decisions, etc. (We need weapons of mass construction, but spreadsheets-as-we-know-them are weapons of mass destruction.)
- Swizec 6y agoBillion dollar spreadsheet is a little late. Build real code around the 100k level
- wruza 6y agoThis is a great advice, but the human nature prevents two things. First, you never do it at the right time. Second, you cut corners which would heavily affect the ease or even a possibility of such transition. I spent half my work life unfucking spreadsheets into databases and usually it is nuances and misstructure all the way down. You have to be a genius software developer and a master of discipline to be able to turn your sheets to code in zero years. Add some collaborators and it's over. The ability to make a formula in a cell instead of a column is a formula for disaster. If I was looking for the worst tool for a poor man's ERP, I would consider phpMyAdmin or a similar "data studio" tool, but not a spreadsheet. There are plenty, all ready for a frontend to be written in place of them.