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Despite Y Combinator Growth, Paul Graham Still Coding
- warwick 15y agoI really don't like the bias in the headline. It seems to imply that coding isn't something you'd do after you got growth. Why not "How Coding Helps Y Combinator Manage Growth" or "Paul Graham Keeps Coding to Help Y Combinator Keep Growing"?
- philwelch 15y agoI think the implication is that pg would be too busy running YC to code. Even if it doesn't happen to him, it happens to a lot of founders.
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- imjk 15y agoI think there's an even more subtle implication that pg is too busy (and should be) to code, yet he still CHOOSES to continue to code. Obviously it would be really easy to find someone to do the coding work - whether keeping up with HN or the creating investor/startup interface - but his choice to continue coding is a statement he and the article are making.
- wheels 15y agoI think there are a lot of founders who don't code on their company's product anymore (though it's apparently not a pure factor of size – Gates and Zuckerberg are known for actually writing code many years in), but it'd be weird if they didn't write code at all. It would imply that writing code is never the most efficient way to accomplish a task that they want solved. Even with infinite resources at your beck and call, it's often faster to write a quick script than to explain to someone else what that script should do (and to continue to do so through whatever iterations seem appropriate). I'm tempted to say that those who don't continue to hack were never really hackers in the first place. For a hacker, writing code is just one of the normal ways to interact with a computer.
- patrocles 15y agoDespite IBM Growth, Lou Gerstner Still Golfing
- 4ad 15y agoThere is a bias with many management and business people, they think coding is low level cruft done by expendable people and once you become a manager or start doing business you start doing the real work and don't have to deal with this lesser things. Sadly I've seen this a lot. Even more sad is that I know programmers that have become managers, no longer write code, and loathe the days they were simply coders. It pains me.
- a5seo 15y agoThe other extreme is people who can never see technical entrepreneurs as anything other than coders. A week ago I was having coffee with the new VP of Marketing for a company I consult to. Despite my background: MBA 8 years ago, founder of web startup that was acquired, several years in product management prior to that, the veep asked me why I didn't wan to be a programmer. What? I still code, but I find it annoying when people perceive me as coder first, as though that invalidates my business credentials. Maybe I'm putting out the wrong vibe, but I'd like to chalk this up to them being threatened by the idea that someone with a skillset they will never have can do all the same stuff they can.
- ez77 15y agoDo you think Sergey and Larry do any significant, production code these these days?
- nkassis 15y agoIt's a good question. I'd bet maybe not production code but I'm sure they write some utilities and things for themselves.
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- argonz 15y agoWhen your business outgrow "garage" level it's simply starts to generate MORE and INTERESTING questions than what you could work out yourself, so you just make the decision(give to others) and enjoy the feedback from the results.. It's not that you don't like to code, you just enjoy to be connected and entertained by more stuff. Of course a great counter example is John Carmack - in there I think he is far more interested in the exact technical details than your average entrepreneur - btw he was never an entrepreneur, he is a "pure" engineer with obsession to optimize(and many other sides of course).
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- boyter 15y agoYou were being down voted for not adding anything to the conversation. The following will help you avoid it in the future http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
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- johnx123-up 15y agoWhat was the comment? (Will help newbies like me)
- michaeldhopkins 15y agoIt's true that one of the most productive things to do during a large meeting is program.
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- saraid216 15y agoI used to enjoy prototyping for the thing under discussion at the meeting. But those were small meetings.
- larsberg 15y agoOften, the most productive thing to do is leave. The day in my management career that I learned to walk in to a large meeting, say, "<Direct report R> will be making this decision for my team" and then walk out was the day I reclaimed my work life. It may sound sad to IC types, but particularly in large companies managers end up invited to meetings just because some random person wants to ensure official buy-in/approval.
- onan_barbarian 15y agoThis article makes me wonder: status-of-arc-p?
- pc 15y ago"true"...?
- pg 15y agoI hack a fair amount in it, less on it. I'd hoped to release a new version of News soon, and thus also a new version of Arc. But I am pretty busy with YC.
- spenrose 15y agoFeature request: readable URLs. /title-of-story, /title-of-story/comment/username, etc.
- SamReidHughes 15y agoYou should just get better at memorizing item id's.
- jpr 15y agoNot sure if serious or just mildly autistic...
- sadlyNess 15y agoThought and still think that(the reason) HN has small fonts, unreadable URLs etc(is) to not lower the bar for not-hackers. True?
- muuh-gnu 15y agoWhen neither you, nor anybody else works any more on Arc, are you considering officially abandoning it and going back to vanilla Scheme or even Common Lisp, to make news.arc more reusable within the (larger) Scheme an Lisp communities?
- scythe 15y agoIn the terminology of Paul Erdos, people who had stopped doing math had died. People whose blood had stopped flowing had simply left.
- katem 15y agoIs there a list of common problems Y founders make?
- pg 15y agoThere's a general list of common mistakes here: http://paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html http://paulgraham.com/startupmistakes.html
- ccollins 15y agoFrom Mistake 10: "People interested in local events (that one is a perennial tarpit)". Would you please give an example or elaborate a little bit more on that? I fear I may heading for the tarpit...
- pg 15y agoThis is one of those ideas that people think of, notice that no one is already doing it, and decide that there is therefore an opportunity. But the reason no one is already doing it is not that no one has thought of it. It's one of the most common startup ideas. The reason no one is doing it is (I believe) that users don't want it.
- kinkora 15y agoSorry to sound blunt but why is it a given that if a person is successful, it is surprising that he/she is doing "lesser" things? I never understood that notion. If I was successful/rich/etc, I will still be coding on my free time. Heck, I will be washing my own dishes, buying my own groceries, driving myself and so on. And I know many other "rich/successful/etc" people who are exactly like that.
- sliverstorm 15y agoThere does come a point where you make more money hiring someone else to do your laundry and focusing on your job, so as I understand it rich people sometimes only do select mundane things they like doing.
- jseliger 15y agoI think this answers your question: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2926948 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2926948 : "I think the implication is that pg would be too busy running YC to code. Even if it doesn't happen to him, it happens to a lot of founders." To me, the implication was, "Lots of somewhat famous / successful people become too 'busy' to do the thing that made them famous / successful," with code being one of them. (Or think of all the actors who are famous but now appear in maybe one movie every three years: what are they doing with their time?).
- bluekeybox 15y ago> why is it a given that if a person is successful, it is surprising that he/she is doing "lesser" things? Automation and delegation. Sounds evil but it isn't.
- jpulgarin 15y agoDo you enjoy washing dishes? Why would you still be doing it?
- lionhearted 15y ago> Sorry to sound blunt but why is it a given that if a person is successful, it is surprising that he/she is doing "lesser" things? If a top scientist/inventor/entrepreneur is doing routine tasks that he doesn't enjoy, he's losing time that could either be spent creating new amazing things or relaxing/recharging and enjoying his life. If you enjoy any particular activity - driving or cooking - by all means keep doing it. But if you're capable of improving the lives of thousands or even millions of people, then hire a car and driver and work in the backseat of your Rolls Royce or whatever. The world will be net better for it. (Though, coding doesn't fall into that routine task category - it being a creative action that sharpens the mind. Doing laundry does though, except on the off chance it's really relaxing and enjoyable for you.)
- PhilipG 15y agoThis should come as no surprise. Writing code is a medium of expression like writing english or drawing or using a piece of software via a GUI. Like most of us I imagine Paul would do all of these on a daily basis.
- georgieporgie 15y agoThat's a really interesting thought. Is there any correlation between programming and writing abilities? (not that you were saying that) They're superficially dissimilar, but each is a creative endeavor that deals with formulating ideas and organizing them into a particular flow... It does seem that a number of great programmers are gifted writers, as well, but this could be blogger selection bias.
- saraid216 15y agoIn my experience, a good coder is also a good writer and, if they get over the visceral fear of public speaking, a good speaker.
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- molecule 15y agoDespite Forbes Article, PG Still Reading, Commenting On Hacker News
- sayemm 15y agoLove this quote: ”That’s how we deal with scale,” Graham says. “We write more software and hire people.” Also true for startups.
- staunch 15y agoEssay Request PG: How to Present Your Startup. I'd love to know what advice you give to all the YC companies about presenting in front of press and investors.
- pg 15y agohttp://paulgraham.com/investors.html http://paulgraham.com/investors.html
- staunch 15y agoThat wast fast! I thought it usually took you longer to write these :-) (Kidding of course, thanks for pointing it out. I'm sure I read it at the time but forgot about it.)
- iconfinder 15y agoOf course :-)
- johnx123-up 15y agoLong live hacker spirit, long live PG
- johnx123-up 15y agoWhy downvoting? (Will help newbies like me)
- jamesladd 15y agoI think it is good and very telling that PG still codes. I wonder if he uses arc?
- uuseer 15y agoI find funny the related post in forbes.com Repelling Mosquitos After The Hurricane: DEET vs. Dengue Fever