4 ms·

Going from engineer to entrepreneur takes more than just good code [audio]

37 points by cborenstein 4y ago

Oras 4y ago
I'm a software engineer, left my job 18 months ago to make my startup solo. Reflecting on all the learnings I had during the journey, the hardest part was the context switching. I've been experiencing coding, user interviews, demos, business development, making marketing materials, posting online and engaging with posts, thinking about the next step, expanding my network, sales follow ups, support, learning about the market. All these things happen during the day, so it is really hard to focus on one thing. The other parts, mostly the first time founder's mistakes. Focusing on building instead of marketing and channels. This is however about to change as I learned the hard way from my mistakes.
- ttoinou 4y ago
  Same, it is very hard to do lots of small tasks related to managing the company or very small bugs fixes / tests, and then deep dive / being in the flow for hours for coding..
  - cborenstein 4y ago
    Yeah, switching between different modes in the same day (or same half day) can be super scattering. I try to select 1-3 main objectives for the week and then chunk the work I need to do into things that require being in a more extraverted mode of talking with folks vs more introverted deep dives. E.g. on the day I did this podcast recording, I did user conversations bc I was in talking to folks mode. On other days, the focus will be more writing focused - user insights / roadmap priorities / code.
    - intelVISA 4y ago
      This is the only way to manage it I think, context switching across entire domains is only really effective on a weekly cadence, otherwise I find you end up spinning your wheels. It does make reschedules and delays extra painful though.
  - didgetmaster 4y ago
    Entrepreneurs have to wear many 'hats'. Trying to switch hats many times every day just makes you lose focus. Task switching has an overhead. I came up with a method that has helped me devote a whole day to a given task without neglecting other necessary tasks for too long: https://didgets.substack.com/p/shortcuts https://didgets.substack.com/p/shortcuts
    - bcrl 4y ago
      I find having to switch between different roles is also quite energizing. There's a variety to my days that just plain feels good compared to staring at code for 8 hours a day.
gjvc 4y ago
From the department of the bleeding obvious
yawnxyz 4y ago
Do tech companies hire for engineers who write good code, but completely ignore their entrepreneur skills? (And does this depend on company size) Why the heavy emphasis on leet code; why no also add a "leet entrepreneur" aspect to it as well?
- __derek__ 4y ago
  IME, big tech companies have some entrepreneurship-adjacent values that are evaluated during interviews.
knodi 4y ago
Yes, it does. After 5 start ups and 20 years later. Know your market and how to reach them. You can have the best engineering if no one knows about it they can’t use the service/buy the product. You can have the worst engineering/product in the market but with good marketing and sales you can still be profitable.

37 points by cborenstein 4y ago

Oras 4y ago

I'm a software engineer, left my job 18 months ago to make my startup solo. Reflecting on all the learnings I had during the journey, the hardest part was the context switching. I've been experiencing coding, user interviews, demos, business development, making marketing materials, posting online and engaging with posts, thinking about the next step, expanding my network, sales follow ups, support, learning about the market. All these things happen during the day, so it is really hard to focus on one thing. The other parts, mostly the first time founder's mistakes. Focusing on building instead of marketing and channels. This is however about to change as I learned the hard way from my mistakes.

ttoinou 4y ago
Same, it is very hard to do lots of small tasks related to managing the company or very small bugs fixes / tests, and then deep dive / being in the flow for hours for coding..
- cborenstein 4y ago
  Yeah, switching between different modes in the same day (or same half day) can be super scattering. I try to select 1-3 main objectives for the week and then chunk the work I need to do into things that require being in a more extraverted mode of talking with folks vs more introverted deep dives. E.g. on the day I did this podcast recording, I did user conversations bc I was in talking to folks mode. On other days, the focus will be more writing focused - user insights / roadmap priorities / code.
  - intelVISA 4y ago
    This is the only way to manage it I think, context switching across entire domains is only really effective on a weekly cadence, otherwise I find you end up spinning your wheels. It does make reschedules and delays extra painful though.
- didgetmaster 4y ago
  Entrepreneurs have to wear many 'hats'. Trying to switch hats many times every day just makes you lose focus. Task switching has an overhead. I came up with a method that has helped me devote a whole day to a given task without neglecting other necessary tasks for too long: https://didgets.substack.com/p/shortcuts https://didgets.substack.com/p/shortcuts
  - bcrl 4y ago
    I find having to switch between different roles is also quite energizing. There's a variety to my days that just plain feels good compared to staring at code for 8 hours a day.

gjvc 4y ago

From the department of the bleeding obvious

yawnxyz 4y ago

Do tech companies hire for engineers who write good code, but completely ignore their entrepreneur skills? (And does this depend on company size) Why the heavy emphasis on leet code; why no also add a "leet entrepreneur" aspect to it as well?

__derek__ 4y ago
IME, big tech companies have some entrepreneurship-adjacent values that are evaluated during interviews.

knodi 4y ago

Yes, it does. After 5 start ups and 20 years later. Know your market and how to reach them. You can have the best engineering if no one knows about it they can’t use the service/buy the product. You can have the worst engineering/product in the market but with good marketing and sales you can still be profitable.