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Ask HN: Advice for those getting started in the Web Industry?

3 points by danw 18y ago

If you were starting out in the web industry again, what advice would you give yourself? Or if you're just getting started, what would you like to know?

danw 18y ago
I'd have given myself three tips: * Learn constantly. Read books, blog, tweets, attend events and network. * Build things. Apply what you've learnt and constantly build things. Either at work or as personal projects. Don't worry if the things you built are crap or pointless or un-monetizable. * Share. Constantly share what you've learnt and built. Help others. Join the community and participate. You could be the best developer ever but it won't matter if nobody knows about you and your work.
ram1024 18y ago
keep abreast of emerging tech and trends. stuff moves fast and it's very easy to fall behind.
vaksel 18y ago
Stop being a perfectionist, build something and get it out there as soon as possible. Don't waste time making sure everything is perfect. Better to lose a few people who get annoyed, than lose the 2-3 months w/o any users
gexla 18y ago
Make a list of niche areas of development. Find the communities for those areas and become an authority in those communities. Make sure there are buyers in that community, or find another. Take on work. For example. Wordpress is a niche area. There are lots of Wordpress communities. Find the communities where people go to get help, share ideas and generally talk about development. There are probably people posting paid projects there. And that is your target. Wordpress is a pretty big niche with lots of buyers and sellers. The problem is that those buyers can be anywhere from total jokers to people with deep pockets. This happens with free stuff which is highly popular. A better opportunity is to find a niche that has relatively few service providers and lots of service consumers. Even better is if that niche is paid software which is used by companies with lots of money. Big new platforms are big opportunities. If you are an Iphone guru then you don't even have to post here asking how to find work. There are probably few sure bets out there than Iphone development.
blender 18y ago
Although the first rule of a startup is build something people want (after PG) more and more that something should solve some "serious" problem (after O'Reilly). Please - no more social networks! Cheers
noodle 18y ago
* learn while/from doing * continuously learn * avoid planning paralysis * don't be afraid to scrap chunks of code or whole projects.
- truebosko 18y ago
  Agreed. Keep learning new things. Don't ever stop, but don't feel rushed if you feel you're behind. Someone out there is always going to be better and smarter then you at what you are doing Engage people that are smarter then you (It's why I read Hacker News)
yaj 18y ago
Do -> Read -> Repeat

3 points by danw 18y ago

If you were starting out in the web industry again, what advice would you give yourself? Or if you're just getting started, what would you like to know?

danw 18y ago

I'd have given myself three tips: * Learn constantly. Read books, blog, tweets, attend events and network. * Build things. Apply what you've learnt and constantly build things. Either at work or as personal projects. Don't worry if the things you built are crap or pointless or un-monetizable. * Share. Constantly share what you've learnt and built. Help others. Join the community and participate. You could be the best developer ever but it won't matter if nobody knows about you and your work.

ram1024 18y ago

keep abreast of emerging tech and trends. stuff moves fast and it's very easy to fall behind.

vaksel 18y ago

Stop being a perfectionist, build something and get it out there as soon as possible. Don't waste time making sure everything is perfect. Better to lose a few people who get annoyed, than lose the 2-3 months w/o any users

gexla 18y ago

Make a list of niche areas of development. Find the communities for those areas and become an authority in those communities. Make sure there are buyers in that community, or find another. Take on work. For example. Wordpress is a niche area. There are lots of Wordpress communities. Find the communities where people go to get help, share ideas and generally talk about development. There are probably people posting paid projects there. And that is your target. Wordpress is a pretty big niche with lots of buyers and sellers. The problem is that those buyers can be anywhere from total jokers to people with deep pockets. This happens with free stuff which is highly popular. A better opportunity is to find a niche that has relatively few service providers and lots of service consumers. Even better is if that niche is paid software which is used by companies with lots of money. Big new platforms are big opportunities. If you are an Iphone guru then you don't even have to post here asking how to find work. There are probably few sure bets out there than Iphone development.

blender 18y ago

Although the first rule of a startup is build something people want (after PG) more and more that something should solve some "serious" problem (after O'Reilly). Please - no more social networks! Cheers

noodle 18y ago

* learn while/from doing * continuously learn * avoid planning paralysis * don't be afraid to scrap chunks of code or whole projects.

truebosko 18y ago
Agreed. Keep learning new things. Don't ever stop, but don't feel rushed if you feel you're behind. Someone out there is always going to be better and smarter then you at what you are doing Engage people that are smarter then you (It's why I read Hacker News)

yaj 18y ago

Do -> Read -> Repeat