The magic formula, it seems, is "become an expert in something that matters (what other people want or need to be done) usually in a non-CS realm, but you must

The magic formula, it seems, is "become an expert in something that matters (what other people want or need to be done) usually in a non-CS realm, but you must "love it" and then apply CS with someone who could program/engineer better than you". At least it resembles a pg + rtm pair.) The question is not like "what code in which language should I write", The fact that Zukerberg wrote a yet-another-bunch-of-webforms in PHP doesn't mean that you should do it too. It isn't about PHP at all, it is about being in a right time in a right place and being able to code some PHP. (the facebook really began after it has been noticed by a "serious guys" from Harvard alumni). So, it boils down to a very few words - learn some fundamental principles of CS, then become an expert in a field (follow the money), being an expert you would "see" opportunities which cannot be seen by an ignorant observer outside the field. Then try, approach the problem, describe it, discuss, try to write a naive prototype (to discover the difficulties and lack of appropriate knowledge) and then try to make a team. btw, other people in the field would quickly grasp and validate your idea, and if it is really good, they would find money for you, because the result will be beneficial for them. Another key idea (to which having children is a nice metaphor, at least to those who have no siblings) is that one have to go into unknown. There is no other way. It should be unknown and first time, like any learning on-the-go in any field. We start totally ignorant, and then we learn by doing. And about gaming the system (another polite-correct name for cheating) - one cannot game yourself. You are either good at what you do or not. Dagny, there's nothing of any importance in life - except how well you do your work This has been written half century ago, and still true (no matter how naive it sounds), especially for startups.