Amir's blog

entrepreneurship can be tough and lonely...

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 07:28:53 -0500

or does it just attract loners?

beware following blindly...

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 11:04:07 -0400

copy what you like is good advice. follow the leader and you can do no wrong.

Ycombinator has inspired copycats around the globe. It is a model that works. But there’s a dark side…

Accelerators are potential breeding grounds for me-too start-ups. Samwer brother clones that replicate hot shot startups and beat them to a local market. What is meant to be an exercise in problem solving and value creation becomes a grab for cash.

Interesting to see how long this play lasts, and if it can be stopped or slowed at all?

always be producing...

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:22:43 -0400

publishing something regularly, into ‘the real world’, has intrinsic worth. Be it code, copy, or clay.

if distribution were free...

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:56:50 -0400

if it cost nothing to transport goods or people

no petrol

no shelf space

no trades, tariffs, or taxes

things would change.

They already have… in the instance of shelf space for digital products. Movies, music, books… all industries changed by technology and its ever increasing adoption curve.

Diffusions of innovation could be relevant here (unconfirmed).

The hero's journey

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:01:13 -0400

hero: both hack and hustler of any start-up:

Simultaneously and forever, you need to be both hacker and hustler to beat the odds. Reality is busted and you’ve got to patch it up. Think hammer, nails, and electric tape. Think quick.

In year 10...

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:26:44 -0400

(2000) I did the computer course in high school. It was taught by the substitute english teacher - widely condemned amongst students as the worst teacher in the school - qualifying for this subject either for her ethnicity, or because no-one else wanted it.*

We didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye, but she really was clueless. At the end of the term, I knew next to nothing. My conceptions of what a ‘programmer/coder/hacker’ was or did comprised of movies about unruly criminals taking down the system in front of a DOS screen, The GTMHH, and that my uncle had a job as one (programmer, not hacker).

It took a long time before any insight into the magic of what happens behind the scenes.

The scary thing is: I’m not sure the situation faced by today’s students is markedly different.

Despite the increasing prevalence of computers in life, and therefore the increased importance of computer literacy (including coding), there is a worrying trend downwards in students choosing to study computer science. In the decade since 2000, enrollments in university CS degrees have decreased 4% per year across tertiary Australia. Demand for CS graduates has risen approximately 25% per year for the last half decade.** In the local start-up community, coders hold all the cards.

Today, any /coder has access to tools and techniques that most of the population don’t yet get. The coding literate are much like early adopters of the printing press. An unfair advantage over the modern layman.

NOTES

* It is notoriously hard to fire people in the public education system. Although mine was a good school punching well above it’s weight, some institutions are just deeply broken.

** Stats came from the internet.

the wrong emphAsis

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:22:00 -0400

Misconceptions of start-ups:

- killer idea plus bit of work = $$$

reality: passion + work + luck = y1*0 y2*0 y3*$ … y5*$$$ y10*$$$$$$$$$$

90% of start-ups fail. it’s one of the hardest things to do in life.

- start-ups are really small version of big business

reality: working on a start-up is the polar opposite of working in an established business.

Think blue sky’s, fire fighting, and sleepless nights vs 1/3rd of your waking life, politics, and money in the hand.

fuck it...

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 10:00:00 -0400

or why I’m starting an opinionated blog.

1. G0oGle

2. #eladder 2012 (pfft laggard)

3. tbc

What I was reading before posting: ProgrammingIsHarderThanChess

Thinking about gaming life, a programming problem, and entrepreneurship.