How is coding a fast lane venture?

[allen0879]

I know I'm going to get slammed for this, but I'm just curious. So many threads are people rushing to learn code. But why?

I completely understand that coding is a valuable skill. But isn't it just another skill for a slowlane venture? If you spend months learning code on the side, and you start a web design business...aren't you just back to trading time for money? Is the idea to build a large design agency?

I'm sorry for the ignorance, I just don't get it.

Coding is only a skill for a slowlane venture if you're using it to start a slowlane venture! Same with sales skills if you're selling encyclopedias door to door in 2020.

You can use coding/technical skills to build a product or service that solves a problem in the market, just as you would use writing skills to write a book that can sell many copies.

Software is a great business because you can get started without too much capital and it can scale via the internet. You are also building an automated software system that works 24/7. You don't have the costs of producing a physical product like widgets made in a factory. You can easily reproduce anything digital and sell it over and over.

Programming skills are also in high demand right now if you want to just get a job working for someone else. But most good paying programming jobs have a significant barrier to entry. There is high demand for good software developers, not just any code monkey that did a tutorial. There is much more to a software development job than just writing code. You have to design/engineer robust systems that need to be maintained, understand the business domain for the problems you're solving, communicate effectively, and learn new tech constantly. Most people quit before their skills get to this level. It takes years. (I'm a software engineer)

Even if you start a business but hire out your software development, technical skills/knowledge is extremely valuable for managing others building software and making business decisions. I've seen a lot of smart people get burned because they didn't understand how to manage their software development and couldn't make good decisions. They were flying blind.

So, it depends on how you use your coding skills, just like any other skill. You can have two people with building skills and one person can build a deck in his backyard and the other can build skyscrapers in NYC.

Also, think about this...A company like Amazon is pretty much a software system with warehouses attached. Software manages all of the logistics, eCommerce, recommendations etc. The code that runs Amazon is a big part of what allowed it to grow and scale so fast.

 

[Val Okafor]

I know I'm going to get slammed for this, but I'm just curious. So many threads are people rushing to learn code. But why?

I completely understand that coding is a valuable skill. But isn't it just another skill for a slowlane venture? If you spend months learning code on the side, and you start a web design business...aren't you just back to trading time for money? Is the idea to build a large design agency?

I'm sorry for the ignorance, I just don't get it.

All the answers so far are correct, and if I can summarize it, I will say the reason is funding and misconception.,

That is funding to start a tech-related business. The majority of startup costs go into hiring developers. If you can learn how to create the first version of your intended product then you can limit or negate the need for funding. If you choose to go the employee route, You can go from zero to $$$ in less than two years with zero to little upfront cost, not something you can say of most other fields. With the extra money, you can theoretically save money faster to launch your fast lane venture.

However, you are correct, people do rush to learn how to code because of misconceptions. They see the $$$, the work flexibility, the headphone, and the tablet and they want to get in. Little did they know that this field is tough. It is tough to learn to code, it is lonely to learn to code, it takes time to learn to code. It's extremely challenging to keep up with technology trends.

Developers are professional students, perpetually learning new concepts, new technologies and unlearning what they just learned. Most wannabe developers quit! lucky developers escape to management, courageous developers switch career path and for the rest of the developers, it is a slow lane path after all. A typical developer's day consists of creating reports/estimations work to do, bug fixes, stand-ups, Jira ticket, Sprint planning, unreasonable deadlines, harsh code reviews. Throw in the quarterly performance review, plus a dozen other office crap and you see why developers like the rest of their fellow employees dread Monday morning.

Learning to code is tough, being alive is tough, doing nothing is tough, given the options, I will only wish I had learned to code earlier. It has served me well and is providing a predictable path for me out of the scripted life. My advice for anyone, when in doubt of whats your next step - learn to code.

 

[The-J]

People are doing it because it's better than doing nothing. These are generally people with very few marketable skills and no idea what to do with their time.

They're not learning to code, they're learning to SELL. If you're doing any sort of business, you're always selling. You're always using your ideas to change the ideas of another person, and using your knowledge to inspire them to act on that change. That's all selling is.

Best of all, it requires $0 upfront investment and can be done even by someone living in a poor country with only access to a smartphone, a data plan, and pen & paper. If you're in the developed world, it can be done even if you're homeless.

That's why they're doing it. That's why it's worth doing if you have no other ideas or way out of your situation.

 

[TreyAllDay]

I learned coding because I wanted to sell a subscription based software that could theoretically be automated. The idea is to get 100,500,1000 users paying $19.99 or $199.99 or even $499.

To give you an idea, my most profitable business is a digital signage business. We have 350 businesses that pay a monthly fee of $23.95/month and up. They order a unit that plugs into the tv and the rest is automated, their training, the content creation is on their end, the tech support is largely automated.

A more consumer example - you can code a useful app and sell ads on it. I THINK the guy who created angry birds made millions upon millions and was just some young guy in his 20s. I have a buddy who built a site help people find tires for their car size, and companies pay him X amount of dollars per lead.

Software is just an easy way for people to get started. But yeah if you're learning it just to build other people's products/software then that is not fastlane. Although I will take the odd programming job if it's big enough and my company is slow, I can change almost $200/hr because I have a certain skill level. So if I'm bored on a weekend and want to make an extra 4K over 3 days while my SASS business is operating in the background I'll take it

 

[allen0879]

Just learning to code to become someone elses wage slave is a terrible idea. You came to this site to escape the rat race permanently.

Yes, but working for others for awhile is sometimes the best option within your longer journey towards entrepreneurship and financial independence. You have to look at a job from a different perspective and not get too comfortable and dependent on that monthly salary.

Some great reasons for taking a job before/while starting your business:
- Get paid to learn and build your skills
- Save up capital to fund your business
- Learn how an industry works
- Learn how a company works(bonus points if it's a startup)
- Learn how to work with people(and deal with company politics)
- Pay your living expenses so you don't starve and stay out of debt.

Think of yourself as a spy. You are trying to learn all you can in a short amount of time so that you can be more successful in your own business venture.

Jobs aren't evil, they're just jobs. It all depends on your perspective and attitude.

 

[allen0879]

People are doing it because it's better than doing nothing. These are generally people with very few marketable skills and no idea what to do with their time.

They're not learning to code, they're learning to SELL. If you're doing any sort of business, you're always selling. You're always using your ideas to change the ideas of another person, and using your knowledge to inspire them to act on that change. That's all selling is.

Best of all, it requires $0 upfront investment and can be done even by someone living in a poor country with only access to a smartphone, a data plan, and pen & paper. If you're in the developed world, it can be done even if you're homeless.

That's why they're doing it. That's why it's worth doing if you have no other ideas or way out of your situation.

Not true. It's interesting work. Easy to get started, hard to master.

What about the people that can code AND sell?! People that can build things and then go sell them are much more valuable. I'm always approached by IDEA GUYS that need a technical co-founder, but I don't need them because I'm an idea guy that can also build things.

I'd much rather teach an engineer how to sell, than a sales guy how to program.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[csalvato]

I know I'm going to get slammed for this, but I'm just curious. So many threads are people rushing to learn code. But why?

I completely understand that coding is a valuable skill. But isn't it just another skill for a slowlane venture? If you spend months learning code on the side, and you start a web design business...aren't you just back to trading time for money? Is the idea to build a large design agency?

I'm sorry for the ignorance, I just don't get it.

Tech companies are by far the most scalable in the shortest period of time, imo.

That's why companies like WeWork and StitchFix position themselves as tech companies, not real estate companies or fashion companies.

Unfortunately, to build a tech company, you need to understand, well, tech. Either that or partner with someone who does understand tech.

You can't understand tech without understanding code.

See where I'm going with this?

It's not the only path, but it's definitely a very valid one.

 

[csalvato]

There's a lot of misconceptions in this forum where people keep recommending others to learn to code because apparently if everything fails you can "easily" get a $100k remote job after your first bootcamp and a few months of experience. That is sadly not true, and you can verify by going to any job site and checking the requirements for +$100k jobs.

As someone who is following this closely on the forum, I've not seen this being said anywhere. Actually, it's the opposite. People who have had success because they know how to code are telling people they can't easily get a job on a bootcamp alone.

Do you have links to a specific place where someone says you can make $100k after a bootcamp + a few months of experience?

Also what's your experience hiring/getting hired in this space? Anyone who has done either knows that those lists of "requirements" (e.g. 5+ years of experience) are mostly guidelines, bordering on bullshit.

Being competent at coding requires time. Hundreds of hours in front of the screen, it's lonely, it's frustrating, it's not for everyone, it's not fastlane.

You're right on everything here, except the bolded part. Fastlane is a mindset, not a set of skills. For many people (not all people), being an adept programmer will be necessary to build a business at scale.

I feel like you misspoke, because later in your post you say that software engineering can be fastlane.

Did you mean to paint engineering in a bad light. Sounds like you had a bad experience, maybe...?

The vast majority of fellow coders I've met over the years are still employees after many years because they didn't have other skills besides coding as it requires a huge mental effort to be good at it.

Most of the population are employees; same for copywriters, marketers, manufacturers, distributors and even importer/exporters. It takes a huge mental effort to be good at anything. Should we discourage people from learning anything, then?

In other words, what's your point?

Do you want to have a decent job, 1 to 2 years from now ? grab lots of coffee and start learning how to code today.

A decent job? 1 to 2 years? It sounds like you're imposing your limiting beliefs on others.

I have been on both sides of the hiring table here. I have been hired with less than 1 year experience in software dev, with no experience writing production code at $120k.

On the other side, I've hired people who were right out of a 9-month intensive coding program for $85k, who were making $100k+ within their first year post-hire.

And, since I only focus on remote work, all my contacts have had experience getting fully remote jobs with a flexible schedule and benefits. Is that a just "decent" job to you? If so, have you ever had a shitty job driving people around, mopping floors or baking donuts at 4 AM?

Is it possible? Absolutely.

How common is it? I dunno, but I know a lot of people with the same experience as me and those I've hired.

Will it happen to everyone? No.

Do you have an idea for a software product that you want to implement ? save money and look for ways to hire cheap coders (check india, russia or eastern europe) to create your minimum viable product, learn about managing people, learn about budgeting, about marketing, about basic code architecture in your spare time. It will save you months maybe years of frustration and you will be able to quickly validate your idea. Check this bit about whatsapp history,

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, former employees of Yahoo!. After leaving Yahoo! in September 2007, they took some time off in South America.[10] At one point, they applied for jobs at Facebook but were rejected.[10]

In January 2009, after purchasing an iPhone and realizing the potential of the app industry on the App Store, Koum and Acton began visiting Koum's friend Alex Fishman in West San Jose to discuss a new type of messaging app that would "[show] statuses next to individual names of the people". They realized that to take the idea further, they'd need an iPhone developer. Fishman visited RentACoder.com, found Russian developer Igor Solomennikov, and introduced him to Koum.

With respect, I find this advice very misguided, and your excerpt is being presented with the wrong context.

1. "Cheap" coders are going to cost you a ton if you know nothing about software. I've known a ton about software, and have wasted a lot of money working with people in these countries.
2. The days of hiring a third world programmer to write your app and make money are long gone. Back in 2009, you could sure as hell write some BS calculator app that had ads, generated revenue and then sold it for $1M. Those days are over, and the non-programmers are no longer infesting this space with crappy apps as the quality bar to be successful and iterate has dramatically increased since then.
3. The founders of WhatsApp did hire a developer in Russia...after knowing the ins and outs of developing software at Yahoo!. They were both computer/software engineers at Yahoo, which only furthers the point that you need to understand tech to found a successful tech company.

What's your experience in this area? It doesn't sound very comprehensive.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Reading about any major success the people sacrificed what they could so they could have 100% time focused onto their business. Examples are Tim Sweeney of Epic Games, Paul Mitchell, Victor Pride, Stallone and MJ DeMarco. MJ himself quit so he could focus 100%. If you read his book he barely had enough for a month of rent when he started. Freedom of time and a singular focus appears to be the theme here.

I don't think I'm a good example to validate your point.

I wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for my job.

I thought this forum was beyond the old "jobs are bad" ideology, a sentiment that seems so 2010.

A job is very much a part of the process, either experiential or for highlighting opportunities in the marketplace. My only issue with a job is using it to anchor your wealth plan. Since most people don't have access to "ground floor" startup job opportunities (where better math exists) the mathematical variables simply don't work for the average person. Moreover, I think most young people need a job to get a taste of the real world.

As a means to a Fastlane/Unscripted end, jobs are great.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Black_Dragon43]

@The-J has a great response. Just to add to what he's said...

Many people here are just looking to start making money PLUS have the freedom to work when they want and for who they want. Most people here do not really want to make $100 million, and they're here for the lifestyle that puts freedom at the top. Market trends show that more and more developers are joining the gig economy, and working from their own homes, setting their own schedules. More and more companies hire remotely, and have entirely remote teams (Zapier, GitLab, InVision, Twist, etc.). So learning to code will allow you to tap into this lifestyle of being able to work from wherever you want, whenever you want, and basically being an independent contractor.

This isn't bad, but it may not be for you if your goals are different.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[TreyAllDay]

What kind of skillset do you have to be worth $200/hr?? I'm 65K salaried as an entry level React developer at the moment...

My old IT firm charged $150/hr. For legit random shit like "backing up email", if you're working for a firm they're prob charging $150-$200/hr regardless of what they pay you.

I have a business background and development/copywriting/seo/etc so I don't need to hold team meetings etc and I know how to just get things done effectively. Not that I could actually start an agency and call on clients saying i'm a "one man team" nor would I want to. I just take referrals and do stuff for my old colleagues.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[GrayCode]

Yes, but working for others for awhile is sometimes the best option within your longer journey towards entrepreneurship and financial independence. You have to look at a job from a different perspective and not get too comfortable and dependent on that monthly salary.

Some great reasons for taking a job before/while starting your business:
- Get paid to learn and build your skills
- Save up capital to fund your business
- Learn how an industry works
- Learn how a company works(bonus points if it's a startup)
- Learn how to work with people(and deal with company politics)
- Pay your living expenses so you don't starve and stay out of debt.

Think of yourself as a spy. You are trying to learn all you can in a short amount of time so that you can be more successful in your own business venture.

Jobs aren't evil, they're just jobs. It all depends on your perspective and attitude.

This guy gets it.

 

[csalvato]

What do you mean by permission to have a job?

Similar to the experience you describe, I felt like having a job was an absolutely terrible thing. That it meant I was failing, or not an entrepreneur or not pursuing my dreams.

I'd wager they were the same things that ran through your head, based on other comments in this thread and others.

I had to consciously let myself know that I thought it was OK for me to have a job – that it would help me move closer to my goal.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[KJG]

I know I'm going to get slammed for this, but I'm just curious. So many threads are people rushing to learn code. But why?

I completely understand that coding is a valuable skill. But isn't it just another skill for a slowlane venture? If you spend months learning code on the side, and you start a web design business...aren't you just back to trading time for money? Is the idea to build a large design agency?

I'm sorry for the ignorance, I just don't get it.

Well, I own my own window cleaning business, which I started 2018 and we are now 3 full time people and the reason I want to learn coding is because when you start a "in-person" business you are extremly tight down. You cant just move your scheduelled or scale "fast". When i'm saying "fast" i'm not talking about 3 people to 100, but 3-10. It takes a lot of cash, for cars, insurence you name it.

But if you can start you own online business and not be location and time bound, while have a better scaleability, then you have something truly unic.
- I'm not saying that it wont be hard and not be 60-80 hours week, but trust me. When you have been cleaning windows for almost 2 years, doing 60-80 hours a week no exception and what you have to show for it is 3 full time people with 20% profit, which you cant take out if you wanna grow the company, then you sure as hell want something that has a much bigger potiential when it is eating this much of your time.

That being said, i love the journey and would not trade it for anything.
- Just be sure to pick something that gives a reward that you think is good enough.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[csalvato]

Reading about any major success the people sacrificed what they could so they could have 100% time focused onto their business. Examples are Tim Sweeney of Epic Games, Paul Mitchell, Victor Pride, Stallone and MJ DeMarco. MJ himself quit so he could focus 100%. If you read his book he barely had enough for a month of rent when he started. Freedom of time and a singular focus appears to be the theme here.

I see where you're coming from. This seems like survivorship bias to me.

For every one person who has "made it" by backing themselves into a corner and "making shit happen", I know of 100 more that crashed and burned; some needing therapy to come out of the other side.

This mentality is at the core of what Alexis Ohanian calls hustle porn.

I personally have backed myself into a corner 3 times with the intention of motivating myself into doing something incredible. It didn't work for me, personally.

It was only when I gave myself permission to have a job that real growth started to happen, and real big business opportunities presented themselves.

I would suggest that you look for success stories that are counter to the narrative of backing oneself into a corner. The story of DHH and Jason Fried, for example, comes to mind.

 

[GrayCode]

@GrayCode

@GradyS

GOLD! - TAXES | REGS - First Fastlane Month, Feels Amazing! $65,000+ Revenue Pre-tax

I wanted to post this here as motivation for others and proof that @MJ DeMarco is having an actual effect on changing people's lives. This has been a long time coming... I first read MFL in 2015 and it changed how I approached things. I wound up learning to code from scratch self-taught. It was...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

GOLD! - MINDSET - How I got hired as a software engineer without a college degree

I started another thread recently about my first fastlane month and I got a question on how I was able to get hired as a software engineer without a college degree. I feel like this is information I WISH someone shared with me as I was about to jump into coding. So, I figured rather than share...

www.thefastlaneforum.com

 

[allen0879]

I see where you're coming from. This seems like survivorship bias to me.

For every one person who has "made it" by backing themselves into a corner and "making shit happen", I know of 100 more that crashed and burned; some needing therapy to come out of the other side.

This mentality is at the core of what Alexis Ohanian calls hustle porn.

I personally have backed myself into a corner 3 times with the intention of motivating myself into doing something incredible. It didn't work for me, personally.

It was only when I gave myself permission to have a job that real growth started to happen, and real big business opportunities presented themselves.

I would suggest that you look for success stories that are counter to the narrative of backing oneself into a corner. The story of DHH and Jason Fried, for example, comes to mind.

Amen!! I've quit my job prematurely to work 100% on my biz without success before as well and it didn't work out. There is so much you can do to validate your idea and get early customers part-time. Then, you'll be jumping into your business full-time knowing that the market exists and you have customers and revenue. Don't underestimate how long it takes to get early customers and enough money coming in to pay the founder's living expenses.

NIKE was a part-time business! Read Shoe Dog ! Phil Knight worked as a CPA while running Nike on the side. There are many examples.

 

[csalvato]

So an eff this event doesnt matter?

I had a gun to my head I was so fed up of working a regular job and getting nowhere.

An F-this event motivates you to start moving pieces on the board.

The reason this chess analogy works so well, is that there are many ways to move those pieces on that board that will ultimately lead to a win.

People before an F-this event: sit idly on the sidelines, waking up day in and day out, unmotivated to make moves on the board at all.

People after an F-this event: motivated to get up from the sidelines and start playing the game, making moves on the board by going through the act -> learn -> repeat loop until they win.

The specific moves are almost entirely irrelevant so long as they move one closer to a win.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[MJ DeMarco]

So an eff this event doesnt matter?

Sure it does. But it doesn't justify reckless behavior, like quitting your job while having a family support.

It's like losing weight -- you can realize that obesity is a problem to your health and suddenly commit to changing it. However just because you commit doesn't give you some magical power to lose 40lbs in one day. Business is the same. Quitting your job doesn't give you some special power to launch your business successfully on the first try.

 

[nyc217]

Moreover, I think most young people need a job to get a taste of the real world.

Totally agree. If it wasn't for me getting a job, in order to move out and be on my own, I would still be a "wantrepreneur".

If I could go back in time, I'd get that job earlier instead of having that "jobs should be avoided like a plague mentality", because man, when you really go through it, an endless stream of FTE's and FTM's come your way. The getting up early, living in shitty apartments where I can never sleep, not having enough money to make your situation better, and more gives you an endless fire and commitment to the process and my family.

 

[bdb]

However, you are correct, people do rush to learn how to code because of misconceptions. They see the $$$, the work flexibility, the headphone, and the tablet and they want to get in. Little did they know that this field is tough. It is tough to learn to code, it is lonely to learn to code, it takes time to learn to code. It's extremely challenging to keep up with technology trends.

I fully agree with this gentleman.

There's a lot of misconceptions in this forum where people keep recommending others to learn to code because apparently if everything fails you can "easily" get a $100k remote job after your first bootcamp and a few months of experience. That is sadly not true, and you can verify by going to any job site and checking the requirements for +$100k jobs.

Being competent at coding requires time. Hundreds of hours in front of the screen, it's lonely, it's frustrating, it's not for everyone, it's not fastlane. The vast majority of fellow coders I've met over the years are still employees after many years because they didn't have other skills besides coding as it requires a huge mental effort to be good at it.

Can coding be fastlane ? sure just like any other tool that allows you to create a product. If your business idea is simple from a coding point of view, maybe you will be able create a basic product that you can validate after a few months of coding. What about setting up a web design agency ? you are going to be trading time for money for quite some time before you can scale and hire other people to do your work, that will take time, maybe a couple years or more.

Do you want to have a decent job, 1 to 2 years from now ? grab lots of coffee and start learning how to code today.

Do you have an idea for a software product that you want to implement ? save money and look for ways to hire cheap coders (check india, russia or eastern europe) to create your minimum viable product, learn about managing people, learn about budgeting, about marketing, about basic code architecture in your spare time. It will save you months maybe years of frustration and you will be able to quickly validate your idea. Check this bit about whatsapp history,

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, former employees of Yahoo!. After leaving Yahoo! in September 2007, they took some time off in South America.[10] At one point, they applied for jobs at Facebook but were rejected.[10]

In January 2009, after purchasing an iPhone and realizing the potential of the app industry on the App Store, Koum and Acton began visiting Koum's friend Alex Fishman in West San Jose to discuss a new type of messaging app that would "[show] statuses next to individual names of the people". They realized that to take the idea further, they'd need an iPhone developer. Fishman visited RentACoder.com, found Russian developer Igor Solomennikov, and introduced him to Koum.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[csalvato]

With my comments I'm trying to help people who think they can get fast results by going into coding for a few months, I'm trying to warn them so that they can be better prepared for whats coming if they go this route, as I was there years ago thinking that coding was the answer to my problems and it was just an extra tool under my belt, it can be a rewarding experience depending on your objectives but it can also be very frustrating and time consuming if you don't have clear goals.

It has bee thrown around countless times that you can get a high paying job after learning to code for a few months, use the search feature, it might have even been yourself who said it now that I remember due to your crass assumptions and way of debating my advice.

For the rest of the comments, you seem to think that your experience is the norm out there, and if someone else has a different more down to earth experience than earning 120k a year after less than 1 year of coding experience then it means that something is wrong with that person's abilities or some weird stuff is happening behind the scenes.



Yes you are impressive for earning 120k a year with less than 1 year of experience, that is not the norm in my experience working as a developer, let's move on dude.

I appreciate what you’re doing in that you’re helping people realize that coding isn’t going to be a panacea for them. This was obviously a lesson you learned the hard way.

I’ve learned the same lesson, too. I think it’s worth sharing.

its important to call out that this has nothing to do with coding/engineering. They have to do with:

1. Believing things can fall into place easily (your words) or get “fast results” (your words)
2. You not having clear goals (your words)
3. Focusing on “the norm”(your words) instead of how to be outstanding (the people I choose hang out with and hire)

Here’s why my post came off as aggressive: it seems like you’re applying the lessons you learned to form a limiting belief that you’re now imposing on others.

If you look through the posts you will see the same lesson learned from real estate deals going bad or copywriting careers going awry.

Many of those people also falsely attribute their lack of success to the skill they learned, then realized it was not a panacea (for me, it was copywriting)

You’re right; learning to code won’t solve all your problems, set goals for you or be easy.

You’re misguided that learning to develop code is overkill (even if you want to found a tech company) or that there are a disproportionate amount of amazing software opportunities out there.

Either way, good luck to you.

PS - if you’ve been programming three years and still aren’t making over 100k from contracting or a job, then DM me. We can figure out how to get you there.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[srodrigo]

If you spend months learning code on the side, and you start a web design business...aren't you just back to trading time for money?

Yes. A web design business might be good to get started, but it'd be building a job for yourself unless you scale and outsource.

Is the idea to build a large design agency?

Not for me. If you go beyond CSS (which I don't even consider "coding") and develop good business and coding skills, you can build products that have the potential to run over any service business like a design agency. Coding allows you to build products that fully comply to CENTS, specially the last two in the mid/long-term, which will make the big difference. In order to grow a design agency up to that point, it would probably take you ages, as scale (and probably time) is not in your favour.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[Roli]

So many threads are people rushing to learn code. But why?

Imagine you have an idea to build a digital widget that's never been seen before. Now imagine you are at a slowlane job with no savings.

You learn to code, you build your app, you sell your app, you become rich.

Obviously that's the edited version, but that's why people try and learn to code.

People are doing it because it's better than doing nothing. These are generally people with very few marketable skills and no idea what to do with their time.

Erm, no. See above.

 

[ItsAJackal]

I know I'm going to get slammed for this, but I'm just curious. So many threads are people rushing to learn code. But why?

I completely understand that coding is a valuable skill. But isn't it just another skill for a slowlane venture? If you spend months learning code on the side, and you start a web design business...aren't you just back to trading time for money? Is the idea to build a large design agency?

I'm sorry for the ignorance, I just don't get it.

 

Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

[SEBASTlAN]

because of Silicon Valley

 

[allen0879]

@The-J has a great response. Just to add to what he's said...

Many people here are just looking to start making money PLUS have the freedom to work when they want and for who they want. Most people here do not really want to make $100 million, and they're here for the lifestyle that puts freedom at the top. Market trends show that more and more developers are joining the gig economy, and working from their own homes, setting their own schedules. More and more companies hire remotely, and have entirely remote teams (Zapier, GitLab, InVision, Twist, etc.). So learning to code will allow you to tap into this lifestyle of being able to work from wherever you want, whenever you want, and basically being an independent contractor.

This isn't bad, but it may not be for you if your goals are different.

Yes, I work remotely and love it. It also gives you a larger pool of talented people to hire from for your business vs hiring locally.

 

[csalvato]

All the answers so far are correct, and if I can summarize it, I will say the reason is funding and misconception.,

That is funding to start a tech-related business. The majority of startup costs go into hiring developers. If you can learn how to create the first version of your intended product then you can limit or negate the need for funding. If you choose to go the employee route, You can go from zero to $$$ in less than two years with zero to little upfront cost, not something you can say of most other fields. With the extra money, you can theoretically save money faster to launch your fast lane venture.

However, you are correct, people do rush to learn how to code because of misconceptions. They see the $$$, the work flexibility, the headphone, and the tablet and they want to get in. Little did they know that this field is tough. It is tough to learn to code, it is lonely to learn to code, it takes time to learn to code. It's extremely challenging to keep up with technology trends.

Developers are professional students, perpetually learning new concepts, new technologies and unlearning what they just learned. Most wannabe developers quit! lucky developers escape to management, courageous developers switch career path and for the rest of the developers, it is a slow lane path after all. A typical developer's day consists of creating reports/estimations work to do, bug fixes, stand-ups, Jira ticket, Sprint planning, unreasonable deadlines, harsh code reviews. Throw in the quarterly performance review, plus a dozen other office crap and you see why developers like the rest of their fellow employees dread Monday morning.

Learning to code is tough, being alive is tough, doing nothing is tough, given the options, I will only wish I had learned to code earlier. It has served me well and is providing a predictable path for me out of the scripted life. My advice for anyone, when in doubt of whats your next step - learn to code.

You are a legit individual imo!

 

[bdb]

I appreciate what you’re doing in that you’re helping people realize that coding isn’t going to be a panacea for them. This was obviously a lesson you learned the hard way.

I’ve learned the same lesson, too. I think it’s worth sharing.

its important to call out that this has nothing to do with coding/engineering. They have to do with:

1. Believing things can fall into place easily (your words) or get “fast results” (your words)
2. You not having clear goals (your words)
3. Focusing on “the norm”(your words) instead of how to be outstanding (the people I choose hang out with and hire)

Here’s why my post came off as aggressive: it seems like you’re applying the lessons you learned to form a limiting belief that you’re now imposing on others.

If you look through the posts you will see the same lesson learned from real estate deals going bad or copywriting careers going awry.

Many of those people also falsely attribute their lack of success to the skill they learned, then realized it was not a panacea (for me, it was copywriting)

You’re right; learning to code won’t solve all your problems, set goals for you or be easy.

You’re misguided that learning to develop code is overkill (even if you want to found a tech company) or that there are a disproportionate amount of amazing software opportunities out there.

Either way, good luck to you.

PS - if you’ve been programming three years and still aren’t making over 100k from contracting or a job, then DM me. We can figure out how to get you there.

Seems like we agree after all. Though I never said that developing is overkill, depending on your goals it might be a better idea to learn other aspects of managing a business and delegate writing code to other cheaper developers that you can subcontract. My company employs awesome Indian devs every day so I got some firsthand experience here. If you decide to go into code then have in mind that it might get frustrating and time consuming, it's going to take some time for you to get good enough in order to create what you want and you just need to push through it.

 

[ItsAJackal]

Thank you all for the input, this actually confirms a lot of the issues I had with the "learn to code!!" crowd.

I do want to do something with my life and just keep spinning my wheels in the "want want want" phase. I was ready to blindly start coding and it just felt like yet another action with absolutely no goal in mind.