

Hard work and high skills - notch and the value of the individual hacker - robfitz
http://thestartuptoolkit.com/blog/Hard_work_and_high_skills/

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techiferous
_I'm thinking more and more that lean startup is overly conservative in what
it's willing to build well._

If you are a business person who does not know how to program, it makes sense
to be conservative on what you build, since programming resources are scarce
and expensive. If you are a programmer, the only scarce resource is your time.

~~~
studiofellow
There is a difference between making something amazing and something that
sells. Both are inspiring. Talented programmers can build incredible things,
but that doesn't mean they will make money. Businesses can makes lots of money
without necessarily being all that beautiful or elegant. The Lean approach is
more about business than craft, right? The goal is different.

~~~
techiferous
I agree.

Your main goal is either to build software or to build a business. If you care
about software craftsmanship, then your focus will be on elegant code, test
coverage, etc. If you care about business craftsmanship, then your focus will
be on the customer, revenue, etc.

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wccrawford
I wish I had thought it through when I saw he was live-streaming a coding
session. I ignored it, and wish I hadn't.

Later, someone posted the first 3 hours of it on Youtube, and I watched
that... It was awesome and inspiring. I wish I had the other 37 hours to watch
the rest. (I will admit, I'd probably skim parts of it.)

Watching a master work has always been a great way to learn a trade, and
programming is no different. I used to work with a guy who was similarly
amazing, and I learned a ton from him in the 3 months he was with the company.

~~~
Game_Ender
Some more was recorded by Justin.tv:
<http://www.twitch.tv/realnotch/b/293076467>

~~~
wccrawford
Those are definitely bits I haven't seen. Thank you so much! (My girlfriend
may not like you as much as I do!) ;)

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erikb
In some way notch really is a model for what a programmer should be. Still I
am not sure, if I really want to be like him. I want that ability to focus on
something for 2 days straight without any deviation. But living like that for
many years (which is nessesary to develop so much skill I guess) is just not
really a life I want to live.

~~~
AdamTReineke
I would wager that if you could maintain that focus for three days, you could
probably take a four day weekend every week and still stay ahead of people who
might work 40 hours but are slaves to their distractions.

~~~
doctoboggan
I doubt anyone could maintain that focus for three days on a consistent basis.
This was a speed programming contest, I do not think he routinely programs
that fast.

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swah
I don't think he got distracted much, but he was only streaming the second
monitor (or computer).

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steve8918
This is also an example of someone with creative vision. It's akin to Led
Zeppelin sitting around jamming for 10 hrs straight and coming up with "Good
Times, Bad Times" or "Kashmir". It's a work of art and also a blessing when
you know what you want to create, and you have the ability and skills to
create it.

I imagine the streaming video of him doing expense reports will involve a lot
more web surfing.

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sbierwagen

      He worked for roughly 40 of the 48 available hours. That's a 
      full work week in 2 days. You also won't see him flipping 
      between his editor and news or chat programs.
    

Notch has more than one computer. Knowing that you have a couple thousand
people watching your every move also helps to focus your mind.

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bh42222
_He worked for roughly 40 of the 48 available hours._

That's really not good for your health.

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rcfox
That's why ludumdare isn't someone's full-time job.

40 hours could be 16 hours of work followed by 8 hours of sleep and then
another 16 hours of work. (I don't know if that's what he actually did.)
That's essentially what you do in the last few months of an engineering
program, except it's 5-7 days a week, instead of for 2 days.

~~~
msg
16 + 16 = 32, you need to fit four more hours of work per day in there.

~~~
jfoutz
hehe.

1\. I'm pretty sure he was suggesting, wake up right about the time the
conversation starts.

2\. work 20 hours.

3\. get a good 8 hours sleep.

4\. wake up, work till the end of the competition.

So, this is a brutal, impossible, long term kind of schedule to keep.

I think the grandparent's point was, you could schedule time before and after
the event, to make the event itself bearable, perhaps even enjoyable. Code
that's fun to write is just so effortless. 12 hours isn't a big deal, but 20
would be really pushing it for me.

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EponymousCoward
This post was about as informative as a sneeze.

~~~
tudorizer
I guess your sneezes are inspiring.

