
I think bootstrapping might be impossible for non-programmers - ColinWright
http://thestartuptoolkit.com/blog/2012/05/bootstrapping-should-i-learn-to-program/
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JumpCrisscross
The assumption that all intangible value is constrained to that which can be
expressed through code is flawed. A better argument would be bootstrapping may
be infeasible for start-ups producing tangible goods.

> _If you’re sincere about getting into startups, start learning to code
> today._

 _Tech_ start-ups, yes, and a diminutive definition of technology at that (you
know what you don't _need_ to know for, say, an interior design, drilling
technology, or infrastructure start-up?). We all have a tendency to over-
articulate our fields - it's in the structure of how normal science progresses
[1]. I tend to do it with finance, coding, and engineering. Just as everyone
need not know how to tranche out a capital structure or Fourier transform
their cat, not every problem need be (nor can be) addressed through code.

[1] [http://www.amazon.com/The-Structure-Scientific-
Revolutions-e...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Structure-Scientific-Revolutions-
ebook/dp/B007USH7J2/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2)

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peterkelly
"Learn enough javascript and jquery to make your portfolio images appear with
a nice lightbox effect when someone clicks on them"

That, plus a CS degree and a few years of programming experience, should set
you well on your way.

~~~
amcintyre
I found that odd myself--the implication is that said entrepreneur needs non-
trivial programming done in order to make an idea succeed, and that's
something you can just pick up in a couple of weekends? If you can pick it up
(with zero initial programming experience) in a couple of weeks with some
Googling, then you really don't need much serious programming involvement.

Sure, there are people smart enough to just start from zero and ramp all the
way up to "competent programmer" while working on their pet project full-time,
but I don't think that's the best advice for everybody thinking about doing a
tech startup.

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mfieldhouse
Does this guy actually run a successful tech startup? What makes him think so?
Experience? Observations? Weird that an article like this would get written
and then posted on here by: 'Rob is a tech entrepreneur who moved his first
company to London from the valley. He has successfully bankrupted 3
companies'.

edit/tldr: I think what I'm trying to say is, it isn't very helpful to be
positioning opinions or thoughts as advice.

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digitalengineer
Non-programmer bootstrapper here. (Designer and Project Manager to be
specific). I'd like to share my experiences. I don't code but I did do a lot
of research. Like most of you guys I decided to 'scratch my own itch'. My
design agency was having a hard time finding (local and affordable) models for
commercial photo shoots and I know for a fact photographers are under a lot of
financial pressure to lower prices. Also nobody wants to pay royalties, so I
build <http://royaltyfreemodels.com/>

Did my own research, UI/UX (thanks Forrst.com !), wireframing and design. Used
my network to find a freelance programmer and a good framerwork (CakePHP). Did
NOT forget the legal part and paid a laywer (almost as expensive as the
developer). Don't forget the lawyer and try to cut out almost 20% of their
fee. The lawyer enjoyed working for a startup (less formal and he got to
brainstorm along). He showed me legal ways I did not know of and stopped me
from paining a big red bullseye on my back.

Buy <http://37signals.com/rework> and read it twice. So far I've applied for
the founder institute (made it in, but was not able to actually follow the
course due to a surprisingly large amount of very good students last fall and
the fact my startup isn't 'mobile').

I've 'sold' some people and after focussing on models/people to join, I'm now
focussing on photographers and design agency's. I want the site to become the
'ShutterStock of people'.

If you can't develop expect to be frustrated by the slow speed of reaction,
adjusting and updating the site and it's bugs. Also, I work all day so I can
only spend evenings and weekends. That sucks.

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nhangen
I'm not sure it's impossible. I started down that path, doing OK, learning to
program only after I got tired of waiting for deliverables. In fact, I found
that hiring freelancers to build something that I could study made my learning
process easier.

That said, I agree that learning to program makes sense. Just don't really
expect to be able to build a website in two weeks.

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ajdecon
From the article: _(Note: In this post I’m talking specifically about tech
startups, and especially non-sales-driven tech startups)_

More specifically: non-sales-driven tech startups with founders who don't have
their own money to fund development by working with employee-programmers,
directly employed or outsourced.

If you read that and thought "you can't employ that programmer, they have to
be a cofounder"? Then add in the criteria that you're aiming at a "tech-heavy
market", rather than building a webapp for a non-technical need.

(As an example: while I respect patio11 greatly, I suspect that the actual
Bingo Card Creator webapp could have been developed by a good programmer from
some decent sketches, at least in beta.)

So basically this article targets business people with little money and a
"great startup idea!" that they can't build themselves. I fully believe there
are a lot of those out there, but it's still a fairly narrow category...

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glimcat
Given that he describes it as "Hello World attached to a random number
generator" - quite possibly so. But it became meaningly profitable due to the
design iteration and statistical marketing that followed, not to mention
familiarity with its mostly nontechnical audience.

~~~
ajdecon
Certainly, and that's why patio11 has done as well as he has. But it's an easy
example of why web startups aimed at a nontechnical audience can succeed even
without being terribly complex, and is a supporting point for the idea that
some startups can probably succeed without a "rock star" developer.

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bigs324
I agree with the premise that there is alot of changes that have to be made as
you move along and iterate, but if you have a skill you can bill at a higher
rate than you can hire a programmer at, then you can totally iterate. I have
development skills, but also run a consultancy where I can net higher hourly
rates than it costs me to hire top tier developers. So alot of times is more
expedient to hire them and focus on running my consulting business. There are
multiple paths, but I have seen with some of my clients they need to have
deeper pockets or ongoing revenue from which to iterate out of.

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crosh
I am a product strategist by trade, am a novice engineer, and run a big data
startup serving the financial services sector.

Though the development of our platform is beyond my current abilities, I have
been able to generate >$5m in LOIs without working MVP.

Bootstrapping is not impossible for a non-engineer, though we must focus on
our strengths - in my case vision, design, and sales - in order to compensate
and garner the support of others to build your team.

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j45
This article indirectly speaks to a larger issue:

Hackers need to become more well rounded and learn business skills, which will
help them filter what to build, when, and why.

Right now hackers are too often like muscle heads, one thing overpowers the
rest of their well-roundedness.

It's my belief that tech folks can learn how things work (including business,
marketing, etc), far easier than business folks can learn tech things, like
coding, etc. Why?

Figuring out how things could/do work is what we do all day in code. It's a
super transferrable skill, maybe the most important one. There's no reason
that it isn't being applied to improving ourselves in more ways than keyboard
wizardry. Let's quit hiding behind the hacker talk.

I hope that we understand that "bootstrapping" is how the majority of small
businesses get started, not just web startups.

The majority of people, period, suck at starting businesses for the same
reason. Funding makes them suck often in different ways, as they usually spend
it in less than optimal ways.. this parallels our experiences in the startup
world.

The more we can relate to customers through marketing, sales, business skills,
in addition to design and coding, the more well rounded one is in dealing with
all situations, including the stuff you haven't dreamed of.

Welcome to the University of You. :)

~~~
yo-mf
University of You, where the ROI is immediate and you remain debt free.

~~~
j45
Also beneficial to stay enrolled forever.

Once we think we're done learning, or we've arrived, we reach our apex and
then start dying.

~~~
wpietri
A couple weeks back, I saw E. O. Wilson speak. The guy is a science pioneer,
has written over 20 books, and had come to talk about the new cutting-edge
work he was doing in evolutionary biology. The guy is _82_. And sharp as a
tack.

When I asked him what his advice was for the whippersnappers among us, he
said: _never retire_. Sure, you can quit doing one thing. But start doing
something else. From the way he said it, his implication was exactly yours:
the moment you allow yourself to stagnate, that's the beginning of the end.

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danso
I agree with the overall sentiment, but I don't think building and maintaining
your own blog is a great learning project. Perhaps building it is, as an
exercise...just like building an adder circuit is a good project for
sophomores in computer engineering. But afterwards, I think learners will be
more motivated to work on things that can more directly benefit the bottom
line, such as API/web-scraping data collection. Or even automation of
tasks/data-compilation that is necessary to multiply your ability to create
your idea.

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chives
From wikipedia:

"Bootstrapping in business means starting a business without external help or
capital. Such startups fund the development of their company through internal
cash flow and are cautious with their expenses.[11][12] Generally at the start
of a venture, a small amount of money will be set aside for the bootstrap[13]
process. Bootstrapping can also be a supplement for econometric models.[14]"

I looked it up to be sure, but bootstrapping as I know it has more to with
business experience then programming. Things like knowing how to (cheaply)
form a corporation (and the right kind too), set up (cheaply) any
administrative infrastructure like accounting, control spending, ect.

Additionally, I am having trouble seeing how learning programming will help
you with the above, or help you either A) find a technical co-founder or B)
contract out developers to develop you product. I don't like the title and I
don't think the author supported the title with his argument at all.

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rprasad
All law firms are bootstrapped and always have been, as are almost all small
accounting firms. Many authors bootstrap: either they write their works while
still employed, or they quit and hope to make enough from their writing to do
it full-time. (Off the top of my head: John Grisham, Terry Brooks, and Orson
Scott Card began writing while still employed.)

A lot of food trucks were funded via bootstrapping. Many independent films are
self-financed by the filmmaker.

Further note: at LA Demo Day last week, fully one-third of the startups were
bootstrapped by lawyer-founders, most of whom were the non-technical founders.

So yeah, this article is just some FUD that tries to place programmers on some
sort of exalted pedastal without realizing that they're just doing what people
have been doing in other professions for _decades_.

