

Ask HN: What advice do you have for non-technical people interested in tech? - shadowmoses

Didn&#x27;t find much by searching through old posts, but I think this is becoming more and more relevant. Would be interested to hear from engineers, non-technical people who have learned from experience, and ideally a few founders as well.
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shredprez
Everyone is non-technical when they start. I've noticed a lot of layfolks have
this notion that there's some innate intellectual difference between people
who work with technology and people who don't. _There isn 't._ At the highest
levels you may start to see real jumps in necessary intelligence, but the
majority of technology (whether it's IT, Auto, Electrical, etc) is possible
for anyone to understand, provided they start simple and methodically work
their way in to the good stuff.

So my advice to "non-technical"-but-curious friends is: don't label yourself.
If you're interested in technology, that's enough. Start with whatever subject
you're most interested in. Grab a random article. Look up every word or
concept you don't understand. Initially most of what you'll be doing is
learning definitions, parsing jargon. Once you get the language down, you can
move on to ideas. How do these things work, what is their structure? Learn the
common ones. Learn the old ones. Learn the new ones, the unproven ones. Once
you get those ideas down, you can move on to problem solving. Pick a problem
you've run into. Look into how others have solved the problem. If they
haven't, take the concepts you've picked up and give it a shot. Try different
angles. Try going old-school. Try something cutting-edge. Ask for help. Finish
the project. If you come up with something half-way usable, congratulations:
you're a technical innovator.

There are efficient and inefficient ways to learn, but curiosity is the thing
that matters most. Hold tight to that and dive right in.

~~~
HenryTheHorse
> curiosity is the thing that matters most

This. A million, billion times this.

I wish sales VPs, marketers, HR folks and managers asked more questions about
product and technology than simply view software development as the Dark Arts.
Don't settle for "it's software - it _is_ complex" responses from the CTO or
the technical founder. Dig deeper.

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semicolondev
Question isn't clear about what aspect of tech you are interested in.

Still, i'd suggest to familiarize yourself with the underlying process of how
startups/products are built. For eg. here's the Lean process:
[http://theleanstartup.com/principles](http://theleanstartup.com/principles)

Find out where you can contribute and collaborate on the process or better if
you have managerial skills go execute the process.

For a tech product there is more to writing code. It's like if you have a
blueprint of house engineers will build the house for you.

Learn to draft, pitch and execute that blueprint for your tech interest.

~~~
shadowmoses
I was looking for general commentary. My specific situation would be someone
who was always interested in technology in a meaningful way since childhood
but did not pursue computer science/engineering in any serious capacity.

Maybe a more specific question would be how to get engineers to take you
seriously [and subsequently ideas one may have around marketing, design, etc]?

~~~
semicolondev
Hit them with some tangible stuff that showcases your ideas. Eg. a LaunchRock
page with clear value prop.

If you have any followup comments feel free to drop me an email (check
profile)

------
gordonzhu
I'm working on a draft blog post that talks about how I went from undergrad
business school to tech (I'm currently the founder of watchandcode.com).

Would be happy to share it with you and follow up with a chat about your
situation. Email me at gordon@watchandcode.com.

~~~
tixocloud
I would love to hear your story on what you think are the most important
traits. I have tons of friends who consider themselves non-technical and would
love to share with them this story.

