I like the article, and support anyone who wants to learn to code, but resent the increasingly frequent (and thus increasingly meaningless) use of the word hacker.
There is an identifiable and very real hacker culture and ethic. To me, a suit learning how to code and calling himself a hacker feels like a white guy going to his first sweat lodge and changing his name to running wolf. Congrats, now you've got a lifetime of coding, and hacking (two separate but related things) ahead of you. Enjoy the journey.
*Edit: More to the point, since I know YCombinator loves the word hacker... what I want is for you to treat it like the honorific it is. A gentleman doesn't call himself a gentleman. One does not call themself a sensei. I don't call myself Mister Zyphlar. Hacker is not in my twitter bio. Replace hacker with "l33t"; call yourself a L33t Coding Product Executive and see how long it takes for a chuckle of disbelief.
If being a hacker means having a lifetime of experience, then I am not a hacker. If a hacker is someone who loves solving his own problems with his own two hands -- that's me. I'll take either.
I liked the emphasis on going off-tutorial and learning how to get help elsewhere when necessary. That's one of the most useful skills you can have in the real world. I think, for startups especially, being able to quickly grok new technologies and piece them together quickly is hugely valuable.
