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If you can go back in time what advice would you give to yourself on the start of your tech journey?
Product Hunters share what you would say to your past self and how do you think it will affect your journey.
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Swapratim Roy
I used to have the shiny things chasing syndrome. I used to build so many different things and left them when completed while regretted why I'm not progressing.
I'd rather suggest my younger one to stick to something for a long period of time when see value in it, show up consistently - everyday and try to make it better to solve someone's problem.
The boring things often are the best strategy to grow faster.
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I would rather not meet myself in the past:)
For me it’s better not to change your past cause you never know how it could turn to you or anyone else. We all need to learn from our past and experience we got.
“Batterfly Effect”)
Might sound weird. But since you have asked about starting "tech journey", here you go.
Tech isn't all tech. It also consists of other functions like design, marketing, sales, operations, and so much more. Something that most people who do not have much idea about how tech companies work don't know. This is very much true and widespread in tier 2 and 3 cities of India if I am right.
I made a video on this the other day haha on my 30th birthday.
Bit boring but lessons everyone relate to I think :)
https://youtu.be/wvWkssKy05o
I would have started launching on Product Hunt a long time ago! We are launching today for the first time (Burnout Bot) and it's been a wild ride/lots of learning.
If we would have started launching on PH years ago when we started tinkering, we may have had a huge following by now!
1. be open to continuous learning and personal growth;
2. don't be afraid to take risks and make mistakes;
Pick a language and stick to it. I learned a lot of different languages at the start of my journey, but in turn I wasn't "good" at any of them. Have realized it's better to just stick with a single stack and get really deep into it. There's so much in a language past its surface level that you could spend your entire career working in a single language and still have things to learn.
Fuck-ups are ok. They give you the most memorable lessons. Surround yourself with people with high emotional intelligence.
You’ll have to be tenacious, energetic, kind, open, and flexible. You’ll have to be able to take a lot of hits but to get right back up and keep going. You’ll be focused on the goal but you also have to live in the moment. Did I mention that you’ll have to be tenacious?
As a non-technical founder, I have 2 pain points:
1. Slow product shipping - I often find myself relying on external developers to bring my vision to life. This can lead to delays in product delivery as I navigate the coordination and communication involved.
2. Overdependence - while I enjoy managing and delegating tasks to my team, I tend to become dependent on others for critical aspects of the business.
That said, I should have learned to code so that if have new ideas right off the bat, I can easily launch a working prototype or MVP to validate PMF.
No-code tools is the way to go but if I’d be given the chance, I would choose to learn to code in the traditional way.
I would have been more involved in sales. I believe it's a skill that would help you no matter which field you are in.
Get a job in the field you want to work in and seek a mentor, there's no end to learning and it's harder to learn without a mentor
@atik_hossain It does give you a lot of value when you have someone to provide advice.
@atik_hossain you are absolutely right. i remember when i started coding, i had to learn more than 5 programming languages because i didn't know exactly which one will be suited for what i wanted to be.
@atik_hossain so true. And mentors can make a huge difference but it’s hard to finde the ones that fit best for your needs
@ebenezer_benson I am but a humble starter, not sure if I qualify to mentor someone yet :P
BUT, feel free to connect with me, I will do my best in whatever way I can
I had to think a little bit to answer this one. It would be
1. Share as much of your knowledge as you can. Write, blog, tutorials, advise, mistakes etc. Share with the world. It doesn't have to be perfect, just share
2. Build a career; work for a really good company and try to climb up the ladder there. Unfortunately not possible for startups so don't spend too long at startups
3. Network like crazy.
@theterminalguy Yeah careers in startups are not very awesome, but are very rewarding if you get into right one...
I'd start straight away to learn a complimentary skill to tech, like business, public speaking, marketing.
Anything is possible!! I'm believing more in this with age. This advice would have paced up my journey
Invest in Bitcoin :D
But seriously, always say yes, don't be afraid to ask and get out of your comfort zone.
3 Startup and Venture Capital Learnings
- Pick your battles (like, seriously, don't sweat the small things)
- Learn coding, even as a non-techie
- Don't complicate things. Simple ideas isn't equal to basic/bad
Work on your sales skills and build a community around a topic you are highly engaged in.
