tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post742568822945299563..comments2024-03-28T10:49:53.597-07:00Comments on Lessons Learned: The hacker's lamentErichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12249063135381216090noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-74049474044615437322009-01-19T03:23:00.000-08:002009-01-19T03:23:00.000-08:00Well done, another gripping and perfectly accurate...Well done, another gripping and perfectly accurate article.<BR/><BR/>After meeting quite a few like-minded hackers whilst working in the UK for the first part of my career, I must say I miss the opportunity of running into the sort of people that being in a technologically- and intellectually- dense part of the world seems to generate. I no longer run these sorts of hackers down here in NZ!<BR/><BR/>I agree with you regarding turning Hackers into CTOs with proper mentoring, and respect for you for taking on this role. All too often hackers stay hacking because of this lack of seeing the bigger picture or not having the support to make the 'transition'. <BR/><BR/>I had a similar mentor, although didn't appreciate what he was trying to do at the time; I was so into being a hacker that all the talk of understanding strategy, sales, marketing, and commercial goals had little appeal over hacking away at the next project or rewriting yet-another-version-of-the-application-framework (TM) ;)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-10060701125409055882008-12-09T14:18:00.000-08:002008-12-09T14:18:00.000-08:00Great article. As another person that did the sta...Great article. As another person that did the startup thing, I have a few lessons learned as well that maybe someone can benefit from:<BR/><BR/><A>http://softwareindustrialization.com/BridgewerxProductSuccessBusinessFailure.aspx</A><BR/><BR/>Cheers!Mitch Barnetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14104207350558744294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-66241677246567058012008-12-09T12:28:00.000-08:002008-12-09T12:28:00.000-08:00Very nice article, thanks a lot.Very nice article, thanks a lot.RJ Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06126784715703123181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-38256271333238004262008-12-09T10:20:00.000-08:002008-12-09T10:20:00.000-08:00I can't agree with you more.I came out of the univ...I can't agree with you more.<BR/><BR/>I came out of the university at a relatively young age and I was recruited out of my lab by a startup. Long story short, I am the only go to guy for every technical problem in the company. <BR/><BR/>Our online media company is small, we have 6 employees, great proven leaders, great talent, great cashflow. Our CTO is the CEO himself, but he lacks the understanding of the new software development processes and the new technologies. <BR/><BR/>In this group, I am the only technical guru with very little industry experience. I've never been managed before since I had so much autonomy and freedom to do almost anything in my laboratory back in the university. In school I was being pounded day and night with anything that has to do with agile software development. When I entered the company, I realized that there were no process and I quickly applied what I know about agile software development. I am basically a one-man shop. <BR/><BR/>My responsibility at the time I joined the company was to develop a product that is to be deployed on a social network (hint hint, FB). It sounded fun in the beginning and I had a ton of passion to create this product. For this product, I later realized that I was the software architect, the frontend engineer, the backend engineer, the database administrator, the systems administrator, the QA engineer, and lastly I was the only technical support guy. The product eventually became bigger and bigger and more difficult to maintain. The CEO tried to help me delegate tasks to several other people, but I found that it only makes matter worst and uses more of my time because at the end of the day I have to go back and review what they have done and I still have to fix it! I didn't give up so I worked around the clock to get it done. Luckily, my girlfriend did not leave me because I make it seem like I don't have that much work left to do when I go home every night.<BR/><BR/>To make matters worst, there was another product waiting in the pipeline for development process to begin right after the previous one. Guess what? I went through the same things again and now I have two products under my belt. What's funny is that I make my job look so easy that the CTO never really thought about hiring someone to help me out. (I'd really prefer he had hired a VP of Engineering, or whoever that can manage me effectively.)<BR/><BR/>The second time around however, I went around the internet and read blogs such as yours to see how I can save myself from all the chaos because I knew that at some point I will break and just leave for another company only to find that I will probably have to go through the same thing again! <BR/><BR/>I applied what I learned to save myself. Processes such as TDD, continuous integration, pair programming (w/ my imaginary friend =P), source code management, and other organizational techniques, processes, whatever. <BR/><BR/>I would love to have an effective CTO or VP of Engineering to manage me. I believe I am a great engineer, but what I am going through right now is really making me want to quit the company and maybe even start my own. I don't want the next guy to go through what I went through though. <BR/><BR/>What can I do? I would love to try something different. Ah, headaches, headaches.nardo.yiphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10236918544999719370noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-50248973368640728242008-12-09T03:11:00.000-08:002008-12-09T03:11:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08871447221919310204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-7703034499643400392008-12-09T03:10:00.000-08:002008-12-09T03:10:00.000-08:00Excellent, excellent, excellent, spot on, well-wri...Excellent, excellent, excellent, spot on, well-written, entertaining without forsaking depth. This essay puts PG to shame.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08871447221919310204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-84389569227626224552008-12-08T21:30:00.000-08:002008-12-08T21:30:00.000-08:00Another great article.I feel like I'm a similar po...Another great article.<BR/><BR/>I feel like I'm a similar position, though I'm coming from the opposite direction. Rather than getting to this point by growing a startup, I joined an existing company out of college and matured into the lamenting hacker. <BR/><BR/>You make a great point that hackers shouldn't grow it alone, and should culture a great team. But there *are* bad managers, and sometimes they can't be fixed. I feel like I'm growing to the point where there are no more technical problems that can be solved without replacing management. A poorly performing CEO won't fire themselves.<BR/><BR/>Now, I'm working to create a startup just to get away from being in the situation where I'm responsible for fixing the symptoms of problems, but don't have the authority to solve their cause. I'll be mindful of your advice. :-)<BR/><BR/>AllenAllen Rohnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14551766042595741221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7533727264507128560.post-42517191275947451412008-12-08T19:40:00.000-08:002008-12-08T19:40:00.000-08:00As usual, a fantastic article. Many thanks for pos...As usual, a fantastic article. Many thanks for posting it. In a future article, I'd love to see more about what goes into that mentoring process.Williamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08301434653929004584noreply@blogger.com