good feedback. can add that. just graphed actual data they provided us to see what we could learn. it helped us to better understand the trends beyond our own projects and talking to other creators.
It's been interesting with this being our third project. The community feel has definitely changed. Even the messages and comments we've received over time have shifted. People seem less interested in the journey and more interested in what they get.
Congrats Jim. The world needs more creators like you to inspire the rest of us. There are few people willing to commit themselves at the level you did. For that I give you a standing ovation.
I"m not a software engineer, but I wish I had learned it in college instead of studying business. Now as a startup founder I'm at a disadvantage because I can't just start building products I see, I need a team just to start.
As the CEO of Contour it wasn't about pay for great engineers. It was about having an interesting problem to work on and a company culture they wanted to be a part of. Yes you compete on pay, but for a start-up, everything else you offer is as important.
Growing up I didn't even know what you could do with engineering. I loved math, but had no idea what you could do by being an engineer. I think a lot of kids don't realize the creativity you can harness with engineering and how you can "build" real things. It was always presented to me in terms of math and being nerdy. Just like writing, I hated it because it was about "grammar" and not about expressing yourself. Now I love to write.
For kids I think it is framed up wrong and until more engineers have kids and teach their kids just what you can do, we will be short software engineers.
I'm now trying to teach myself with codeacademy and it's hard.
Totally. I just left Contour and realized I spent most of my twenties behind my laptop. I was completely exhausted and it has taken me almost six months of doing nothing to have my full energy back.
I wrote a similar piece about enjoying the ride. I missed a lot of it at Contour. http://marcbarros.com/enjoying-the-ride/