I have some great ideas about how to build solutions to some of our most common programming issues. The problem? I don't really know any person, company or organization that is genuinely interested in trying to solve real problems.
There are, of course, a massive number of people out there keen on making money, and a few people out there dedicated towards making noise, but when it comes down to really working on ideas that could change the world, everyone is suddenly busy with other things.
Perhaps if I could be more modern, and would swear up and down that my ideas will definitely work right away, and that they aren't just experimentation or research, I could con, err,... I mean: convince someone into backing this work, but then if I knew for sure that these ideas were winners my house would be mortgaged, and I'd be eating cat food (and not the human grade kind) for years while busily trying to finish up the work.
Over the years I tried getting my own companies going, finding angel or venture capital, and just setting up something simple, but all to no avail. I'd just do some sort of free openSource project, but I've got a house to pay for and a family to feed (although half of it is canine). I work to maintain my life, and that also draws off my excess energy from working on the side. Writing at night and photography on the weekends complements my full-time software development activities, coding until the wee hours of the morning does not.
I'd like to change the world, it could use the help, but I have no idea how to get myself into a position where I could try. Any suggestions?
I hear ya.... similar situation here. When I was 15 years younger, I would stay up until 1-2am coding a difficult project for a customer, but now with family, more interests (and less time!), more obligations, etc... I feel like I'm in quick sand.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't help you, but at least you're not alone.
Hi Dave,
ReplyDeleteThanks :-)
I'd be happy with the way things are going, after all a good job and a decent life are nothing to be unsatisfied with, but I think that there are so many cool things I could build that the world really needs. Even if all of the ideas are a flop, they could eventually inspire better approaches in others (Ted Nelson's Xanadu project is a great example).
Paul.
Google?
ReplyDeleteHi Denton,
ReplyDeleteTo create my own, get hired by, or just use for finding a opportunity?
:-)
On Hiring: no doubt I'd have a slim chance of them wanting me, and a very slim one of being able to work remotely like Tim Bray. Once inside I'd be a peon again, so it would take years (or decades) to find my way into a position with some control. Given my lack of a PhD, never is also very possible :-P
Now, if I managed to get rich and famous, of course all of that would change, but if I were rich and famous then I wouldn't need help and I could just work on my own (I did try to get rich but to no avail, it's a bit harder than I first thought).
Paul.
Learn from The Master: the man who took a dreamy, hazy notion of a better world, and shared it with a ragtag band of misfits who, in turn, changed the world, converted millions, and established a major world religion. I speak, of course, of Linus Torvalds.
ReplyDeleteHi John and/or Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. Linus certainly started a movement. His Wikipedia page says his contributions to the Linux kernel amount to about 2% of the code, and that his initial work in re-writing MINIX was for his master's thesis.
Another interesting guy is Richard Stallman. GNU has certainly been a larger and more significant force than Linux, although few seem to realize it.
One of my personal favorites is Ted Nelson and the Xanadu project. Yet another pivotable player in software history, but again not acknowledged nearly enough.
Although I've certainly examined their histories, I've never been able to find any similar opportunities hanging about. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time (and have the right personality, background, environment, etc.)
My question is: if you're aren't in the right place at the right time, then what can you do to change that? How you make 'here' and 'now' right?
Paul.
I share your frustrations. I am in that phase of my life where a more focused approach to life and career is required.
ReplyDeleteUp to now, while working as a software engineer full-time, I've worked as a quality consultant for software companies, as a security consultant, found an audio production company (then left it), and now trying to complete my 3rd M.S. degree (the other two are incomplete) on GIS.
And all of that led to....uhm... nothing to write home about. I think being good at what you do is simply not enough for success and greater contribution opportunities.
One needs to have a business mind, a sharp focus on one big thing, people networks, and don't forget to have fun! At least that's what I've extracted from my experience.
Hi Cagil,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comments. You said:
"I think being good at what you do is simply not enough for success and greater contribution opportunities."
Yes, I'm feeling that too. I always though that if you were good at something, success would find you. That the doors would just open automatically. In some limited ways that is true, here in Toronto for example, a good software developer can always find work that pays reasonably well. That was fine for the earlier part of my career, but now I want to transcend that and create bigger, more impressive systems. Systems that are not just in line with what's out there, but instead take computers to the next level.
That type of opportunity is a rare and difficult beast to find :-)
BTW: I spent a few weeks traveling around Turkey almost a decade ago, it is a beautiful country. Are there many software companies there?
Paul.