by Eric Hosick (erichosick@interfacevision.com)
I now feel dirty for trying to work with a startup on Hacker news. Or should I?
I ran into a Show HN post about an interesting startup called Tinyproj. I posted a short project on Tinyproj because I like to work with like minded people: entrepreneurs.
Then comes a post from a pseudonymous named Edward Case (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3015677, http://www.betabeat.com/2011/09/19/why-80-percent-of-web-projects-are-total-bullshit-a-freelancers-rant/).
(Edit: Note the short project description was supposed to be private and Edward Case did not have permission to make it public as was done in their blog)
I have no reason to be anonymous. My name is Eric Hosick. I’ve been programming since I was 13. I’ve written hundreds of thousands of lines of code. I’ve lectured at a college for a few years in IT and BIS. I’ve started a few companies: even a few offshore. I’ve been successful and I’ve failed: both quite a few times now.
So, when someone, anonymously, says something like this:
“I’m sure I’m not the only programmer that can sniff out a fake nerd.” – Edward Case
And tries to oust me call me out as that fake nerd. Well. Ya. You’ve got a lot to learn about people on Hacker News. Generally, we know our shit.
I was limited to 1000 characters on Tinyproj. I did have more detailed requirements. The 1000 char limit was a pain, I have to say, and I was going to quickly give up on Tinyproj. But I am going to have to give cudos to Tinyproj for getting out that Minimal Viable Product. Good on you! It was the right move. So, I stuck in there.
I clipped off most of the requirements. I knew anyone really interested would just ask for more detail.
And it was worth it, because the entrepreneur has been really helpful.
Thanks for reading.
If you are interested in working with someone who is and respects programmers, please do drop a line.
I think I have some rather amazing stuff coming down the pipeline.
