I was talking with a friend who is a successful programmer. Work for some of the best tech companies in the Valley and now its on the path to build his startup.
We were discussing about the strategy he was taking for his product (an app). The way he explained to me was:
First, I build the app and get some beta users. Then I see what features should I leave and which ones should I take out. I learn from my users, change the app until I have a MVP and then launch it.
In my mind he already had a good product even before he went into beta. I had tried it and told him that the app was really good. That he should even try to see if his beta users are willing to pay for it. He looked at me like if I just had insulted his mother. He went on to tell me that you should never monetize without knowing who your users are and that you should first launch a product, test it, learn from the users, adapt the product and later (very far) on the future think about monetizing it.
I was not interested in the discussion itself but in how his brain works. There is no parallel process when coding (at least how I see it). Everything has a specific order (libraries, functions, etc) and it always goes forward and linear. Even when you use loops, if statements or returns, you are still always thinking about the next step moving forward in the same path.
Give you my own example. I study to become a CPA. The way my brain works is that it looks for where the money flows, how I can value things and if everything is part of a “system”. Usually you have to think in process that run parallel due that a company has different aspects and they are all moving all the time. I’m also constrained because I'm bias to always measure or try to judge something by its numbers (the balance sheet curse!). I have had to train myself to think counterintuitive about the first thoughts that comes to my mind.
I believe that what we study trains our brains to work in a specific way and later on, we apply this “way of thinking” to others things. The problem is that not necessary the way code works (forward and in order) applies to every aspect of a business. Specially when it comes to human behavior.
