Harry Potter v.0.1
Just recently, I discovered I can do MAGIC! Yet I’m not expecting a Hogwarts’ letter anytime soon. Although it may sound as if my magic dropped out of the sky (as would a Hogwarts’ letter), unfortunately it didn’t. I received years of training before I realised what I’m capable of. With my kind of magic, there’s also no hocus-pocus going on, not even a tiny “Wingardium Leviosa”. I was rather disappointed when I figured that out. Now the muggles will never understand what I can do. All those years of training, to what end? I just wish I had a wand to show for my talents.
By now, hopefully, you will have figured out that I’m not capable of any real voodoo-abracadabra-magic. Though I might not seem very magical, I am still a rare kind. I’m a female computer scientist, mathematician and entrepreneur. The only thing that would make me even more of an abnormality… would be success. Still waiting ;-).
So why would I call myself a magician anyway?
A few weeks ago, I embarked on a new adventure. I joined a startup as the only technical profile on our five-man staff. As happens very often in the internet age, our product is an application. But we’re not just some application. We’re different you know.
We have THE ALGORITHM.
I wish I’d had church bells at this time, because my co-founders approach the algorithm as if it’s an almighty or even magical entity. And it’s (going to be) ours.
Just like that.
I had to disappoint them. Algorithms, do not come overnight and are rarely accompanied by “Hallelujah” or “Eureka” when they do. They require a shitton of work and quite often, alcohol. And even then, inch’Allah.
Nevertheless, my co-founders seem positively convinced that we’re the next Larry Page and Sergey Brin. And if I manage, I will change my CV to state the following:
Magician
September 2015 — present
Because a good algorithm is a magical thing and by induction, that would make me a magician. If only the muggles would know how often I would have thrown my laptop out of the window — if it didn’t cost me this much.
