Black Man Coding

Paul Brown
Jul 10, 2017 · 2 min read

Hello World, my name is Paul.

I am inviting you on this journey with me into a new world.

Just for a little background about me, I have been an aspiring entrepreneur for years. I’m married to a beautiful wife. Somehow she puts up with me daily, and I love her for it. My day job as a personal fitness instructor allows me the time to explore new things of interest; it provides me the opportunity throughout parts of the day to read and utilize my imagination. My night job, selling a toiletry bag on Amazon: http://bit.do/vertice.

Over the last few years I have had a few concepts that I wanted to act on, however the cost has always been an incredible barrier to entry for me. For example, I came up with a system which would have cost $60K to develop and test, but I didn’t have $60K to spend, and it is very difficult to ask people to invest in you when your concept is not proven. How can a concept be proven unless you have the money to build and test it? Oh what a conundrum. Of course, when it is proven by another company that gets acquired for over $80 million, who is the real fool?

I digress.

I surmised my greatest problem to be technical knowledge to build the applications I have wanted myself. I tried this a few years ago using Youtube and I went nowhere with it. Learning web development from Youtube seemed like such a foreign concept and I was just overwhelmed. I researched coding bootcamps and none of them could fit my lifestyle, allowing me to still keep my day job. A few months ago I purchased a Udemy class teaching web development and found I actually do have an interest in this, but I also felt that I needed a little more motivation in a formal online setting.

Fast forward to yesterday (7/6/2017) and I signed up with the Viking Code School to learn software development. FINALLY an online course that will allow me to fit studying into my schedule. By the time I complete this course, which should be within the following 8–10 months, I will have the technical knowledge to get a new job if I wanted, but more importantly I will have the knowledge to build what I think the world is missing.

I’m starting this blog to hold myself accountable. Also as an additional learning tool. I have created a spreadsheet designed to make me allocate 40–45 hrs a week towards studying the subject matter. Which means drastic reduction in Facebook, Netflix, and Hulu time. I intend to write this blog once a week (unless I have something else to address) which should be sufficient.

Thanks for the support ahead of time my friends.

Paul B.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade