Hackers shouldn’t build software
Hackers should hack. Acquire customers. Automate complex processes. Optimize operations. Reduce costs. Accelerate all the things.
Hackers solve problems. Extremely well. In the most ridiculously efficient ways — without a budget, a team, or a plan. They just do it because it hurts them to see it undone, or worse, see people meeting and talking about it.
That’s why hackers make such great founders. Starting a new business, especially with an innovative business model and big ambitions, is extremely complex. Doing everything the right way will kill the company before it can get up and walk. Hacking everything is the only way.
Alright, you got me. Most hacks don’t scale. But what if there’s nothing to scale? Yet! Focus on doing, learning, and moving forward. Also, do things that don’t scale.
Faster is better than better. Especially when getting started.
There are many examples of this, here are some random ones:
- Forget “marketing automation platforms”. Write 10 lines of code that will hit the users when they’re fresh. Yes, it’s easier than it looks. Patrick McKenzie took this probably too far, but he should be a great inspiration.
- Not ready to pay for Salesforce? Or to spend weeks integrating with it? Hook up your back-end to create a task (in Redbooth, of course) each time a new user signs up, or just do some Zapier/IFTTT magic.
- Need metrics? Go shop for a Business Intelligence platform, map your data schema, and go build some reports. Or even better (I mean, faster), write 4 SQL queries and chart them out with Highcharts.
- Wasting time updating SaaS metrics for your investors? Make your back-end export XLS files, generate a Google Spreadsheet or whatever suits you best. Automate, and move on.
- Struggling with the best way to price your product? Don’t spend weeks forecasting, build an A/B test and numbers will tell.
All of the “bad” examples shown above are actually the way to go. What’s important is getting the timing right. I’ve been through the pain of actually doing all of those things and luckily hacking most of them at the beginning. Most times the initial hack (or MVP) was a great learning to do it well when the time came.
I’ve always known this but just recently realized its extent. A company shouldn’t call itself a start-up when hackers can’t just go solve problems anymore. When everything has “an owner”, “a strategy”, “a plan”: that’s how grown-up companies solve problems. Grown businesses might have to trade all of that off at some point. Delay growing up.
A company with hackers is a thousand times more valuable than one without them. A great example is Facebook and how Mark Zuckerberg even wrote The Hacker Way to be in their S-1 filing on their IPO.
If you’re a hacker, quit your software development job. Go do things. Fix marketing, fix operations, fix HR, fix support, fix sales. Or stay at your company and do all those things, the impact will be orders of magnitude bigger.
If you’re an entrepreneur, be a hacker. Surround yourself by hackers and do things the hacker way.
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Jordi Romero spent the last 12 years building and selling Software. Most recently at Redbooth, a SaaS platform for project management. He also helps great companies such as Camaloon or Quipu, both founded at itnig.
