Six Similarities Between Learning to Code and Launching a Startup
I started teaching myself how to code in the fifth grade, reprogramming my computer games (to make them harder) and building websites on this new thing called the internet. By the time I was 16, during the first dot com boom, I started programming professionally and never looked back. I’ve had the opportunity to create my own startups over the years (Flatiron School, included), and there’s something I’ve noticed by wearing the hats of both a programmer and an entrepreneur: learning to code and founding a startup are similar in a number of ways.
Neither are linear. It never feels like there’s a clear line from point A to point B. In both pursuits, there’s always a waxing and waning between productivity and what seems like stalled productivity, but is actually the gearing up for something big — whether that’s a product launch or the kind of progress you can make in a program after a concept clicks for you.
In both, the default state is broken. If your program works, you’re not programming — you’re done for the day. Running a startup isn’t so different: if there’s no problem for your startup to solve today, I don’t know what your startup is really doing. Complaining about broken software or problems with your business is like shouting at the rain. There’s no sense getting mad at the challenges you run into. Great programmers and entrepreneurs take the big problems, break them into smaller parts, and solve them. Becoming solution-oriented is essential to success in both pursuits.
Both have strong communities. You can’t succeed in an industry if you remain at its edge. To succeed, you have to immersive yourself in the community. Stay connected with others in the industry; stay updated on industry news and developments, whether it’s new technology or changes in the markets. Follow awesome developers online. Read books and blogs.
It’s not a job. It’s a life. I like to say that a startup is a very fancy prison that you build for yourself. If you’re doing it well, it’ll take over your life. Programming is the same. You can’t become a great programmer by doing it nine-to-five; you have to do it every day for years.
Distractions are everywhere — but none of them matter. What matters are the problems in front you that have to be solved. Don’t move on to next one until you’ve either solved the current problem or have decided it’s not worth solving. I see a lot of aspiring coders and entrepreneurs jumping between different languages to learn or ideas to pursue, quitting before accomplishing anything. At some point, you have to dig in and say you’re not going to quit; you’ve got to keep on going.
Both are excellent researchers, collaborators, and learners. They break problems down and iterate toward large goals — they’re not waiting for something to be perfect, but they are constantly improving. Both can take what they hate and learn to love it.
Seeing how similar learning how to program and building a startup are, it makes sense that there’s a lot developers and entrepreneurs can learn from each other — and that becoming good at one can help you excel at the other. In our new ebook From Coding Bootcamp to Startup Founder: Tips for Entrepreneurs on Learning to Code & Launching a Tech Startup we take a close look at the entrepreneurial edge you can develop as a programmer. If you’re interested in learning more, you can download the full ebook below.
