The Boring Stack - Stop learning *new shiny* and start shipping
I wrote something: https://medium.com/@wwalser/the-boring-stack-the-best-way-to-build-interesting-things-9f54420f683e#.ydtfc6sey
This comes from years of failed side projects (not financially failed, failed to ship). I would get an idea for something that I wanted to create but instead of just grinding it out, I would adopt two or three new technologies and try to do allthethings. My 2015 was all about learning how to actually ship and I got quite good at it. 2016 was spent trying to build a business instead of just a side project. Building a software business has absolutely been the most effective way to ingrain just how little difference the tool you build with makes. If you can get it out the door, use whatever you're most proficient with. If you want to learn new language, frameworks and tools, by all means, live it up. If you want to ship something to the world and make money from it, find your boring stack and start grinding.
Happy to discuss here or on Medium :).
I agree with your point but I found your article unremarkable. I think I saw it on /new on HackerNews but it looks like it didn't get any traction for this reason.
I think the hero's journey would work really well for this type of post. It begins on that note but you start talking about Project Euler which is completely unrealted to web dev and your post title and I start losing interest.
Here is a great example of content that I've seen hundreds of times elsewhere but I read it to the end because of this guy's personal journey which was unique.
https://medium.com/@cliffordoravec/the-epic-guide-to-bootstrapping-a-saas-startup-from-scratch-by-yourself-part-1-4d834e1df8c1
I appreciate the constructive criticism, I'm always looking to improve my writing and I think you're correct that more narrative forms are typically more engaging for a reader.
I'm not so fussed about HN, it's under water with voting rings. The very post you cited got zero votes when it's creator linked it but when a super voter (someone whose vote counts as more than others) linked it, it went to the front page. I'd be forgiven for not putting so much stock in a single distribution channel.
I kind of like it that they have super voters. I spent months writing an epic article and when I submitted it to HN, it was ignored (bad title maybe). Luckily, it got to #1 on several subreddits and a super voter boosted it to the front page where it stayed for more than 24 hours. But on Reddit if a post doesn't get lots of upvotes quickly then it will have a hard time getting to the top.
I've got other posts that were #1 on HN but they were flukes. I think timing and luck are also very important.
Great writeup, Wes! I've noticed that when I'm working on a business increasingly feel left behind by all the new languages/frameworks/libraries. That used to frustrate me, but recently I've begun to take it as a sign that I'm doing something right — focusing on my business instead of trying to keep up with the latest shiny things.
Exactly! Programmer-founders tend to pay far too much attention to the craft of software development itself. We spend so much time seeing tweets, blog posts, talks, presentations, comments, etc from our employed compatriots that it's easy to forget that their goals and responsibilities (as employees) are completely different from ours (as founders).
Obsessing over best practices is a luxury you can only afford if you work at an established company with a successful business model. Without that, the priority should be iterating your way to a viable business, and damn everything else.
Thanks for sharing this. I came to the same conclusion recently (very late) as well.
On my past side projects, I always thought like: if this project doesn't make money, at least I would have learned something new. But what usually happens is that the motivation is over way before I can both finish the project and be confident to say I learned something tangible.
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