If you were 24, what tech would you specialize/get good at now to start a startup some years down the line?
I'm 24, graduated a little over a year ago and have been working as a full stack developer (React/React Native) since.
What I'm lacking right now is expert level skills and an idea. So I'm trying to figure out which route to heavily invest my career skillbuilding in so I can become a valuable cofounder eventually.
There seems to be 3 major tech frontiers these days:
- AI/ML
- Blockchain
- AR/VR
- (feel free to comment if any more)
And then for non-frontier but still profitable (but perhaps increasingly oversaturated):
- apps
- SAAS
- (feel free to comment if any more)
Does it make sense to stay in web/mobile dev and eventually build up my skills/network enough to cofound a SAAS? (seems like a common route, but perhaps increasingly oversaturated)
Or does branching out into something like data science/ML make sense from an entrepreneurship POV? A genuinely exciting tech "frontier", although data science jobs seem sorta "cog in the machine", requiring advanced degrees/a love for math, and not clear how much it will translate into a startup, who has even done it, or if you really need that much knowledge of data science (beyond simple Tensorflow/library knowledge).
Blockchain seems sorta overhyped and personally I don't have the biggest interest in it currently.
AR/VR is another frontier but not sure how big it will be or how to break into it at my level of experience.
How would you direct your career now if you were 24, in tech (but not yet an expert in anything), and wanted to start a multimillion dollar startup eventually?
TBH I don't think it matters. Just learn and try new things you find interesting/exciting. Look at Steve Wozniak - he's just always doing things he enjoys. You're a developer presumably, which in itself counts for quite a lot in the startup world.
I think what's far more important is to develop your own business philosophy along with your people skills and your network. Get a feel for how markets work - not just a feel for how code runs on machines. The only way to do this is to launch apps/websites/projects into the wild involving ideas you believe are worthwhile to humanity.
Startup founders don't necessarily do the work - they're the ones that organize the work getting done. Sometimes they get entirely too much credit. Sure, they probably hacked together a buggy Beta version 1.0 - but truth is, after that they got help if their businesses are to go far. Learn to lead. Leadership is very important. You have to lead yourself, so you'll benefit yourself and others too if you can master the art of high quality (servant) leadership. Good luck!