Is it actually a disadvantage now to be a coder?
Back in the day (I don't know.. 10 years ago?) being a developer and an entrepeneur felt like a super power.
But now, as code is increasingly comoditized, AI, powerful no-code tools... is being a developer even an advantage. And actually... is it now a disadvantage?
Now more than ever, it seems like all the success lies in positioning, marketing, aquisiton. Not saying that was never important, in fact it's always been vital. But just any random tool back then provided value.. but that's not the case anymore.
Since we developers are so focused on "products" are we now in a massive disadvantage? I certainly feel like.. within entrepeneuship my skills (20 years coding, CTO) seems useless within the context of being a solopreneur.
Am I crazy?
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When I see the likes of Pieter Levels, Tony Dinh and Alex West, I would say it will always be a huge advantage. Coders are true entrepreneurs - they can bring their ideas to life where everyone else still has to find + hire someone to build/maintain/customize their dream.
Come on, bro, having strong technical skills is still something to be envied. The tech field inherently has a higher barrier to entry. However, as you've pointed out, the landscape has changed. The days of low-hanging fruits are gone, making it essential to be more well-rounded.
As someone with 20 years of coding experience and a background as a CTO, your skills are far from useless. They're a powerful foundation. Now, the challenge is to build on that, blending your technical acumen with broader business skills. Think of it as expanding your toolkit rather than replacing it.
You're not crazy, Andy. You're just at a turning point where your expertise can lead to even greater achievements. Embrace this evolution, and you'll find that your coding background is still a superpower.
No, you are definitely not crazy. I also have 20 years of experience in development, and for the last 10 years, I've felt the same way. Marketing has become much more important these days. You can have a good project that no one knows about, and you may have a pretty profitable project with good marketing but not-so-good functionality.
However, I am still pretty sure that good software plays a super important role.
I tried to build tech companies without being a developer...that was a disaster. I bit the bullet and changed careers and went back to college and really learned how to code. To say that's a game-changer is a total understatement. In 2023, if you need to work quickly and deliver fast before the opportunity disappears, you absolutely want to be able to write code yourself. In 2043 when computers are inside our brains and write their own code? Then maybe not.
I have similar time coding - agree the bar is higher now - need to have good marketing and a healthy dose of luck. Look at wordle. Or flappy bird.
We still have some advantage, but it's indeed not as important as it was before.
I'm a designer myself, sometimes I feel like I should have known the code too. Then I could have built some amazing products with top-notch UI/UX.
Yes marketing will be an issue, but you need to provide time and dig into this.
If you are a good engineer, beyond just writing web app code, and can think critically, that will never not be a massive advantage in our line of work, but learning distribution and marketing is getting more important because it's easier to ship products, so to stand out you have to be able to creatively reach the audience.
If you can do both, you got it. Otherwise you need to work on whatever you lack.
Every day no-coders run into issues with no-code platforms and even need plugins or to hire a developer that slows them down.
Building without coding exp or database exp will slow them down.
So nope.