Ask HN: How can I go from 0 Knowledge of programming to $100/mo

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2863076

by HiroshiSan • 15 years ago

16 18 15 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Sorry for the long title..

Somethings about me: I'm 20, University dropout, really interested in startups, programming, but I have commitment issues so I can never really finish learning something :/. I'm very ambitious but I'm more talk than a take action kind of guy..and I really want to turn that around.

I just quit my job at a fast food place because I dreaded going there knowing I was creating nothing of value.

My goal is to create something that can make at least $100 a month (which I'm sure 90% of the people on this site can do, but I have no idea how to make money what so ever aside from getting a part-time job.) What are the steps that I can take from 0 knowledge to launching something small?

eyalbd1• 15 years ago

Learn and then learn more, start with small time freelance jobs and move on from there, check for things you can do from home.. I would have start here http://www.donanza.com , good luck.

jasondrowley• 15 years ago

Find a small problem, and build a simple, elegant solution.

FYI, web apps don't make all that much money (convincing users to upgrade to a paid version is surprisingly difficult). Your best bet is to develop a mac or ios app and sell it on the app store.

If you don't know any Obj-C, you could consider developing an app in the language of your choice and running it on Titanium (an awesome IDE from Appcelerator).

I'm also quasi-dropped out of college; I'm the "business side" of a startup; so, as for learning to code, I'm just as much a neophyte as you are.

Good luck, man.

watmough• 15 years ago

Remember that there are various cross-platform development environments, and other 'lite' systems, that will let you develop for mobile using just HTML5 and Javascript.

One such is Phonegap http://www.phonegap.com/

Good luck!

fakeer• 15 years ago

I do not know. Couldn't ever figure out and that's why I haven't quit my job yet. Guess, I will never do. I find it like a strange serenity - having a 9-5 job and then having the remaining time and energy for yourself. Okay, this is irrelevant.

But one thing sure I have figured out - you can live a life, you can walk around but you cannot learn something without commitment,never. Not at least in the sense of classic learning, as in learning well.

Why don't you check with the way you start to learn. Is it laziness? Lack of interest or motivation? Is is just that you daydream about everything happening just the way you want but never actually doing anything for that? Or what?

I do not see (IMHO) you as an ambitious person (no offence) but I see you as a dreamer maybe, which is good to start with. You are not ambitious because that will be you using fullest of your abilities.

You have one plus point though, you are just 20.

Here's my suggestion. It's not related to programming. Start on a trip. If possible a RTW trip. This is all I can think of to be help for you. This works. Good luck.

HiroshiSan3• 15 years ago

Dreamer is a more accurate description. Usually, when I find something I'm really interested in, I will drop everything and focus on that one thing, but I lose interest very easily and I jump around a lot on different things...I just can't seem to ever stick to anything..as soon as something gets somewhat difficult, I don't persist.

I RWT would be nice, I was thinking of getting my TOEFL certificate and finding a school to teach english in China..I would love to live abroad and experience something new for a while.

webnrrd2k• 15 years ago

Just a thought, and not exactly on-topic, but you may want to investigate ADD/ADHD. You sound like a typical ADHD person, jumping around a lot, getting very focused on one thing while ignoring other important things, not finishing projects, etc...At least check out what Wikipedia has to say about ADHD and see if it might explain some things in your life.

tluyben22• 15 years ago

$100 / mo is even easy to do with an Adsense site ($3-4/day is definitely not hard), but that might not be your interest.

I would check your skills and interests; what can you do? Can you write? Design? Have at least a feel for design? There are tons of opportunities if your goal is 'only' $100/month.

So if I were you I would sum up my hobbies and skills you do have; think broad here, there is money in everything, especially if you are not looking to make millions of $.

HiroshiSan3• 15 years ago

I've been learning how to create web designs from scratch lately, here's one I made from a tutorial: http://imgur.com/19Mhc honestly $5 a day would be plenty...or even $5 a week, I guess I'm just looking for a confirmation that I can find a way to make money..or that I have what it takes and from there I can figure out a way to grow it.

tluyben22• 15 years ago

This is good enough :) Now learn to get them working on Wordpress and you will be making more than $5 / day for sure. You can sell links in the footer or you can sell the entire theme as unique theme or limited theme. Depending on the time you spend to build themes, you'll make nice money, even while undercuttng the competition.

MortenK• 15 years ago

Pickup and read cover to cover 'getting started with' books on HTML, CSS and the Wordpress cms. This should allow you to customize simple wordpress sites.

Next, buy a good looking template from themeforest.net and customize it as a portfolio piece. Take screenshots of the site.

Go door-to-door or call your local small businesses, i.e. Mechanics, hairdressers, carpenters, whatever and show the screenshots. Offer them to make them a site with domain and cms for 1000 USD a year, paid upfront or at least 6 months upfront.

Make them a simple, business-card like site based on another wordpress template from themeforest. This is more than enough for the majority of small businesses. If they want customizations beyond text / images (we also want an order tracking system!) tell them no.

Later, you can start looking at Javascript, PHP and SQL, in order to be able to add more functionality to the wordpress sites.

martingrace7• 15 years ago

I guess you should start as a volunteer in a great company and work with a tutor. start with small projects, train yourself, and motivate yourself. you know, it's never late to learn. and it's very good for you to acknowledge your faults and start fighting them right now.

scottyallen• 15 years ago

This will sound condescending, but I'll say it anyway: Become the kind of guy who finishes things. Forget about the programming part for a minute. It's the finishing things part that's the hard part. If you focus on that, you'll master whatever details you need to get you there.

I like to think of finishing things as a demon I have to conquer. The last 20% sucks so hard, but if you do it, you'll be rewarded well, because most people suck at the last 20% too, and thus, never finishing anything either. Learning to be someone who ships makes you a rare person indeed.

I still struggle with finishing things, but I've gotten a lot better in the past year. The best advice I can give you is to "show up" every day and do the work, no matter what. Sit down x amount of time every day, butt in seat, and do the next things on your list of things that are necessary to ship. Not what's fun, not what looks interesting, not surfing the web or HN. The next thing standing in the way of shipping. If you can make that a habit, and do it without fail, you can't help but ship.

redrory• 15 years ago

Great advice, I was about to start another project as I reached the final 20% of my current and couldn't go any further. You motivated me to stick with it.

Thanks

alecbenzer• 15 years ago

My problem is worse (I think). When I think of what might be a cool idea for a project, I always manage to convince myself that it's not as cool or glamorous or useful as I thought before I begin actual work on it (or very shortly after).

pajju• 15 years ago

Looks like you have a weak mind. The single most important thing in Life is Increasing "Consciousness". Do meditation for 20mins daily. Trust me it reshapes you as an individual. Embrace cosmic energy. Don't loose energy. Keep your mind, body and Intellect pure.

HiroshiSan3• 15 years ago

I used to meditate a few years ago when I was like 16 - 17, it was amazing, I felt so fresh and clear after. I stopped a lot of good habits that I used to have and only now am I getting back into them.

starter• 15 years ago

I like your honesty. The solution? Build something. I was once in your shoes. I simply started selling CMS sites to clients to support my side projects. $100 per month is easy... go for it!

eagletusk• 15 years ago

After graduation from university and entering the work force I came to the conclusion that it is not what you know but your ability to learn, and more so your ability to complete things.

Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister did a study awhile ago, I don't have a link to it, but as I understand it, all things equal a programmer that has been working for 6 months can perform equally as well as one that has been at it for years or decades.

The biggest thing that experienced programmers have is a proven track record. This is why I believe that the university system is the first credential employers look for, graduation means that you can solve problems and you are able to manage yourself, when nobody is there holding your hand.

That said there is a back door for computer programming that lots of other fields don't have, that being, you can get very good in your mothers basement. You don't need access to expensive equipment like oscilloscopes and function generators like you for EE or access the hospital if you are training to be a doctor.

But form what I understand you if you go this way you will need to be really good, and have a lots of experience or get lucky and land a job where your can apply your skills and build on them.

From my generalist view point here, if you want to be a player in the tech industry you need to be doing it as your hobby too, and further look at every opportunity you get to push to learn more, expecially off hours, when you are not getting paid.

With respect to making money doing something the wordpress thing is really easy to do, once you get an understanding of html, css, and programming in php you can do some pretty powerful stuff. This is a valuable for lots of companies that don't have a web presence. So if you are going to do it then, build your own site, and use it a testing ground for new things that you see as neat and find on the web.

And finally, whenever you get the chance help others do it! Open source your projects, let others build off your projects, help them when they ask you about it, understand other peoples projects and add value where you can. You will learn a ton and get the chance to provide knowledge to others.

Good luck!

Ask HN: How can I go from 0 Knowledge of programming to $100/mo

Related Stories