Wanna be a tech founder? Learn how to code.

learn to code,

If you ever want to build a tech startup, you have to build technology. That doesn’t mean outsourcing an MVP overseas or creep on engineers at hack-a-thons- it means actually building a technology.

There’s two fundamental processes in a new and growing company- building and selling. But you can’t sell if there’s nothing built to sell. Think of it as a requirement for any technology entrepreneur. All Pre-Med students must have a background in Biology and Organic Chemistry just like all tech entrepreneurs should have a background in Javascript and MySQL.

Here’s a few cool sources I’ve come across that may be worthwhile to a dev noob:

  • Pebbles library- An easy new way to build dynamic web pages without any Javascript.  Built by Joseph Perla. 
  • The Hope Manifesto- A comprehensive guide on how an entrepreneur crammed and taught himself Ruby on Rails.  Written by Nate Westhemier.
  • Twitter bootstrap- a designer and engineer from Twitter put out an open source collection of CSS and JavaScript that is designed to help developers create good-looking and interactive pages quickly and easily.  

Learning to code is especially pertinent to any students or aspiring entrepreneurs with a lot of passion but no tech chops. Don’t take this from a 22 year old startup enthusiast- take this from the collective experience of great minds, content and conversation takeaways with some of the best entrepreneurs in the world.

About the Author: I’m a soon-to-be college graduate whose only regret is not taking more computer science classes. I wouldn’t ever want a development role in a company, but I’ve recognized its importance in any early stage environment. This post was inspired by countless conversations with Boston entrepreneurs and talks given at The East Coast Startup Summit by Fred Wilson, Vinicius Vacanti, Lawrence Lenihan, Jennifer Hyman who all proclaimed that learning to code is essential in today’s world.

 

Disagree with the post? I doubt it. But feel free to comment and leave tips for emerging entrepreneurs!

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