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Comment by ZinniaZirconium | Hacker News Reader

They should learn to code!

But coding doesn't pay!

I worked for startups where I wrote the entire backend code behind the products that put the companies in business. Then the business geniuses ran the businesses into the ground and I got paid nothing. My code got released as open source which is what happens when code is worth nothing.

Rinse repeat. Coding doesn't pay. Code is worth nothing. Code is always worth nothing.

So I got a real job instead. And I code for fun. Open source of course. Because code is worth nothing. Coding doesn't pay.

So glad I learned to code!

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Maybe you should have done some due diligence on the companies first. If the first company was a bust and you basically ended up in the exact same situation multiple times you should reflect on how you ended up there again and what could you do differently in your selection of employers.

What makes a job real is the reliability of payment for your time and skill. So focus on employing your skill at an organization that will actually pay you a salary. There are 10,000's of jobs for developers post nearly weekly. There are few jobs on the planet that pay as well as software development. My advice is stop playing the victim, learn how to interview at real companies and get on with being a professional.

> Then the business geniuses ran the businesses into the ground

That can happen to startups even if the "geniuses" isn't sarcasm.

> and I got paid nothing.

You didn't draw a paycheck? Why not? Were you a co-founder?

Uhhhh, are you suggesting you can’t make money making software?

I’d argue if you’re solving a real problem, it’s hard NOT to make money in software.

No. It's impossible for a coder to make money in software.

You forgot to add "as long as you're a shameless self promoting blogger and SEO spammer who spends 1% of the time coding and 99% of the time marketing." That is what you meant to say.

I'd rather be coding and let someone who wants to do marketing do the marketing. That's how specialization works. But your world as it exists today doesn't allow for social introverts who are skilled at coding to get paid one cent. Coding jobs require extrovert personality and marketing skill in addition to coding. Coding doesn't pay.

So I do something else.

> I'd rather be coding and let someone who wants to do marketing do the marketing.

That's how it works for the vast majority of professional software developers out there...

That's exactly what I'm saying. You can't make money making software. Software is worth nothing. Coding doesn't pay.

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