How can I find people that still just enjoy being creative and building useful things?
I wanted to see if anyone else had tried it so I searched on YouTube and found a video where someone filmed themselves with the same idea.
Most of the video was them politely asking dozens of homeless people if they would like to learn, offering to pay them for their time. Most said no. Maybe they passed on a good deal here? Maybe it was a waste of time?
Eventually they find this guy and he is skeptical but he says yeah sure. They teach him the basics. For loops, if statements, variables and stuff like that. Then they pay him and that's it. The end of the video. I wish they would have kept up with him and tried to help him get a job next. But again who knows might not even be a good path anyway.
My point is, and my takeaway from that video. Even if you have a good deal, and a lot of times we don't even know if we have a good deal exactly. You have to ask dozens maybe hundreds of people before you find someone who is interested.
I think you can cheat this by going to places like SV where there are more founder types. But it mostly just opened my mind about being more willing to be rejected and approach more people rather than ponder why the 3 or 4 people I had asked weren't interested in starting a company or whatever else it might be.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/nov/02/experie...
If you are constantly told that your own way is the wrong way of doing things then your are less inclined to do something on your own.
It wouldn't surprise me if a certain percentage of every society would be inclined to be this way regardless of the environment. I once read an article in which it was said they believed even in the earliest groups/societies approx 3-4% of people would be inclined to not want to contribute to the group and the rest of the group supported them.
Sounds plausible
When we browse the Web, be it HN, GitHub, Twitter, blogs… we
- either consciously forget that there are receptive people like us staring at their computer on the other side.
- or assume the interesting ones are not interested in connecting with us.
- or we engage with them but mostly in an anonymous, minimal, unthoughtful kind of way.
I'm not telling you to be manipulative, or have a full clear agenda, but IMO it is necessary to be proactive and have a long-term vision on this.
Also, I'm not telling you to start tracking all interesting contacts in a CRM, but why not consciously build a small spreadsheet where you put the one that built that delightful small GitHub project, or the other one who has kindred ideas on HN ?
Like physical relationships, virtual ones need to be nurtured. It is not going to happen without forcing it a little. For every 100 people, the 2 or 3 that will truly connect with us may be worth it. If you don't do it you will never now.
CAUTION: disappointment is useless. The web is full of people. Thank you. Next.
All this will be obvious for all those (successful) entrepreneurs out there (or as obviously futile for the cynics) . But "basic" things need to be rehached sometimes.
I say this because, IME, the chances of finding people who:
- are motivated
- are talented
- are compatible with you from a personality viewpoint
AND (perhaps most importantly)
- aren't already working on their own thing
approximates 0. If you find somebody like that and can partner up with them, treat it like "found money". But if you wait for that to happen to start building something, you'll probably never start.
After graduating, my good friend that I led the night life with went to grad school and I got a part-time job at the local university where my students motivated me.
I’ve met many interesting creators there. Some build software, many create info products and courses, and some make and sell physical products. The community is full of top tier creators so great to learn insider tips
But it's not a place per-se so much as a series of meetings of the mind. That is, any scene where you are allowed to have a high quality of conversation could potentially apply; whatever art medium or form of technical discussion happens to be hot in your area will be your most likely option, which in a California beach town, could actually mean technical recreations like sailing or surfing have scooped up the interesting folks, because there's a scarcity of opportunity for that in most of the world.
The reason why you can't go just anywhere for any topic has a lot to do with bell curves, a little bit to do with forms of gatekeeping and generational knowledge(as topics become fashionable or not, a particular generation who got in at the right moment will end up being the experts), and a great deal to do with path dependencies in the sense of building on what's available.
In general, luminaries in many specialized fields of research, where they're known within the practice but a bit removed from public celebrity, are totally available through their email. All you have to do is have the courage to reach out and share something indicative of your passion - a question, a project, a review or comment on something they published. Worst case, they might ignore you or send a generic "thanks, go away" reply. But if you have something good, it can often work out that they see an interesting conversation and will ask for more.
I started posting about my work on social media. Bear in mind that this is a website about local bureaucracy, hardly interesting stuff. People reached out, invited me for drinks, etc. I met a few of them, heard their feedback, gave mine. We met again and again and became friends.
We all build our own thing, but share knowledge openly and talk shop over a pint. Some want to talk about money and growth and others want to talk about the tech or even the ethics. It's nice to have such a variety of conversations spawned from a few tweets.
I'd also encourage you to reach out. Take the time to write to strangers on the internet. It's no different than walking to your neighbour's garage while he's working on something. It's how you meet people who like working on stuff.
/r/startups
> my friends don’t have the same mindset
They're not parts of a mindset, they're part of a personality, and they're baked in. They can't be chosen. They can't be argued into. You're born with them.
If you want to find more people like that you'll have to work really hard. Your best bet is to make something those kind of people want. How? What? I have no idea.
Move?
Run a local linux user group, advertise on local boards
Just meet people online and do projects together remotely
Is there a university nearby? See what they have going on?
Commute for meetups and hackathons
Get remote programming gigs and you will end up conversing with other builders.
Like I can make video games, and I can make art for video games, but if I want the game to have a decent chance of becoming popular, I'm likely going to need to work with a proper artist at some point. The games in which I did look a lot more interesting and attracted the eye more than the games I've made all on my own, at least (and I've done both).
Also, I can make video games by myself, but I only have time to make small games if by myself (currently working on a small game now in my spare time). I could potentially tackle a larger and more ambitious game if I worked with another programmer.
Realistically I'm never going to be able to make a Stardew Valley on my own, at least not working on it full-time for years like that guy did, his girlfriend paying most of their expenses for several years.
* The primary driver of motivation in animal brains (even in small worms) is a healthy dopamine cycle. In the brain there exists a dopamine baseline by which regular drive and motivation occur. There are also dopamine spikes when a pleasurable moment occurs. A dopamine spike is always followed by a dopamine crash and that dopamine crash will always occur in the same ratio below baseline that the spike occurred above baseline. Driven people are able to maintain a near constant high baseline and recognize their depressive spikes with healthy and positive responses.
Drug use, except for caffeine, almost always damages and/or destroys either the dopamine cycle or permanent dopamine production. A primary motivator behind the consumption of drugs, particularly combinations of drugs, is chasing a dopamine high that has already left the brain.
* Openness is one of the big 5 of personality indicators. Openness is the willingness to try new experiences and creativity falls under openness. Openness is not in any way correlated with extroversion.
These are not necessarily alpha personalities, as in their goal is probably not to compete but rather to be productive and industrious and probably original. This is an important distinction because alpha personalities qualify their performance in comparison to others while industrious and/or creative people quality their performance in response to their output even when there are not other people to compare against.
Those two qualities are what you need to look for: healthy living by people with a naturally higher than average dopamine baseline and people with a high personality index in openness. I recommend looking for people who have an abnormal need to build and/or produce things. The famous musician Hans Zimmer is really good at this. He has a traveling band composed of a mix of classically trained musicians and rock/metal musicians. When Hans Zimmer looks for new band members he has on several occasions found highly talented amateurs off of personal videos posted to YouTube. These are people who may completely lake the confidence of an alpha personality, but are still driven to create music and post it on YouTube at risk of complete embarrassment. The result is that Hans Zimmer hires emerging talent on the cheap and this emerging talent is immediately thrust into world-class training.
* Guthrie Govan discovered by Hans Zimmer via YoutTube - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guthrie_Govan#Hans_Zimmer
* Dopamine explained in a 2 hour video by a Stanford neurology professor - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmOF0crdyRU