I think it's time you go find yourself another place to work. People like these will only hinder your growth. Find some place that have people smarter than you so you can learn from them. Don't forget to mention how you feel about this in your exit interview. So they too can grow.
I started selling on eBay a year ago. The problem I have with eBay was that they only allowed me to list 50 items to start with. I had close to 2000 items. I pretty much had to beg and beg them every month to increase my limit. A year later, my limit was 250. I can't compete so I left eBay after a year of losing money.
I have a couple of friends who are oral surgeons. There are many pain points in the software and process they use. Being in the field, I'm sure you can find some start up ideas to alleviate the pain?
I'd suggest start with what you know and your background. If you don't do a start up, at least you can find companies that are in your industry to invest in.
Remember, don't put all your eggs in one basket!
If anyone just blindly put money into a company, they're just as well flip a coin. One has to do due diligent and weight the risk versus reward. And even after putting money into a company, one must constantly evaluate its performance.
Using popularity to narrow down the prospective targets is just the first step.
A long time ago when Apple was trying to get into the schools, I was in a typing class. Being a shy kid, I didn't get a typewriter in the middle of the class. I got the Apple ][ in the corner to practice typing with. My sister was in high school and was learning typing as well. But her advance class had sequences like 3;4o2.14%. When she finished, it came out to be a picture of something. We now know them as ASCII art. Through my poking around, I learn that I can write for loops on the computer, so instead of typing 10 As, 10 Bs,...I wrote a loop to output the lines. A little more poking around I was outputting the sequences from my sister class and had pictures of things on my screen. That was cool! And the rest, as they say, was history.
I'm surprise no one mentioned stocks and real estate investments. Those are, in some ways, gambling as well. I know many people who have no idea what they are doing and just blindly follow someone's advise and lost their money.
I think at the root of it all, gambling in one form or another, is a problem for people who hope to change their life by taking big, miscalculated risks.
My first home computer was an Amstrad 64, I was using an apple at school. My sister and I checked out a book from our library and started typing in all these BASIC instruction. Yes, a whole thick book was the listing of the source code for Roland in the Cave. After weeks of typing and then a couple more weeks of bug fixing (spelling correction), we had a little guy hopping around in a cave with flying pterodactyl and creepy, blinking eyes. I still think about that game once in a while.
No, I was not sleepy. In fact, I was very focused as I wanted to make sure all the tasks for my day job got taken care of so I don't have to take work home.
It was the drive that kept me going. I wanted to make something. I really wanted to bring my idea to the market. And after a while, I just got used to it.
It's not easy and glamorous as the highly publicized ones you and I read about. I started a project last year and every night after putting my son to sleep, then I start my project work. Most nights it's from 11pm until 2-3am. Then up at 8am to start my day job. After while, I was used to the 4-5 hrs of nightly sleeps. I tried to separate the day job from the side project. Like others said, set goals for each time you sit down to work. What do you want to accomplish. Slowly but surely you'll get your demo done then beta.
There were times when I was too tire to work or think, I still sat down for an hour or two to fix a few bugs. I made sure each day I do something to get me closer to my goal, which was the beta.
Bottom line is that it won't be easy at first. It's probably the most difficult thing you've ever done. Challenge yourself and push yourself beyond the limit. It gets easier as you get use to your new life/routine. And when you demo product and people start to get it, all the efforts will be well worth it.
Good luck!
I have a project that was started last year. We tried for YC but didn't make it. My team got burned out and now it's stopped.
Our mission was to make mobile advertising more effective and connect the advertisers with the audiences. The advertisers can target their campaign at specific demographic audience. The ads are full screen and there's a mechanism for the advertisers to "interact" with the audience.
Also, we bring mobile advertising to SMB that do not have the skill or resource to get into the mobile space.
I'd be happy to go into more detail if you are interested.
Before "just start building something", I recommend taking some project and start tweaking it to see how/what changes affect the app. Set some break points and trace through to see how the message (selectors) works. This get you used to looking that Objective-C code before you dive in.
May I suggest going back to earlier time of HN? Because of the success, there are too many cooks in the kitchen. You have to always increase the number of moderators as the input from users increases. We are all here to read/discuss pretty much the same news. Why not have a chosen few provide the links and start discussions. Maybe the moderators themselves? This will cut down on duplicate links/stories and it will cut down the noise tremendously. Those who are truly interested in HN, will stick around and discuss. Those who are not, will simply go find their news somewhere else.
Sounds like you already checked out. Life is short, go find something you're happy with. If it's a short period of time I can understand, but if it's a prolong issue, I'd have to say management is to blame. If a company is not looking out for the well being of its employee, I say high tail out of there. There are many other companies out there that you can work and have a life. Sounds like you are suffering from a burnout. I hope you'll find coding fun again. Good luck!
I don't think there is a limit to any network or business. Someone will always find a way to do things that the existing do not do, or don't do well.
Sure, it could be incorporates into FB or twitter, but that will be a big shift in their business. Are they willing to do that?
Things are going more visual and I believe that's what Color.com is betting on. Visual search.
The difference is that everyone around you contribute to the "events" that is happening around you, not just your followers. They have an algorithm to recognize from the pictures what is going on around you. That's the problem they claim to solved.
I believe it's like Google when it first started out. We used to think the data Google collected was use for "big brother" business. I think Color.com is trying to be the Google of visual search. If they can figure out where you are and what you are doing, they can deliver better ads to you. The example Bill Nguyen tend to use is a baseball game. Imagine if all the cameras are pointing at a player that just hit a grand slam, Color.com sees that and bring you ads for the player's jersey from the gift shop.
Ouch! So much for showing my enthusiasm to Demo Day.
I do appreciate the behind the scene look at Demo Day. The energy must be electrifying. For now all I can do is live vicariously through these post. Please keep them coming.