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bump. Almost by definition, a healthy startup cannot afford the best there is. But I think what Dru may be getting at is to get the best you need. A few years ago, I had a project that blew through 3 dozen developers over a 15 month period because everyone checked out okay until they started to code. Then they'd crack and say "Oh, this is beyond my abilities". Ultimately, we found two developers that did the project in no time (and whom we now treat as well as we possibly can). We were lucky. I suspect a lot of projects sink in the mire of mediocrity.

As joeyh said, jumping to an IDE seems premature. But another problem is the lack of need. Back in 1980, there just were not that many games and other apps. A computer was more or less an extension of electronics and was driven by "How does this thing work?". Now, computers are appliances. And even the most reliable appliances, as the old Maytag adverts used to show, require trained "technicians". But I, too, wonder how to recupe that wonder of "How things work" for the up-and-coming ranks of hackers.

Thanks for clarifying. Thanks also for your blog, from which I have learned much.

I am not trying to be smart, but the irony did strike me.

From Blank's "Lessons Learned", no.1: "Advice that’s more than 5 years old is obsolete."

The blurb under his "Posts from an Entrepreneurial Career: "Steve Blank's 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice."

So, does that mean that 83% of his book is obsolete?

Absolutely, no question. Bad developers can be found anywhere. Any good company will tell you that good employees are worth traversing the world to find, wherever they are.

This is helpful from a PESTEL perspective. I wonder, however, how these dynamics impact on making a customer. In other words: How do we make customers out of people who have no money? There is bartering, etc., but I cannot help but think there must be a way to (a) help those who have not and (b) still turns a sustainable monetary profit. Is there a sustainable, charitable business process beyond mere corporate charitabile giving?

On my personal bookshelf, next to my Bible, are:

Sun Tzu's "Art of War" - a fundamental philosophical work for life management

Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" - well-known, enough said.

Felix Dennis' "How to Get Rich" - the best book that I have ever read about how the world really works

Napoleon Hill's "Think and Grow Rich" - a timeless classic.

Per nostrademons, shoring up your skillset by going into related areas (whether of technology or ops environment) is a good way to secure your career. However, it could also work against you if you ever intend to start your own company. Broadening your skillset helps to make you a master technician (a la Gerber's E-Myth) but often does not prepare you for higher levels of management. This isn't to say "don't do it" but to manage your career by a goal instead of letting things happen by accident.

Almost certainly its the school break, family holidays, and the like. FWIW, I can only name one of the many FB users I know who thinks that the new privacy implementation isn't sufficient. Most people are pretty apathetic about privacy. I recall a study a couple years back that was held here in the UK and found that most people would have to have their identities stolen twice before they would start to re-think how they handle their data.