It also reminded me of paul graham's essay "after credentials" about cram schools in south korea. I remember watching a documentary about south korea where 3 year olds were literally cramming the times table.
I liked "EVERYONE CARE AND TALK ABOUT PRODUCT YOU WIN". Kind of reminds me of when ma kid brother had literally droped out of school and we as a family seemed to care and talk about him now he just graduated from Uni. He won and we won.
Being from a third world country myself it is really difficult. Its even worse if your society is really corrupt. First its difficult to trade equity coz everyone is out to make an easy buck and its really hard to believe anyone however genuine they look or sound. Second, most third world countries are cash driven economies no credit cards and shit. But there is hope if you (or to) find someone who really believes in your idea. Its basicaly a hard sale. Best option is to build a very good reputation at Uni/college or your first workplace. Guaranteed, even if your idea is wack, your rep will get you the best employees/co-founders at minimal cost.
After reading the lady's blog. airbnb dudes you really screwed up. You dare suggest she takes her blog down. I had actually defended airbnb yesterday before reading her side of the story. But am now inclined to believe that you guys screwed up and need to do some damage control.
They aren't falling short on being ethical. If you had read the very first story airbnb came out with a pretty decent explanation. I believe they were too ethical in the first place. They gave out a lot of info to be exact. To put it blantly they were overly nice and this chick is takin advantage of that. But TC did nothin wrong though.
Its more liking asking a football player what he does in his spare time. I wouldnt expect him to say i play football. Its his passion and its only right he gets paid for it. Since i already have fun doing it, i would consider going out for a bottle of beer something i do in my spare time. The contribution to open soure answer shows more less of a passion for what one does. More of need to see continuity in ones field.
Before you learn or when your contemplating to learn how to program its best you don't tackle programming as a whole. Get the basics first then start work on an idea you might have. Its suprising how solutions will stream in fast because you have a well defined problem in your mind no matter whether the idea is a desktop or web app. The best way to learn is to work on a real problem a few days after getting the basics. The hardest part isn't getting the answers but defining the problem at hand clearly.