gearoidoc

If the interviewers are worth their salt then they'll figure out quite quickly just what level you're at (which obviously means it serves you to be up front and honest besides the fact that its the right thing to do).

So things can go two ways after they realist your true skillset:

1. They see your potential and offer you the job.

2. They turn you down but you get some solid interview experience.

Either way you have nothing to lose. I've mentored many different graduates and always tell them to take as many interviews as they can - even jobs they're not 100% interested in - because all that experience counts.

If you wanna chat more about this then feel free to shout me over at @modernprogrammr

Since launching my startup recently I've discovered that SO much success in marketing comes down to luck.

The best way to increase your chances of luck? Work smart, work hard and keep showing up.

I'm scared that I had to go down through the answers so much in order to find my age bracket. Getting old!

Fair enough - it does mention coupons etc though which personally I throw into together with the daily deals stuff.

Nice landing page but (and I know you didn't ask for this) I would stay as far away from the deals space (especially SMS based) as you possibly can.

I was part of a startup that PAID people to receive texts with deals in them and people still really disliked giving out their mobile details.

Just a heads up!

Howdy.

A few people have requested an Android version already but I'm afraid I'm focusing on iOS for now.

I personally believe they're better off keeping it as a paid service (however small the market may be) and offering the additional services at an additional price.

Now that they've made Pixate free they can't (really) go back to the paid model. Seems like a big punt for me.

I've been following Pixate for a while (plan to use it on my current project) but I'm really confused by this.

If a product is generating revenue then why switch it to a free model? To encourage buy-in for the upcoming product or something similar?

Just seems like a really odd business decision as I would have gladly paid for the app...

Yep, much better.

Maybe pick up a .io for cheaper? Or change the name altogether?

Ah I see.

Though I understand why you've spelt it that way (I'm guessing its for the .com domain name?), it might be a bit of an oversight to have a education company misspelling the word 'learn'...

Apart from the name (is it pronounced "Lurnk"?) I think its a good job. You explain what it is you do in the header and then request an email address - can't ask for more in a premarketing site.

Good job dude.

I read this and still don't know how to make $912m. What a rip off.

It's called marketing.

I remember Davor Suker!

Sorry but I can't help but feel that the majority of these responses have you focused too much on your short term goal.

Can you become a freelance CMS installer in 6 months with no technical background? Probably. But only just. I imagine most of the commenters below are developers (like myself) who see things like Joomla/Wordpress/etc installs as trivial pieces of work. Don't get me wrong: they are, but only if you've had a considerable amount of previous dev experience.

Let's look at what's involved in becoming a CMS freelancer:

- Setting up a working development environment: probably a few days.

- Getting to grips with PHP (or whatever language) development: harder to estimate but I imagine it will take at least three months to get to place where you're familiar with Object Orientated Programming (OOP), basic app layout, basic database skills, CSS and Javascript. Three months is actually a REALLY short amount of time to get up to speed on all of that but maybe you're a first learner - and hey, you're posting on HN so I bet you are ;-)

- Server setup : lets say you use some service like GoDaddy or Blacknight which offers 1-click CMS installers so you don't have to deal with all the SSH and CHMODing so no real work here

- Nailing your first piece of business: again, impossible to estimate but trust me when I say that this business (particular "cheap" jobs like CMS installs) is COMPETITIVE. If you live in a developed Western country then someone out there will do the job cheaper than you, no question. So basically you've going to have to operate well at a loss for the first few projects.

And here's where my BIG problem comes with the other replies in this post:

After you have X number of projects under your belt, your rate isn't going to start going up at any considerable speed. Yes you will be better than you were a few months back, yes you will have projects to show but guess what? So will all those outsourcers in places like India and Poland and they'll STILL be charging less than you.

My basic point is: this idea doesn't really scale. You'd be better off learning development "properly" (night schools, online courses etc are good) and then starting off at some entry level dev job. Yes its more pain up front but its a much more viable strategy long term.

So to answer your question (finally!): Can you become a freelancer in 6 months? Yes. Will you make any decent money at it? I don't think so.

If you're looking for any help with this stuff then I'd be happy to help you out a bit. You can find me on twitter: @modernprogrammr

Also don't limit your suggestions/recommendations to UX. Get involved in the product - it's features, who they're targetting etc.

Development is so commoditised nowadays it would be a shame not to use the opportunity to expand our skillsets.

I be inclined to agree but I only advocate "an exceptionally detailed spec" in the case of outsourcing. This is due to a combination of two things:

1. The lower levels of communication between the client and development house and 2. The literal level that outsource companies will take the client at.

Having worked on projects that came bundled with excessively detailed specs, I would agree that said defining detail is a fools errand since it often gets changed further down the line.

However, I don't agree with your assertion that "if the project fails/runs over budget/is late then it's due to a failing on the project management side". For example, what if the dev. company simply aren't as talented/responsive as the client was first led to believe?

Great job. We need to overcome our fear for charging for our products and services.

Interesting yes. Useful.....not so much.

The ability to view a company's stack changes over time might prove more useful. For example, what stack did Company X use to get to 10k users, 100k users etc.

Given enough accurate data then it may be possible for a visitor to predict any performance bottlenecks that a technology may enforce over time and what technologies to use to mitigate said problems.

I've never agreed more with a comment on HN.

I'd suggest that your struggles with fitness may be down to your views on "overkilling" the situation.

Slow progress and sustainable changes are the key to success my friend :-)

Huh? The original post wasn't about bringing a walled garden approach to the web; it was about modals encouraging visitors to download an app.

I don't think you need to worry about only accessing the web via apps - it just won't happen.

FWIW, I abhor the popups in question but I can understand a company's decision to add them to their site. However, the way to stop this pattern is by showing decision makers statistics that prove they don't work (if that is true of course). The blog in question just seems like one big hissy fit - not the most convincing of arguments.

Spot on.

"It's starving people rioting to reclaim common land taken as 'enclosures' by the rich people." == Complaining about having to click a cancel button on a mobile browser.

Since you're over-fond of profanity I'll say this in a language you understand:

Relax. For fuck's sake.

Weird.

When asked for a vegetable I immediately was thinking Cabbage but for some reason Carrot popped into my head.

Yeah.

Plan to release it on the App Store?

RubyJobs (http://www.rubyjobs.ie/jobs) sometimes has startup positions listed but your best bet is to just pop down to a Ruby meetup (http://www.rubyireland.com/) cos there's where all the startup peeps hang out. The first line of dialogue with practically anyone at these things is "Are you looking for a job" - but obviously the more well known you are in the community the more often you'll be asked.

My experience is relatively limited (about 5.5 dev years) but once you've a good reputation then you'll never have to look for another job - it'll be lined up for you. Until the bubble bursts that is!

I also know a good recruiter (one or two exist!) who does work for the odd startup if you're interested in taking that route. Email me (ger [at] getchoocreations.com) if you're interested.

My advice? Come to Dublin instead!

Loads of Ruby/Rails jobs, an ace startup scene in an exciting city and the friendliest people in the world :)

Average salaries?

Good luck dude.

Might be a good idea to link your startup somewhere in the post too ;-)