I didn't know what Tumbler is and I created an account just to confirm the hack (the security hole is still there). But this got me thinking about another post at HN on how to market your site - I guess a blatant (fake?) security hole is one way to do it.
Natural traits like being a magnet for money, talent and attention certainly makes one more likely to succeed as an entrepreneur. I don't have such traits. But desire, work ethic and discipline can be great substitutes - and these are traits that certainly can be learned. It just ends up taking a little longer.
I am quitting my job in 6 weeks to freelance. All this news about the recession is kinda freaky. The wheels are in motion and I am not turning back - recession or not (gulp!).
I think 1 business geek + 1 hacker has better chance of success than 2 business hacker. Paypal was founded on a similar model. However, what often happens is one partner tends to underestimate the hacker - either the business geek finds the hacker useless or vice versa. I guess some level of understanding and respect is an important element in any partnership.
The reason I picked PHP, is that so many open source web stuff seems to be written in PHP and I want to be able to customize these apps (ex: joomla, wordpress, etc). But ultimately I just want to code without thinking and if python or ruby takes me there faster, so be it.
Just make sure you have enough savings to let you focus your efforts on your startup - maybe 6 months worth of expenses - so that recession or not, you will be okay.
Tap while you are bored and keep count of how long each daydream lasts using your tapping!?! That sounds even more boring than the boring meeting! Doodling is waaay better!