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Thread: Where the hell are all the coders?

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by wiel View Post
    how disruptive? is it bill gating?
    I recently heard the concept of an application that somebody wanted so badly to be built. the application solved a problem that I would have overlooked every other day if someone did not bring it to my attention.

    there are many reasons why i could not see the problem but maybe this is the answer to this thread. I dont know what people want nor can I put it into actuality for them. i can only tell whether the problem is worth solving and it was.
    There you now have a reason for bringing an idea to life. Jamaicans on a whole love first world things so anything that makes their life easier/better surely has some hope . and you won't know if it will be successful till you try.
    my location 10.10.10.10 subnet ?

  2. #22
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    Freelance coding is better....Why limit urself to Jamaica.
    "To err is human - and to blame it on a computer is even more so."
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  3. #23
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    @kknight, you can't built a great product with a team of coders that are;

    (1) Geographically dispersed
    (2) Don’t share the same risk and reward of the founders
    (3) Don’t understand the culture, and socio-economic background of the country of operations.

    To develop a great a product, you need to have a team that can respond instantly to changes in current market conditions. As a result, entrepreneurs will have to be very agile in adjusting their business strategy to keep pace with consumers trends. Hence, outsourcing your coding work, especially to foreign markets like India, will not allow you to respond as quickly as you would need to, in order to take advantage of unforeseen opportunities.

    Occasionally, tech start-ups may have to pivot, in order to take advantage of business opportunities that significantly differ from the original business concept. Paypal for example started off as a payment encryption service, but the founders realized that users were using the service to make personal payments. Consequently, just by observing how users interacted with the app, Paypal adjusted its business strategy from an internet security company to an online personal payment processing service.

    The freelance process has some inherent limitations that make it impossible for a tech start-up to be as nibble as possible, like;

    1) You’re confined to only bidders that bid on your project, and not the entire community of developers.
    2) Assessing coders is difficult as the rating and review system does not adequately measure skills and aptitude.
    3) If you’re lucky enough to find a good coder, there is no guarantee that this person will be available for work in the future, hence, you would have to start the process all over again.

    This is mostly based on my personal experience of finding coders from Rent-a-coder, Elance, and Freelancer to work on various projects. So the best thing to do if you are a Tech Entrepreneur is to build your team with people whom for the most part can actually attend face-to face meetings (BTW, this process cannot be fully replaced by Skype).

  4. #24
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    @kknight, Rafer wants to design, launch and continually modify the application until it reaches a point of stability/profitability. If it is a simple application then freelancers may work but anything too complicated will burn through a lot of freelancers. It all depends on how complicated it is and the expected development time.

  5. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Precision View Post
    You are hitting a nerve Rafer....or rather more like massacring it. I think a part of the problem is we do not have many Jamaican businessmen/ women willing to back up Jamaican developers while they try to be "disruptive". Everybody is busy trying to eat a food and support their families...hence the cubicle trap.

    Why cant we have our own Y Combinator in Jamaica? "Twice a year we (Y Combinator) invest a small amount of money (average USD$18k) in a large number of startups (currently 43). The startups move to Silicon Valley for 3 months, during which we work intensively with them to get the company into the best possible shape and refine their pitch to investors. Each cycle culminates in Demo Day, when the startups present to a large audience of investors. But YC doesn't end on Demo Day. We and the YC alumni network continue to help founders for the life of their company, and beyond."

    Hear the plan...Easter / Independence weekend this year...we (well not me, I'm not a developer, I just happen to know a few) , we do the following:

    1. Start now...link up 10 - 12 developers online/wherever (put them in 3 teams...4 the most on a team)
    2. Find a quiet house/cottage/ abode that is available for the Fri, Sat, Sun...everybody walk with them sleeping bag/whatever...change of clothes etc.
    3. Said place must be near food establishments that deliver
    4. Chump up some money and buy a couple cases of soda, juice, coffee, water, chips, chocolate, chewing gum....and some liquor if needed...whatever developers like to eat , drink & snack on
    5. Some serious Flow wireless connection
    6. A container to lock away all cell phones...take out one only to make calls to order food three/ four times for the day
    7. No one leaves the house for the entire weekend...until Sunday evening....at which point, after all the brainstorming, coding, drinking and binging.... ONE OR ALL OF THE TEAMS MUST END UP WITH SOMETHING WE (yes we....I want my cut), CAN SELL TO A START UP IN THE VALLEY!!!!!


    How dat sound? :-)

    I forgot one thing..... an over-sized whiteboard for each team! With markers of course :-)
    whaat. that sounds dope!
    ► with me... now ■ and think...

  6. #26
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    Me, I'm a good coder but I have stayed away from programming as a career because the compensation/rewards locally are unattractive.
    I also have a ton of good ideas but again...

    One idea I had years ago was an iphone app that provides near realtime updates of gas prices for every gas station on the island.
    And it would have some other cool features based on your location anywhere on the island.
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