Falsehoods programmers believe about entrepreneurship

ZIRP is dead and buried. By 2030 AI will write 99% of production code. The 1% developers who remain will be like Rick Rubin, trusted gatekeepers of secrets and taste, approving 200 PRs a day whilst swirling scotch in diamond-cut tumblers.

Workaday programmers are turning to entrepreneurship to survive.

My CEO did it - and he’s kinda stupid - why can’t I?

Unfortunately, entrepreneurship is harder than programming.

In this newsletter I’ll share the valuable things I learn and unlearn on my entrepreneurial journey. First up -

Falsehoods programmers believe about entrepreneurship

• Build it and they will come

• Marketing doesn't matter

• I just need to do a few social media posts regularly

• I can sell software for $20/month and make a living straight away

• My first startup will work

• My 7th startup will work

• It didn’t work straight away, I should pivot to a new idea

• I know what people want

• I know what people need

• Programming is harder than marketing

• Programming is harder than sales

• I don't need to know who my ideal customer is

• I can launch a successful startup in an industry I know nothing about

• Buyers want to hear technical details

• Buyers want to hear about how great I am

• Quality beats volume

• Quality doesn't matter

• I don’t need to know my CAC/LTV

Believe any of these? Yeah, I did too. All of them.

I’m gonna put everything I learn in refuting these in this newsletter. I hope it’s valuable to you!

PS. I’ve got a tool that you can use to calculate CAC/LTV for your startup ideas - sign up and I’ll send it as thanks.