Saturday, July 24, 2010

Disclaimer: Selling is Hacking (the nature of a hustler)

When I was in college, I didn't like a lot of things in the business college. I'll be honest, it was annoying to see business majors drunk all of the time where as I had a mountain of hard work. Now that I'm a grown-up, I find myself very able to build stuff, and I realized that most business college guys end up with shitty jobs.

Sometimes, I watch the sales guys that are really successful and realize that they are hacking with a different platform. They are hacking humans; this is interesting.

This journal is a collection of thoughts related to hacking the human brain by taking advantage of the fact that humans are irrational. While I wish we were perfectly rational human beings, it isn't going to happen. Instead, I figured it is better to learn these techiques and then become a advocate for open source and other things that make the earth better.

It is one thing to know you are right, and it is another to persuade someone that you are right.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

From Hacker to Hustler, the duality needed for business

Recently, in life, I've had an itch to do something else. I like to code. In fact, I love to code. I love to build, and I love to invent. I love to learn. Over the years, I have learned much in the ways of building things with computers. I feel capable enough to build anything I set my mind on.

There are times when I want to write about technology, but I find myself trapped by rationality. Being rational is very boring because every question has the rational answer "it depends". This sucks for sensationalism and really can't be good flame-bait.

I've seen the various flame wars over the years, and engaged in many impromptu debates (particularly the role of type systems in programming languages). There is something about arguing that is fun, but arguing and debate is kind of pointless. Does anyone ever win?

Yes, I will. How? By going over the technologist's head and going toward the manager. Bust out some steak and strippers and sell my ideas.

In the real-world, it doesn't matter who is right or wrong, it matters who can sell. This revelation in my life is most likely what will lead to my future alcohol problem, but that is at least five years off. Until that time, I'm going to write about my thoughts, ideas, attempts, and ways to sell technology.

Building something isn't as fun any-more unless it is used by others, and just convincing someone to use something requires some level of selling.