It seems to me that in 99% of the world, business people look down on programmers, so it's nice to see there's a little corner of the world in which it's the other way around.
Really? Why is that "nice"? I think it's sad-- and even sadder that you wrote that and people voted it up. If one minority is stepped on in a corner of the world, it is NOT justice if members of that same minority get to step on someone else across the globe. We should judge people as individuals.
For some (very rare) software companies, pure business guys aren't super useful in the early days (Dropbox seems like an obvious example, though they certainly now need a good finance person and senior bizdev person). For the rest, an A-level sales/bizdev guy can literally make the business. Do you think Groupon is a technological feat or a business feat?
They're just like programmers (and the rest of the planet). 95% of them AREN'T A-level players, but the rest are changing the world.
You're taking it a little too seriously. Its not about justice or anything like that.
Its better to think of it as it being nice to have a little part of internet, where your opinions as a hacker actually carry as much weight (if not more) than the typical business guy.
The problem with this is the community-supported techie-self-righteous attitude transfers to personal dealings with co-workers in a business or management role.
This is HACKER News, but part of being a hacker is understanding the problem enough to be able to decompose it and work efficiently. The lack of business-acumen and "self-blinding" that HN does merely reflects the age or experience of the community.
As Hackers, we should try to fully understand the business roles, the management, and WHY we are choosing software to solve a problem. Before there were PCs, software wasn't a business model. Now we have it backwards, we build software companies, not businesses.
The only guarantee when you start a tech start up (or less misleading: a Software company) is that you will write software. It does not mean someone will by it or you.
As a hacker to the bone with a CS degree and no formal education in the other aspects of start up life I say we swallow our collective pride, admit we don't yet understand 95% of what other business units do, and actually apply ourselves to getting proficient at it.
Heh, maybe. Tho on the internet, I'd say the hacker is doing just fine. In fact, it's OFF the internet where the Hacker is probably less influential (i.e. conference rooms, business magazines, etc).
Note that it's usually the programmers who have never had a successful startup who look down on business people and then wonder why their project failed.
True, there are obviously good and bad business people just like there are good and bad hackers.
I'm just against the blanket "we don't need business people for our startup we only need hackers actually building things" attitude that seems pretty common.
