[aasarava]

For me the most eye-opening lesson about the business world was the realization that you are not an entrepreneur just because you can build something. You become an entrepreneur when you build something that people are willing to pay for.

You may be good at writing software, but are you writing software that solves a problem for anyone? If not, you're going to be hard-pressed to find external validation.

You don't say what your family business is, but is there something there that can be made better -- more efficient, more profitable -- with technology? Some aspect of billing? Shipping? Inventory control?

I'm not suggesting that you acquiesce and go to work for your father if you don't want to. The fast track to misery is following the path that some else chose for you.

But at 26, you don't have a lot of years of hands-on experience in a profitable business. So your father's company may be a quick way to get your foot in the door and expand your skills for a while.

[jmt_]

I've come to realize the same thing. Like the author, I've been programming since I was an early teen and that was pretty much all I did for years. I would love to break into the software market but realized that I only think like an engineer and not so much like a business man. I've been mainly interested in the design, implementation, and theory of software rather than thinking of what software that people would and have had a tough time thinking in the business mindset. Do you, or other HN readers, have any resources that they would recommend for engineering minded people to better understand what goes into building a business? Just started reading Zero to One and am enjoying it so far.

[Denzel]

"The E-myth" by Michael Gerber is the single most helpful book I've ever read on transitioning your thinking from engineering-focused to business-minded. Specifically, the difference between the Technician, the Manager, and the Entrepreneur. I read it on the recommendation of an ex-Google engineer turned failed-entrepreneur, here on HN. He said that a The E-myth described all the failures he had encountered trying to start-up his own software company after leaving Google. And that he wished he'd read it before he took the leap. Do yourself a favor, and pick it up as soon as possible.

[daveguy]

There are about 20 e-myth books. Is there a specific title?

[ci5er]

This is the 2nd (or later, somewhat re-written) edition of the book referenced: - https://www.amazon.com/E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses-Abo...

[Denzel]

Yes, this is the book I read and was referencing. My apologies, I did not realize he released so many similar versions.

[ci5er]

Yeah - no worries. Except for E-myth Manganager - I didn't either until a couple of years ago my younger brother was going to open up a clinic and was talking about "E-myth for Doctors" or some such. Now I think he has one for all walks of life (like the "One minute Manager" or something). To me, it dilutes the message. My opinion is not the one that counts! :-)

I still think it (the original) is a great book.

[praveenster]

I suspect it is this one based on the summary at Amazon "Michael Gerber's The E-Myth Revisited should be required listening for anyone thinking about starting a business or for those who have already taken that fateful step. The title refers to the author's belief that entrepreneurs--typically brimming with good but distracting ideas--make poor businesspeople."

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0887307280

[kalmi10]

The author's name is right there in the comment.

[radley]

The author has written 20 books in the "E-Myth" series dating back to 1990.

[Cymen]

Oddly, that doesn't help much as the same author wrote multiple books with very similar titles.

[ci5er]

Well, yeah. Since then the author has kind of Tom Clancy'd the joint up with a whole lotta more titles.

[hasenj]

Sounds very interesting.

Does the book help you acquire the business mindset or does it just show examples of failed businesses with analysis of why they failed?

[mrcabada]

Will totally check that book, thank you!

[mindcrime]

Do you, or other HN readers, have any resources that they would recommend for engineering minded people to better understand what goes into building a business?

Read The Four Steps To The Epiphany by @sgblank, and The Art Of The Start by Guy Kawasaki. Zero To One is a good book, but it isn't as much about the "nuts and bolts" of actually building a business. TFSTTE is very much "nuts and bolts". It is, IMO, about as close as you can get to a "paint by the numbers" guide to building a business.

There is a newer version of TFSTTE, retitled The Startup Owner's Manual. It is also good and while it is, in many ways, "just" the second edition of TFSTTE, there's enough new content that it should probably count as a separate book. I'd actually recommend reading both.

[metafunctor]

If you're an engineer looking to try bootstrapping a business (as opposed to going the venture capital route), try the “Startups For the Rest of Us” podcast. Start from the beginning. Or startupbook.net for mostly the same content in book form.

The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.

Traction by Gabriel Weinberg.

[purerandomness]

I found the Art Of Charm podcast to be really more to the point. And of better quality, business-wise and voice-wise.

Tried the "Startups for the rest of us", couldn't keep listening to their random chit-chat, the informational value per minute is really too low.

[fuqted]

You like Art of Charm but don't like random chit chat? Makes no sense from what I've heard of them.

Anyway, I've listened to more than enough Lifestyle Biz / General Entrepreneurial stuff.

TropicalMBA.com and EmpireFlippers.com are my favorites (newer TMBA is going a little downhill. They've sold their business and are kind of figuring out what to do at this point). There's also the Smart Passive Income podcast (SPI). Nathan Barry (on his self named site) has a few good podcasts as well. He started an email marketing software biz that began out of a blog challenge a few years back.

Also, I've YouTubed the fuck out of Silicon Valley (I live in the Bay Area..and if anyone's local and in the same position as op let's talk). PandoMonthly has plenty of interviews, most are ~2013 though. This Week In Startups has some fun Travis Kalanick interviews and a few Sacca interviews (including a new one featuring his VC partner). Greylock Partners (LinkedIn founder's VC) has a Stanford class up... and last but not least (though there are also plenty more) there is Y Combinator with plenty of videos. Google Sam Altman and Jessica Livingston. They have a lot of interviews not on the channel. Startup School goes live on the site. You can find it under "School" on Paul Graham's site.

Oh yeah, and Gary Vaynerchuck.

Personally, I've consumed plenty of this stuff. I have a good idea for a date coaching (again, if you're local and curious.. or just curious, talk to me) which I may or may not pursue. I started learning to code a couple months ago. Just got rejected from Hack Reactor and MakerSquare this past week (...fun) and now I'm going to continue learning, going to meetups and start making things while doing whatever interests me on the side and trying to work a job as little as humanly possible.

[metafunctor]

Interesting, thanks for the pointer! Doesn't look like it's a business podcast at all (but a “how to pick up chicks” podcast?), but maybe I'll check an episode or two.

Back when Startups For the Rest of Us was new, I found it to be a pretty good value/minute compared to other podcasts I could find at the time (2010). The episodes start with a useless 5 minutes of chit-chat, but the other 15 minutes was pretty solid.

[throwmenow_0139]

The best way to solve this is to find a business partner who is also a good friend of you. The best freelance teams I know contain extroverts who connect with the clients (and sometimes develop) and god-like developers who do the heavy lifting. You shouldn't underestimate the effort to get a client and do proper project management and budgeting, it's easier with a good friend who knows his business stuff.

[fuqted]

"The best way to solve this is to find a business partner who is also a good friend of you"

Seconding this notion. It's one step closer to bringing things to irl

[donnfelker]

"You become an entrepreneur when you build something that people are willing to pay for." This.

[erikb]

Actually I would even go a step further: Entrepreneurs are people who make things happen and then sell it. You can get around being able to make it yourself, but you can't get around figuring out what to make or how to sell it. Therefore despite being a programmer myself I would argue that a good salesman is more an entrepreneur than a good programmer.