It seems to be the cool lib thing to do. I'm a software dev. What do you want to build?

  • Owl [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    You should build things for industries you've been a part of, or at least get help from someone in an industry that sees problems with what they have. There's a long history of software devs patronizingly trying to fix things that aren't broken. But you've presumably had some sort of work experience with bad software, so that's a source.

    And... yes, convincing people to use your stuff instead of what they have is hard. But you can do hard things.

    • Vayeate [they/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      I've tried the partnering-with-someone-in-an-industry many times. The problem is either that they don't have the ability to sell the software, or they're wanting to give me like 15% for something I'd charge $150/hour to the tune of $100k+ and they're really not bringing anything to the table. And I'm not working for free for half a year for 15% of nothing.

      Another common issue is the scope is way too massive. They're wanting to compete with software that has dozens of full time developers and ten years of work on it. Yeah it sucks that it's expensive or could maybe be prettier, but it's just impossible to deliver value close to what the competition can in that situation.

    • Vayeate [they/them]
      hexagon
      ·
      4 years ago

      I have work experience in agency settings, which means I am paid to fix problems for industries, but I never really get entrenched into the industry beyond the app that I've made. And the problem is that for all the ones I'm aware of, it'd be super shitty of me to essentially compete against my former employer for the exact same clients with the same sort of software. And half the time in an agency I'm building software that's dumb and isn't actually solving anyone's problem.

      • Owl [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        What problems does the agency itself have?