Can a moderator please change the title to the real title? 95% of the content is specific to this one conference, yet the title is about conferences in general.
It doesn't explore the idea that conferences should help hackers get rich at all. It has one sentence that more-or-less states that and then goes on and on about how great this particular conference is.
I love the idea of this particular conference as the people I know that have been to it, including the guys at, for example Rapportive, came back from it with completely different views on the world and have been able to put a lot of what they learned into their businesses.
That is, in my view, a good thing, and something that should be flagged. If you think that is an advert, fair enough but I am honestly not aware of any international class events that focus on the process of creating sustainable businesses for this community. (There are obviously lots of tech events and lots of events about raising venture capital). I would love to be taught otherwise. I thought the idea of this list was to highlight things that the hacking community and entrepreneurs will find useful. Some will, some won't.
I'm fine with it being submitted. I'm not fine with it being submitted under the title "Conferences should help hackers get rich, not hack more", which makes it sound like a general blog post about conferences.
Much more fitting is the real title, "Amazing event (and not one of ours!). Business of Software, Boston, October 4th-6th".
Now, that's not a great title for submitting to HN, so I could see changing that to "Business of Software conference focuses on helping hackers get rich, not hack more" or something. But trying to pass it off as a general article when it's not is clear link-bait.
I see a lot of conferences each year and the Business of Software Conference was by far the best one that I saw last year.
For the people here on Hacker News, it's a major alternative viewpoint on entrepreneurship. A very large number of articles that get posted here are tainted in some way by venture capital. There's not nearly as much advice from bootstrapped and owner-operated businesses.
I went into the 2010 BoS conference wondering if 37signals was an outlier in the owner-operated world. But after talking to a lot of the software businesses there I realized there are many successes. I asked one guy how big his business was, expecting him to respond with a number of employeers--his answer was $100M.
Also, the speakers last year were fantastic. Instead of having to choose between several tracks filled with un-rehearsed, amateur speakers, BoS gives you a single track of mostly keynote level speakers.
> Business people can't learn technology so guess who holds the power?
That's incredibly obtuse thinking. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is not as simple as 'learning business'.
While some of the best entrepreneurs are hackers at heart because they think outside the box, many hackers are not entrepreneur material, they'd rather be tinkering with stuff that interests them, and for many hackers, business doesn't.
It takes a lot longer to become a truly proficient hacker than most 'business' people of an equivalent age have had doing 'business stuff'. So the ground is less for hackers to make up when learning and gaining business experience than vice-versa.
I disagree. To be good in business, you need experience, which comes with time and mistakes.
Hacking imho either comes naturally or it doesn't. If you can't see the appeal of an apparently pointless activity eg. code golf, then you're probably not a hacker, and never will be.
This doesn't mean you won't be a good entrepreneur - if anything it could even help; since you don't waste time on silly (but fun for a hacker) things.
Joel Spolsky explains in the little video, (at about 1 minute 10 seconds), it is easier for technology people to learn basic business than other way round which is why he says,
"The great software companies are going to be run by software developers".
Not actually my words though I believe in the point.
I think that anyone that knows me would say I am not driven by money and I was making a flippant comment about cars. The issue for me is not actually about being rich or buying fast cars but about being in control of your destiny.
I am excited about Business of Software as it looks like an event put together by cool people from owner-managed businesses who want to stay in control of their businesses and grow them at the same time - or be able to understand and appreciate the alternative options open to them.
Comments
Nice advertisement.
Can a moderator please change the title to the real title? 95% of the content is specific to this one conference, yet the title is about conferences in general.
It doesn't explore the idea that conferences should help hackers get rich at all. It has one sentence that more-or-less states that and then goes on and on about how great this particular conference is.
I love the idea of this particular conference as the people I know that have been to it, including the guys at, for example Rapportive, came back from it with completely different views on the world and have been able to put a lot of what they learned into their businesses.
That is, in my view, a good thing, and something that should be flagged. If you think that is an advert, fair enough but I am honestly not aware of any international class events that focus on the process of creating sustainable businesses for this community. (There are obviously lots of tech events and lots of events about raising venture capital). I would love to be taught otherwise. I thought the idea of this list was to highlight things that the hacking community and entrepreneurs will find useful. Some will, some won't.
I'm fine with it being submitted. I'm not fine with it being submitted under the title "Conferences should help hackers get rich, not hack more", which makes it sound like a general blog post about conferences.
Much more fitting is the real title, "Amazing event (and not one of ours!). Business of Software, Boston, October 4th-6th".
Now, that's not a great title for submitting to HN, so I could see changing that to "Business of Software conference focuses on helping hackers get rich, not hack more" or something. But trying to pass it off as a general article when it's not is clear link-bait.
I see a lot of conferences each year and the Business of Software Conference was by far the best one that I saw last year.
For the people here on Hacker News, it's a major alternative viewpoint on entrepreneurship. A very large number of articles that get posted here are tainted in some way by venture capital. There's not nearly as much advice from bootstrapped and owner-operated businesses.
I went into the 2010 BoS conference wondering if 37signals was an outlier in the owner-operated world. But after talking to a lot of the software businesses there I realized there are many successes. I asked one guy how big his business was, expecting him to respond with a number of employeers--his answer was $100M.
Also, the speakers last year were fantastic. Instead of having to choose between several tracks filled with un-rehearsed, amateur speakers, BoS gives you a single track of mostly keynote level speakers.
Hackers usually prioritise other stuff (eg: cool hacks) over monetization, hence the allure of hacker centric conferences.
True, but money equals freedom from day jobs, equals more time for cool hacks...
Enough money to get by comfortably, not necessarily "rich".
Very fair but I think the point of this conference is that hackers can learn business and then do other stuff and buy a Ferrari if they want to.
Business people can't learn technology so guess who holds the power?
(Although I don't believe people are put on earth to be rich. That would of course be crass).
"Business people can't learn technology so guess who holds the power?"
What?! You really believe that? Maybe you should qualify the statement a little more or else, we could just as easily say:
Technology people can't learn business so guess who holds the power?
Personally, I feel the lines between business and technology are blurring more and more.
Joel Spolsky explains it is easier for technology people to learn basic business than other way round which is why he says,
"The great software companies are going to be run by software developers".
Not actually my words though I believe in the point.
> Business people can't learn technology so guess who holds the power?
That's incredibly obtuse thinking. Becoming a successful entrepreneur is not as simple as 'learning business'.
While some of the best entrepreneurs are hackers at heart because they think outside the box, many hackers are not entrepreneur material, they'd rather be tinkering with stuff that interests them, and for many hackers, business doesn't.
It takes a lot longer to become a truly proficient hacker than most 'business' people of an equivalent age have had doing 'business stuff'. So the ground is less for hackers to make up when learning and gaining business experience than vice-versa.
I disagree. To be good in business, you need experience, which comes with time and mistakes.
Hacking imho either comes naturally or it doesn't. If you can't see the appeal of an apparently pointless activity eg. code golf, then you're probably not a hacker, and never will be.
This doesn't mean you won't be a good entrepreneur - if anything it could even help; since you don't waste time on silly (but fun for a hacker) things.
Joel Spolsky explains in the little video, (at about 1 minute 10 seconds), it is easier for technology people to learn basic business than other way round which is why he says,
"The great software companies are going to be run by software developers".
Not actually my words though I believe in the point.
I think that anyone that knows me would say I am not driven by money and I was making a flippant comment about cars. The issue for me is not actually about being rich or buying fast cars but about being in control of your destiny.
I am excited about Business of Software as it looks like an event put together by cool people from owner-managed businesses who want to stay in control of their businesses and grow them at the same time - or be able to understand and appreciate the alternative options open to them.
great speaker lineup!
price a little too steep for my tastes at $2000
Perhaps what is needed is a conference about raising money for hackers to be able to attend these conferences.