Why I desperately needed to learn to code

Startup entrepreneur Ilya Lichtenstein on the effects of him picking up basic programming skills:

The lessons I’ve learned from actually building and launching products are invaluable.

I never ask for specific estimates or set hard deadlines for finishing a project. I know firsthand that the last 10% of a project can take 90% of the time.

I don’t say things like “This looks really easy to do, you can throw it together in a couple hours, right?” The most complex projects can look deceptively simple.

Exactly. I’ve worked directly with and for a business almost a decade now. Once you have as little as one or two decision makers on the business side with a technical background, it can have a huge positive effect on relations with the tech team.