beoShaffer comments on Thoughts on the January CFAR workshop - Less Wrong

37 Post author: Qiaochu_Yuan 31 January 2013 10:16AM

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Comment author: Malcolm_McC 07 February 2013 06:01:06AM 1 point [-]

I would point out that a psych/CS person could be really useful to a startup. Having more than just coding skills can be huge, and if anything you know about psych is related to behaviour, then you're golden. I'd like to point to this article about instagram by Nir Eyal: "But at its core, Instagram is the latest example of an enterprising team, conversant in psychology as much as technology, that unleashed an addictive product on users who made it part of their daily routines."

Comment author: beoShaffer 08 February 2013 12:27:23AM 0 points [-]

Do you mean as a founder, an early hire, or both? I don't really have many start up concepts on hand.

Comment author: Malcolm_McC 10 February 2013 09:48:07AM 0 points [-]

Either/both. Someone who can just code is limited to that range of experience. Someone who can code and knows psych can not just code, but also use their knowledge of psych to shape product design decisions (e.g. Instagram) or even design software to solve problems in the field of psychology (either psychological problems people have or problems psychologists have). You get way more options by having not just one niche.