These days, you can start a successful internet business in your basement with just a computer. Nobody has to see you, your clothes, or your bad manners. You don't need a university education, though you can get one for free online as needed.
How the hell are you supposed to learn to code when you’re working 50 hours per week just to make rent and eat? How can you afford to deploy? And how can you market your product if you don’t know how to talk to your audience?
Sure, you will be able to point to many people who have managed to do it. But many, many others have tried and failed - through no fault of their own.
I mean, sure. I grew up poor and without much in the way of access to education, and the internet was really a saving grace for me, in terms of self-education, income, and simply finding community.
At the same time, do you think the average income of a given internet business--let alone the segment that are run by solo entrepreneurs in their basement with just a computer and a $5 droplet--compares positively to the salary of the average CS graduate? Because we're talking about inequality, not asking "can poor people possibly make money online?"
The fact that the internet has made things better does not mean the problem is solved.
I happen to know several people who did just that (grew up barely above what would qualify for welfare, did not go to college) and became millionaires.
Even if you fail (and you probably will) what you learn from it will position you much better when trying again. It often takes multiple failures before making it work. (Even Gates/Allen had business failures before starting Microsoft.)
> does not mean the problem is solved.
Most people don't recognize opportunity because it comes disguised as hard work :-)
No, starting a business takes capital. You can build a Django website from your basement for free, but to turn it into a profitable business takes cash.
It does? A $5/mo droplet can serve a good amount of traffic. And there are lots of free ways to get some initial users, they just take time. I know because I’ve done exactly that.
This kind of can’t-do attitude really saddens me. I see it all the time in these discussions about wealth inequality.
I know. I've set up websites before; I am aware that it doesn't take that much money to get it running.
But what about advertising? Branding? Anything that a $5 droplet can do, someone else's product can probably do too -- you don't have the tech advantage. Do you stand out with UX? By doing the legwork yourself? All of these take manpower, and that means capital.
It's not the website that costs money to make; it's making that website profitable.
Yeah, if you don’t have any resources, you do everything yourself. Paid advertising can be useful for scaling, but you don’t need it for getting the first few users, and usually you’re shooting for being good enough to get word of mouth spread.
I think you may have a few competitive advantages that a 16 year old may lack, like a quiet place to work, an internet connection, a network of people, etc. etc. You’ve got such an advantage that it’s utterly pointless to draw comparisons.
The idea that someone somewhere can probably maybe might be able to make this work does not make the case that people have opportunity.
We were talking about needing startup capital to get the business off the ground, so this is kind of moving the goalposts.
But if you have a library nearby, that can take care of a lot of the concerns you’re talking about. Before the pandemic, I frequently worked out of one. Your hypothetical 16 year old likely has a suitable spot at their school.
You really don’t need an existing network to get a business started. You can find initial users on Internet forums, or reach out to people on LinkedIn.
It's a business in every way (be sure to register it with the government as a business). You can turn it into leverage by finding gigs for your programming friends, handling the negotiation, billing, and payment and thereby collecting a percentage. In fact, you can become quite wealthy doing this.
