I have been learning to program since I was eleven. Ever since then, I have learned many other skills that gave me the skills necessary to get a job at a software development company. Yet I never got a job there, because I'm a High School Senior and I need to spend $100k and four years getting a degree before anyone will trust me. As such, I realized that there was a demand in the market for software that sorts applicants through their competency. Thus, I created Hanhi, a website that allows employers to create their own competitions with peer grading similar to the Ludum Dare.
The only problem is that I have basically no connections to any of my customers. The closest thing that I have is my parents, and none of them hire full-time positions. I then looked and realized that, due to economies of scale, only a few firms hire the most people. This most likely means that I need connections to Fortune 500 CEOs, or at least their HR managers. Plus, because I need to be self-aware, I focused less on my sales and made the Hanhi affiliate program. It pays $75 per sign-up, so I'd recommend that you join if you're good at sales.
The Self-Awareness Video
I showed it to my friends, but none of them had any connections either so they couldn't use it. I then promoted this Tweet, but only 4 out of 8500 people clicked the link, and for $6 for every 1000 views, I could not afford it. Thus, I decided to buy these 4chan ads. While it had little tracking, for 10 cents for every 1000 views, the probability of someone signing up was too high to not buy it. However, the minimum budget was $500 so I spent most of my checking account on it.
The Ad I Bought on 4chan
While I am still in the middle of the campaign, it has not gone as well as I expected. Two people signed up, one on the first day and one on the second day, but the first sign-up there was an error and the second one was before I made major changes to the sign-up process. As such, I believe that while I still get five million views, most of those views are repeated viewings. I also got an Email from someone very interested in persuading me to do an ICO, though I do not feel comfortable asking for investment yet.
I don't know. Starting a business is hard, I can probably get a job if I tried hard enough, and McDonalds isn't that bad. Thank you for reading!
Its not true you don't need a degree just money.
Are you trying to say that, if people think that I am or my family is rich, it will improve my job prospects? That may be true, but that's even more depressing and the world would need Hanhi more.
If you work hard you can learn to do most things on your own very quickly, that is the bright side friend.