Mark Zuckerberg-Entrepreneurial Skills Learned

Summary

The speaker reflects on their interdisciplinary background in psychology and computer science at Harvard, highlighting their early programming experiences. They recount creating a website in a few weeks, which unexpectedly became successful. The speaker emphasizes the importance of spending time on varied projects, which led to their readiness to develop the site. They also mention past creations, including a controversial 'hot or not' program, illustrating their passion for making things and how it shaped their ability to manage the site's creation process.

Takeaways

• 🎓 Studied psychology at Harvard and has been programming since age 10.
• 🤔 Realized the intersection of psychology and computer science was interesting and pursued it.
• 🚀 Developed a website in a couple of weeks without initially expecting much success.
• 🎉 Was surprised by the success of the project after its launch.
• 🎂 Had a different idea for a project but decided to stick with the current one.
• 🛠 Enjoyed creating random projects at Harvard, many of which were personal and not meant for public viewing.
• 🧠 Created a natural language interface to test personal theories.
• 🔥 Developed a 'hot or not' program that almost got him kicked out of Harvard.
• 🤹 Spent a lot of time making random stuff, which prepared him for future projects.
• 💼 Emphasizes the importance of how one spends their time as a key to success.

Q & A

What did the speaker study at Harvard?

The speaker studied psychology at Harvard.

How long has the speaker been programming?

The speaker has been programming since they were around 10 years old.

What was the speaker's intuition about programming?

The speaker's intuition about programming was that it reached a point where it was intuitive and not consciously thought about.

What made the speaker interested in combining psychology and programming?

The speaker's interest in combining psychology and programming was sparked by interacting with people at university and realizing the potential of the combination.

How long did it take the speaker to create their first website?

It took the speaker a couple of weeks to throw together their first website.

What was the speaker's initial expectation for the success of their website?

The speaker did not expect their website to be successful and was considering scrapping it after a birthday night.

What was the speaker's approach to spending time on projects?

The speaker spent time on projects based on personal interest and enjoyment rather than focusing on specific outcomes.

What kind of projects did the speaker make while at Harvard?

While at Harvard, the speaker made a variety of random projects, many of which were not meant for others to see.

What was one of the projects the speaker made that almost got them kicked out of Harvard?

One of the projects the speaker made was a 'hot or not' program based on everyone's ideas at Harvard.

What did the speaker enjoy about making random projects?

The speaker enjoyed the process of making random projects and found it fulfilling to create things they thought would be cool.

How did the speaker's experience with making random projects influence their later work?

The speaker's experience with making random projects at Harvard made them well-prepared and confident in their ability to create and manage projects.