Year I learned to code changed everything

$57,582 dollars.

2 years.

And it was all a waste.

I invested all that time, and all that money on outsourcing the development of a SaaS product that I was trying to launch to first customers.

And then I found out that the framework the developers chose to use needed to be upgraded to the latest version.

And when that happened, everything in the app broke.

It would need to be completey rebuilt from the ground up.

So I was faced with a choice:

Re-invest all that money into hiring the developers to build all those features, all over again?

Or, invest in myself, and spend the rest of that year learning to code, and becoming a full-stack software product developer.

As you might have guessed, I spent the year learning to code.

Was it worth it?

Well that’s the question that I’m going unpack for you in this video.

I’m Brian Casel, I’m a multi-time founder and full-stack product designer and developer.

On this channel, I want to help you make the same transition that I made, going from a job, to freelancing, to building a products business.

If that’s you, comon and subscribe and let’s go.

So, before I went “full stack” on products, I started my career as a web designer and a freelancer, but eventually I bootstrapped a few service-based businesses where I came into my own as an entrepreneur.

Basically, that means I hacked my way through learning how to identify ideas for products, and then market and sell to customers.

But I felt limited by the fact that I couldn’t take any product idea that I had, and build it and ship it to customers—without spending a lot of money on outsourcing the development.

And let’s be honest. I’m impatient and I want to go from idea to product as fast as possible.

But I lacked the skill-set to control that tempo and just move forward.

So that’s what drove me to FINALLY decide it’s time for me to learn how to code and go full stack.

I spent the better part of that year gaining those skills and I continue to learn every year since.

But looking back now, I can absolutely say that the year that I learned how to code CHANGED EVERYTHING.

Gaining the full-stack product skillset was a total game changer for me, and it wasn’t just financial.

There were actually 4 unforeseen major benefits to my career and my business that I’ve experienced ever since.

Systems Mindset

One of the things that I learned early on was that programming, and the craft of designing software actually fits my brain perfectly.

And I would bet the same is true for most entrepreneurs.

Why?

Well, what are we actually doing when we’re building a business?

We’re building systems, and we’re creating processes that are designed to run the same way every time, so that our business can see solid, predictable growth.

So once I learned the art of programming and software development, it took my systems mindset to a whole new level.

And so that’s benefit number one: Getting to that next level “Systems mindset”.

And that systems mindset has permeated through everything else I do as a business owner, from marketing to hiring to how I build products.

Product ideas everywhere!

Before I learned to code, I came from a background in client services. I worked for an agency, then I became a freelance web designer, then I grew an agency of my own.

So those were all client services. And that influenced every—what I thought were product ideas. I always thought in terms of, how can we offer a “done for you client service”.

In a way, I was blind to all the potential ideas for software products, because I couldn’t build them myself.

And because I didn’t know what I didn’t know, I assumed that most software product ideas would be…

• Too complex

• Too expensive to build

• An insurmountable challenge

So I never even opened my mind to these types of product ideas.

Fast forward to the years after I became a full stack product developer, the product ideas are EVERYWHERE.

Now everything and anything is possible.

And most ideas are actually a lot simpler and faster to build, than I would have previously assumed.

Now, not every product is destined for market success, of course.

But for someone like me, who’s out here building products businesses I feel like a kid in a candy store.

Learning to code made me a better designer

Since early on in my career, I could hold my own as a designer.

I could make a web page nice and clean and easy to read.

And I could design a simple user interface, like a form, and make it look and feel good and make it easy to use.

And back then, I actually had a misconception about what it meant to be a designer.

I thought it was about styles, and picking colors, and fonts, making things look pretty or cool.

But really, that’s so far from what it truly means to be a great designer.

Today, I call myself a product designer and what that means is I design products from front to back and from back to front.

As a designer, I make things look and feel good on the screen, and I make things work well under the hood.

Design is just as much about layout and styling as it is about data achitecture and programming logic to make a feature work the way that users expect it to work.

So the 3rd benefit of learning to code is it made me a better designer.

I’m a product designer now.

And personally, creatively, these past few years have been some of the most rewarding years of my professional career.

Better (technical) manager & collaborator

When I start work on a new product, as someone who has gained the skills of a full-stack developer, I could design and build and ship and launch a product, entirely myself—without the need to hire anyone.

And sometimes I do!

But most of the time, especially if the product gains traction with customers, I typically hire 1 or 2 or 3 developers to come work with me on the product that I got off the ground.

Now, remember that story I told you from early in my career, when I wasted all that money and time on hiring developers?

The reason all those dollars were wasted wasn’t because the developers did a bad job.

The real issue was that I wasn’t just outsourcing the coding work. I was outsourcing the technical decision making and the key architectural design decisions that went into my product.

And I couldn’t give real input on those critical questions because I lacked the technical understanding of the nuances.

So benefit number is it made me a better manager.

I’m able to collaborate with my developers on a much deeper level, on all aspects of how the product comes together.

And that means we design better products, we ship faster, and we all get much more satisfaction out of working together.

Now if you ask me how I feel today, after all of these game-changing benefits of having learned how to code and build my own products…

If I’m honest?

Actually, I feel some regret.

Because for too many years, I was convinced that I’m not cut out to be a full stack software developer. I thought all the pros possessed some magical power that I didn’t have.

I wish I didn’t resort to fully outsourcing development for all those years. I wish I didn’t wait so long before I invested in myself and learned how to code.

But learning to code definitely was not easy. It took me a year before I could build my own apps.

And knowing what I know now, there are quite a few shortcuts that I wish I had.

So if you want to shorten your learn-to-code journey to half the time that it took me, then watch my next video where I’ll give you that roadmap.