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Comment by dhruvkar | Hacker News Reader

I hear you.

I was in Software for a couple of years and I only saw software/IT problems. But these problems usually had a variety of solutions and only some glue was required.

Now I've been in the natural stone industry for 4 years and I can't count the number of problems to which the solution is "add more people". So much data entry and data extraction from PDFs <-> ERP/CRM/Other software. 100s of man-hours spent on something that could be done with proper data formats and simple automation.

I personally believe that software engineers are SORELY lacking on all other industries besides software. We need more software engineers venturing out into other industries and identifying and solving problems.

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> We need more software engineers venturing out into other industries and identifying and solving problems.

this seems to line up with my experience well. But I don't have a good line of sight for me to actually experience those businesses outside of taking a non-SWE job and going from a well-compensated expert to barely-paid newb. Spending years learning a specific industry in the hopes that I can turn my former skills into a viable business seems like the wrong approach in several axes. I know VC groups (sometimes) have entire departments whose purpose is to understand other industries... it seems counterproductive for individuals to try to and go this route. Thoughts?

Agreed, that's not a pragmatic path. But if starting a business is your goal, and finding a viable idea is your obstacle, I'd argue this is a sure-shot way of FINDING said idea.

Some potential paths can be:

1. SWE @ SW company -> "BA" @ non SW company or whatever term is used for generic-problem-solver in that industry.

2. Part-time hourly work in another industry. This is fairly easy through temp agencies.

3. Apprenticeship in another industry (perhaps in more hands-on industries).

Some are hard to get, others don't pay as well. But to find gold, I'd say some level of hardship is required, and this, in my view, is a bulletproof way of finding that gold.

Whether you're able to dig it out and then able to sell it at a profit, is totally another question.

> Part-time hourly work in another industry. This is fairly easy through temp agencies.

This sounds like a more brilliant idea than #2 in a list in a long thread.

Temp agencies are where businesses turn to when they have a reasonably simple problem and they are willing to pay to solve it.

Totally agree. Software is just starting to scratch the surface of other industries.

Out of curiosity, what's your role in the space you're in now? Are you solving these data extraction problems?

Hey Gary, I'm solving them using 3rd party tools (docparser and evolution.ai) at the moment to offload these types of tasks.

I don't have a fully working solution, just started testing with specific documents (steamship lines notifications) to see if it's a fit.

I think it'll be slow road for each department I want to tackle - logistics, accounting, purchasing, etc. Every department has this issue, and I'm sure products could be built to serve those niches.

There was a post on here a couple of weeks ago that spoke about this. Essential reading for indiehackers imo http://reactionwheel.net/2015/10/the-deployment-age.html

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