Why Aren't There More Engineers?

It's funny - a lot of my classmates at Stanford who started out in non-CS programs switched midway or picked up coding skills later. There are three startups that come to mind, two of which are YC alums, where at least one co-founder did not initially major in CS but picked up enough technical chops to code an awesome product.

I think it's difficult to learn outside a college environment - without the educational support system of peers, teachers, structure, credentialing, and student loans - it's a tough choice to try and learn how to code later AFTER you've already majored in something else. There's no guarantee that if you learn how to code on your own that you're learning properly, or efficiently, or anyone will hire you or want to co-found a startup with you. I think there's A LOT we can be doing to improve the pipeline of software developers.

That said, personally, I'm probably going to learn how to code and forego a joint degree in an MBA program, even though I'm 26 and two thirds done with law school. Is this the right choice? I'm not sure, but among all my friends who are entrepreneurs, it seems like coding is something you really can't afford to not learn anymore.