The Similarities Between Hackers and Painters

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When I was in college studying programming, there was this idea floating around that programming was supposed to be like math. And what I found actually is that the interesting parts of programming, you can't really make scientific, let alone mathematical. So it seemed to me that programming at least, like writing software, what made you good at it was not what would make a scientist good at science. What makes an architect good is not a command of statics. It's something a little less organized than that. There's an aesthetic, it's aspect. Taste and a sense of design, and a certain knack, right?

Paul Graham, essayist, programmer and partner in the y-combinator talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about start-ups, innovation, and creativity. Graham draws on his experience as entrepreneur and investor to discuss the current state of the start-up world and how that world has changed due to improved technology that makes it easier to start a software company. Graham talks about his unusual venture firm, the y-combinator, and how he and his partners work with start-ups to get them ready for more advanced funding. Along the way, Graham discusses why hackers are like painters and how to survive high school.