Why Entrepreneurs Should Learn To No-Code Instead of “Learn to Code”
It’s time to put critical and creative coding concepts ahead of syntax and rote memorization
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“Learn to code” has been a refrain for entrepreneurs for more than a decade.
Want to start a business in the high-growth universe of venture capital windfalls and IPO fortunes? Learn to code.
Have a modest idea for a digital product? Learn to code.
Want your business to survive into the mid-21st century? Learn to code.
Why?
Because modern e-commerce demands new and ever-changing technology.
Because television commercials have been replaced by TikTok clips.
Because no matter how good your idea is, there’s probably already an app for that.
I believe all of that.
I am indeed a coder, and I firmly believe that learning to code should be a part of everyone’s education. This isn’t a rant against learning to code; it’s a call to replace the “Learn to Code” movement with “Learn to No-Code.”
“Learn to Code” is a fallacy.
The “anybody-can-code” mantra was always kind of like promoting world peace. It’s a great idea, everybody wants it, and it’s easy to believe in — until you have to make real-world decisions.
The decision that always rears its head with “Learn to Code” is when you need to sink time into learning to code and are that much farther behind on developing a great idea, executing it, and determining if there’s a market for it.
In the real world, there are opportunity costs, and they start adding up the moment an entrepreneur decides to do anything else except execute.
Again, I can’t stress enough how much being able to wield technology in the 2020s is going to make a difference in your success quotient. But before you “Learn to Code,” you need to decide whether you want to be a coder. Because the divide between low-level and high-level technology is growing every day.
