Seeking advice from programmers for non-programmers
jcoby: I'm a programmer by trade but I also have my own startup and have a decent amount of business experience.  I'm writing this from a programmer's perspective though.> How do software engineers perceive business types?The idiots who constantly make bad decisions that cause programmers to work even harder and miss sleep.> How do they come to respect or disrespect someone in this role?"We promised we'd implement this feature to a very important client by next week.  How hard is it?"  Generally for a feature that is esoteric and nearly impossible to implement.  And usually for a client that doesn't generate much revenue.> How can I best approach a software engineer with an idea?Talk to them.  Ask their opinion.  Most programmers love to know details, backstory, and to be part of the process.> What can a business type do to build trust with a programmer?Talk to them.  Programmers hate to be asked or told to do something without knowing why.  You'll generally get a better result if they know why the feature needs to be added instead of just telling them to put a button here that does this.> Horror stories or success stories about these two worlds coming together in startup glory or catastropheI was employee #2 at a web startup that was barely in the black (perhaps just solvent) after about 5 years in business.  I ran IT.  The owners brought in an angel who invested a nominal amount of money for a ridiculous amount of ownership (47.5%).  The angel brought in a CEO.  The CEO brought in salesmen.  I hired a few programmers and a network guy.  The salesmen brought in even more salesmen.  The CEO brought in someone to oversee me.The CEO was a "big-bang" kind of guy so he immediately started pitching the product to anyone he could find.  The product wasn't ready and hit all sort of problems.  Lots of infighting and little political factions starting springing up between the new guys and the old guard.  Both sides thought each other were idiots.  We knew the market and the new guys had no experience with either web or the industry we were in.  We knew how to save money and generate profit and they knew how to spend it.Within 2 years there were at least 8 VPs in a 40-person company (only about 20 of them worked full-time onsite).  By the time I left, the company had 60+ people on payroll, with about 10-15 of them being IT.  There were probably a dozen VPs (I lost count and didn't care anymore), and was burning about $7M/yr with no sign of turning a profit.  The "business types" are still figuring out how to make money, still over promising and under delivering, and just about everyone there hates the place.> What motivates programmers? Success? Personal fulfillment? Money?Challenge and accolade.  A good programmer loves to solve puzzles and wants to be acknowledged for his or her work.  Very few things are as deflating as busting ass on a feature that someone else gets all credit for.  Programmers love toys- this includes fast hardware and good equipment.  If your programmers don't have dual screens and a computer built in the past 12 months, something is wrong.> What do programmers think motivates business types?Ego.  Resume building.  Money.  Job titles.