'F*ck It, It Can't Be That Hard to Code' says Melanie Marten of PRontheGO

1. What do you currently do and what’s your favorite part about it?

I am building PRontheGO to provide digital PR intelligence to entrepreneurs worldwide. It is powered by a global network of highly experienced PR consultants like myself, and our mission is to bring a PR consultancy to life in a digital form to empower entrepreneurs and creatives to market their business idea. We refer to our PR & growth experts and users as PR pirates. In the ideal future, PR and media access will be available to everyone, and media coverage and reach will be determined by the originality of the business, not marketing budgets.

2. How did you get started with your Tech Career?

I started learning to code in 2015, at a time when I was just too cheap to spend money on developers, and I was frustrated, almost angry, at how they presented their work back then as something of immense value that was inaccessible to the masses. So it was the high prices plus the lack of understanding and therefore inability to project manage for my business ideas that made me think, f*ck it, it can't be that hard to code. And yeah, no, it wasn't. I spent an entire summer of 2015 locked in my apartment, using Codecademy and other online courses. Best of all, it's absolutely fun to code! I didn't and don't intend to pursue development as a career, I just use it to bring my ideas to life and to be able to brief developers on parts I outsource.

3. If Utopia were a color what color do you think it’d be and why?

My late grandfather showed me Utopia in a vivid dream I had of him just after my 30th birthday. We were on the open sea and he was steering a fast motorboat across it. The sea was the clearest darkest blue, but covered by the rays of the sun. I felt a tremendous sense of freedom and happiness. I woke up with the feeling that my grandfather had shown me the place to live. I started traveling for four years to find that exact place, living in Southeast Asia, Madeira, Sardinia and other places near the sea, before finding that exact sea in Greece, where I then moved and now reside. It's no coincidence that the word utopia is of Greek origin.

4. If everything about HackerNoon changed drastically, what is one detail you’d like to keep exactly the same?  OR What’s your favorite thing to do with HackerNoon and why?

HackerNoon is a gamified experience that invites users to fully immerse themselves and go on a treasure hunt. It offers a unique user journey for a publishing site, and it needs to stay that way. In addition, HackerNoon is accessible and in no way elitist in its approach to publishing about technology. This is what creates the community aspect of it.

5. Tell us more about the things you write/make/manage/build!

My love for athleticism led me to announce The Athletic Coup, a pioneering film festival to be held in Athens, Greece in May 2024. The festival is dedicated to the journeys of amateur and professional athletes as well as niche sports on screen. It will celebrate physical excellence in documentaries, feature films and other formats such as animation.

6. What’s your favorite thing about the internet?

In my opinion, the most important thing about the Internet is that it gives everyone an equal opportunity to learn, to work, to build their business. You can live in a damp hut in Pakistan, but serve customers from wealthy countries with things you learned from free courses on the Internet. These are the stories that touch me the most. I see this effect accelerating with artificial intelligence, and success can be about creativity and drive rather than financial resources.

7. It’s an apocalypse of ‘walking dead’ proportions and you can only own a singular piece of technology, what would it be?

I would want the fastest speed boat that marine technology can offer, and ride the vast waters to safety in an apocalypse of 'walking dead' proportions. A speed boat would provide several advantages, including the ability to quickly navigate through water bodies, escape dangerous situations, and potentially reach safer areas.

A high-speed boat could also help me evade zombie hordes that may be slower and less agile in the water. With the ability to outrun them, I could avoid confrontations and increase my chances of survival.

Moreover, a speed boat could be equipped with additional features such as GPS, sonar, and communication devices, enabling me to locate safe havens, communicate with other survivors, and stay informed about potential dangers.

8. What is your least favorite thing about the internet?

The Internet has opened opportunities for education and global connectivity, promoting equal opportunity for all. It also promotes safety through GPS and messaging services. But what it has done for almost all of us is create intense pressure and stress to produce massive output in the digital world. It is no longer about quality when even news outlets report in a way that is proven to cause the most anxiety in people because that leads to more clicks. The Internet is preventing me from finally getting that library membership, writing that novel, planting that tree, chatting with strangers, exercising outside, because I'm so busy staying digitally connected and producing digital output.

9. If you were given $10 million to invest in something today what would you invest in and why?

That is easy. I would open an outdoor waterslide park in the center of Athens, Greece, near my house in a heartbeat. I grew up in Berlin, Germany with an indoor water park just 5 minutes from my house. They closed it because of politics, but it gave me the best childhood experiences, and people would queue for hours on weekends to get in. If everyone could ride a waterslide every day, how fun would life be?

10. What’s something you’re currently learning or excited to learn?

I am learning how to become a self-made millionaire. No kidding, this is my learning goal, and the resources I have are talents in writing, coding, and marketing. Now I am teaching myself how to turn that into a 7-figure number in my bank account. It's a fun journey with many frustrations along the way!

11. Would you rather travel 10 years into the past or 10 years into the future? Give reasons for your answer.

I’ve already lived the past, so I would love to take a little trip 10 years into the future! First of all, I would like to know if I managed to build that waterslide park in the center of Athens. Then, with all the overwhelming urgencies going on right now in terms of environmental crisis, political and financial instability, the list goes on and on, I might get some clarity on what would be the most pressing issues to devote myself to now.