Hackers & Painters

Paul Graham, the "Godfather of Silicon Valley Startups,"'s classic thought-provoking book, a bestseller for nearly 20 years.
Understand the hacker spirit, how to create wealth, and forge the future in one book.
Lu Qi, founder and CEO of MiraclePlus, provides a foreword and recommendation. Wang Xiaochuan, Wu Sheng, Luo Zhenyu, Ji Shisan, Jiang Tao, Cai Tong, Cheng Jia, Yang Zhiping, Lin Hengyi, Feng Dafai, Chi Jianqiang, Fang Jun, Li Zhuohuan, and Gao Qingyi jointly recommend.
◎Editor's Recommendation
Effective thinking is your most powerful weapon. Through the lens of a hacker and a painter, converse with brilliant minds and understand why smart people think differently from us.
Paul Graham, the "Godfather of Silicon Valley Startups,"'s classic thought-provoking book, a bestseller for nearly 20 years. Ranked in Douban Books' TOP 250, with over 40,000 people wanting to read it.
Lu Qi, founder and CEO of MiraclePlus, provides a foreword and recommendation. Wang Xiaochuan, Wu Sheng, Luo Zhenyu, Ji Shisan, Jiang Tao, Cai Tong, Cheng Jia, Yang Zhiping, Lin Hengyi, Feng Dafai, Chi Jianqiang, Fang Jun, Li Zhuohuan, and Gao Qingyi jointly recommend.
Through 15 easy-to-understand articles, learn how the hacker spirit shapes our world. Arm your mind with advanced hacker ideas and methods to get closer to wealth, closer to self-consistency, and closer to the future.
◎Content Introduction
You don't need to change too much to live a wonderful life.
This is Paul's psychological comfort to us, and he also clearly tells us the feasibility of this in the real world through his secular success. This is one of the important inspirations we can gain from reading this book.
From a content perspective, in this insightful book, Paul, with the eyes of a hacker and the heart of a painter, reveals why the world is as it is today and predicts its future.
In Paul's view, hackers are creators, children of the internet, possessing a restless heart. Although often seen as geeks, they lay the foundation for the new internet world through their efforts. Undoubtedly, the world we live in has been and will continue to be profoundly changed by hackers. Therefore, understanding hackers will help us better understand this world.
In this book, the author discusses three aspects related to hackers: first, how hackers grow and view the world; second, how hackers work and influence the world; third, hackers' tools and working methods.
In fact, in all 15 articles, Paul discusses topics far beyond what hackers are concerned with, and with a humorous touch, he showcases his thoughts on major issues that concern and affect everyone, covering the broadest possible range. Whether it's creating wealth, designing good products, or living a self-consistent life in a world full of dissent. It can be said that no matter what stage of life we are in, we will gain inspiration from reading this book.
◎Recommendations
Paul and YC undoubtedly ushered in a new era of technology-driven innovation. Globally, innovation is accelerating further, and China has also ushered in unique historical development opportunities. We hope that the younger generation can flexibly apply Paul's ideas in combination with our national system, policy environment, cultural, and social development goals. We look forward to every reader gaining richer experiences and more effectively appreciating the value of "Hackers & Painters."

——Lu Qi, Founder and CEO of MiraclePlus
The collision of themes "hacker" and "painter" is naturally very attractive, but it's by no means a gimmick! The author, Paul Graham, is one of the pioneers of the innovative spirit of this era. The YC incubator he founded has led the innovation culture in Silicon Valley and even the world. Through "Hackers & Painters," we can understand his story and the civilization of this era.
——Wang Xiaochuan, Founder of Sogou
When hacker traits and painter elements merge and coexist, the collision between the emotional world and the rational world woven by code is more than just a clash. The combination of digital, art, and curiosity constructs the underlying rules of innovation and entrepreneurship, and also deciphers the complex spiritual map of founders. Progress in the times is driven by moving creations.
——Wu Sheng, Founder of Scene Lab
"Hackers & Painters" is a book that will definitely leave its mark on the history of China's internet development. I remember it particularly vividly because once my co-founder, Kuaidao Qingyi, poached a senior programmer from a large company. When the candidate was hesitating, Kuaidao gave him two books: one was "Steve Jobs," and the other was "Hackers & Painters." Miraculously, he came to work for us.
——Luo Zhenyu, Founder of GetApp
"Hackers & Painters" is a must-read for internet practitioners. Many of the author's forward-looking views on the future, entrepreneurship, and professional technical fields from ten years ago have come true. Reading it now still provides direction and ideas for problem-solving.
——Ji Shisan, Founder and CEO of Guokr
The world is actually programmed. When you look at the development of the world, the development of enterprises, and the evolution of life from a programmer's perspective, you will find that from the Big Bang to the DNA of life, there are actually parameters, laws, and rules, all of which are encoded. All things are numbers, software is devouring the world, and we are entering a great digital era. So, you won't be surprised why this book, written ten years ago about the thoughts of hackers, still has immense appeal and vitality today.
——Jiang Tao, Founder of CSDN
Paul Graham's explanations are incisive, profound, meticulous, and thought-provoking. If you don't read his book, you cannot fully understand this era.
——Cai Tong, PhD in Psychology, author of the best-selling "Jing Jin" series
Paul Graham's "Hackers & Painters" reminded me again: the benefit of conversing with intelligent minds is that no matter what they say, no matter how much time passes, you will always gain something.
——Cheng Jia, Author of "Good Learning" and "Good Thinking"
This is a remarkable book, recommended as a must-read for adults in the 21st century. It's remarkable because the author is eloquent and refined, with fluid and beautiful writing, full of witty remarks, a model of 21st-century essay writing, yet his thoughts are extremely profound, full of foresight. It's remarkable because the author is knowledgeable, handling hackers, algorithms, and programming languages with one hand, and design, history, and art with the other. It's remarkable because the author practices what he preaches, not only thinking and doing things this way himself, but also guiding others, leading many entrepreneurs to great success.
——Yang Zhiping, Chairman of Anxin Mind, author of the "Mind Toolbox" WeChat official account
"Hackers & Painters" is an old book, and also a classic. What is a classic? A classic must be a work that can transcend time. Over a decade has passed, and most of the text in this book still shines with a gentle glow like pearls and jade in the long river of time. I have read this book many times, and each time it feels new. Reading a good book is like having a dialogue with the author's decades of wisdom, and it will bring us different inspirations at different times and in different scenarios.
The first Chinese translation of this book was published in April 2011. Its author is Paul Graham, the "Godfather of Startups" in the American internet industry and a PhD in computer science from Harvard University. Most of the content in the book comes from his essays around 2001. The words written 20 years ago still have strong practical significance today, and you can even follow the脉络 of this book to interpret the future.
——Chi Jianqiang, Founder of "Geek Time," Founder of Mowen Xidong, Manager of "MacTalk" WeChat official account
Just as Morpheus in "The Matrix" asks the protagonist Neo to choose between a blue pill and a red pill, the author Paul Graham gives readers an opportunity to glimpse a "wonderland," allowing us to see how hackers create the information society we live in today, just like painters. "Hackers & Painters" is not only written for programmers but also for all innovators and entrepreneurs. The author's YC incubator has led the innovation and entrepreneurship philosophy of Silicon Valley. By understanding the hacker's way of thinking and working methods, we may have the opportunity, like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, to make the world a better and more interesting place through our "works"!
——Lin Hengyi, Founder of Co-creation IoT, Senior Business Consultant
A hacker, by definition, refers to a programmer who works with code, and various people who are somewhat involved with computer code. Graham shows us that we create just like painters, which gives us unique power.
——Fang Jun, Author of "Metaverse Super Entry" and other books, winner of the "China Good Book" award
Paul Graham is arguably the most successful venture capitalist hacker in the world today. The YC incubator he founded in 2005 has successfully incubated thousands of startups and nearly ten thousand founders in Silicon Valley, with a total valuation of nearly a trillion US dollars for the incubated companies. "Hackers & Painters" will take you into Paul Graham's world, revealing his story and YC's venture capital insights.
——Li Zhuohuan, PreAngel Angel Investor
Language and art are humanity's greatest common denominators, and their common value lies in "connection," whether it's connecting people or connecting people with machines. The essence of innovation is the leap in connection efficiency.
——Dr. Gao Qingyi, AI Scholar

出版日期/Publication Date：June 1, 2022
出版社/Publisher：人民邮电出版社
出品方/Imprint:Turing New Know-how
页数/Page: 408