Largely self-taught here. I highly recommend giving it a go. There are so many resources for free or very cheap online now that you can get to the point where you can build something on your own. At the very least it will allow you to show a really minimum viable product to a more experienced developer who is more likely to decide to jump in since you already showed commitment and capability to learn (versus the "Dude I have this killer idea! Just build it for me!").

Hey Henry - I work at Bloc - we offer a web development apprenticeship and most of our students sound pretty similar to you - read HackerNews, immersed in tech, tried learning on their own and realized they needed a more robust program like a bootcamp - but didn't want to quit their job / don't have $13K to spend on a bootcamp.

if you wanna chat - my email is [email protected]

Your pricing is not that much cheaper than $13K...

I used to think like you. My limiting factor was that I didn't know how to program. But things changed couple of years ago. Finally, I decided to learn to program on my own. It was most liberating thing I did.

Now, any idea I come up with, I know how to build an MVP, test the market, and take it from there. Once you know how to program (hammer), all ideas look like nails.

Thanks for all the advice here, guys - much appreciated. Time to start!