It's hard to say without knowing the app, but my first guess would be for storing files in S3 or pushing a message into a SQS queue.
AWS supports temporary access keys, and one of the recommended solutions is to have an API which generates temporary credentials for a specific task that will expire shortly after.
I've been asked before why I don't have a degree when, I've always thought that meant I should have one. Next time I'll take it as an opportunity to explain why I don't need one. =)
I actually started out doing a bachelor of business studies program, but switched to CS as I figured I would enjoy it a bit more. The math has been a lot of work, I don't have a strong math background.
The ability to get a US work visa is something that has worried me. I looked into this when I got approached about a job opportunity in the states a while ago, however it turns out I can't work in the US without a degree, or 12 years experience. That said, I'll have 12 years experience around about the same time I'd complete my degree, so it's probably not really going to help with that.
I think your edit is actually pretty spot on, I probably need to worry less about finding a start-up that's going to make it big and focus more on finding a problem that I can solve locally. The scale in NZ is quite small unfortunately, there are only 5m people here which is one of the reasons I figured I'd need to look overseas.. perhaps it just means there's less competition?
Lots to think about - Maybe I'll finish this semester and then spend the rest of the year working on one of my ideas and see where I get to, if I don't have any luck I can continue my BSc next year while I come up with another idea.
My understanding of the sponsorship system is that the company has to prove that they're unable to hire someone with your skill-set locally. To do this they have to prove you have a specialized skill-set, which means either a university degree, or 12 years industry experience.
I was approached by Facebook a while ago but nothing came of it as I didn't have a degree, it would be too hard for them to get me a visa.
I'm not too concerned with increased earning potential, or ability to actually get jobs. I earn towards the upper end of the pay spectrum for my field in New Zealand, and I've never had trouble getting interviews. I'm more concerned that I'm going to have issues moving into leadership positions and the like. Perhaps I'd have more trouble overseas though.
Hmm, yeah, I don't know a whole lot about other countries' policies.
If it means anything, one of my friends' dad is an executive at a company here, and is supposed to have a degree, but the company just kind of ignored that requirement because they felt he was the best one for the job. I'm sure there are a lot of cases where that won't happen, but in some cases it can.
One of the things I'm most worried about is that a country I'd like to work in has really different culture in regard to university than we do here. To be honest, from my perspective I've always thought US to be a country where degrees mattered quite a bit.
Attending university in New Zealand doesn't seem to have nearly as much weight placed on it as it does in America, although that may just be a perception thing.
To be fair, in the USA, it depends on the industry that you are going into. If you are planning on joining the startup world, the attitude ranges from indifference to the degree to downright hostiliy (do your best to hide that you have an MBA, for example!). Startups tend to evaluate you on effective skills that you know how to apply, degree or no degree.
In pretty much all other fields, including non-startup tech jobs, degrees do matter a ton more.
AWS supports temporary access keys, and one of the recommended solutions is to have an API which generates temporary credentials for a specific task that will expire shortly after.
Edit:
Heres a link http://docs.aws.amazon.com/STS/latest/UsingSTS/CreatingSessi...