Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

111–120 of 162 posts

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#111

Post by Strom »

dangero wrote: post #50
sph wrote: post #32

I've quit my day job in 2012, found a contract with a great client on Upwork (forget how it was called at the time). Initially a 6 months project, I've worked with them for 2 years. Got a few other contracts off that site, until one day I've asked one of my main clients to move out of that platform and work with me directly. Worked with them 2 years, until I got an offer in January to become a full time technical dir…

Isn’t it against your contract with upwork to move off the platform with a client?

Upwork terms of service require you to funnel funds through them for 2 years, then you are free to move elsewhere. Upwork also allows for early leaving if you pay a fee of $3500 or some other number based on crazy calculations.

https://www.upwork.com/legal#noncircumvention

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#112

Post by fsloth »

esaym wrote: post #17

> so I can travel the world while working remotely. I thought the same thing. Perhaps it is because I work for someone else instead of for myself, but since I've been full time remote for the last 2 years, I've had 0 free time for anything. I rarely leave the house. Pretty much everything I need comes from online purchases or grocery delivery as I don't even have time to do that.

Jeez, sounds awful. Is there some specific reason 8 hours a day of work-work does not suffice?

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#113

Post by csomar »

Kluny wrote: post #39
sph wrote: post #32

I've quit my day job in 2012, found a contract with a great client on Upwork (forget how it was called at the time). Initially a 6 months project, I've worked with them for 2 years. Got a few other contracts off that site, until one day I've asked one of my main clients to move out of that platform and work with me directly. Worked with them 2 years, until I got an offer in January to become a full time technical dir…

> 1. Increase your rates. Make them non-negotiable. There's people that are ready to pay for quality. If a client asks you to lower your rate, they probably aren't a good client in the first place. What if you're mediocre, though?

I've seen mediocre to really bad people getting paid $3000/day for their mediocrity and not delivering results.

Increase your rates.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#114

Post by csomar »

tptacek wrote: post #67
Kluny wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 1. Increase your rates. Make them non-negotiable. There's people that are ready to pay for quality. If a client asks you to lower your rate, they probably aren't a good client in the first place. What if you're mediocre, though?

If there is a list of annoying false things technology people believe about business, this notion that bill rates track technical ability would have to be near the top of it. Your rate has almost nothing to do with how good a programmer you are. Sorry, excellent programmers who've had a hard time getting consultancies launched. Your bill rate roughly † tracks how much value you provide to your client. "Value" is comp…

Thomas, you talk a lot about raising your rates and I believe your points are valid.

How do you go (being completely remote) from nothing to have a high quality client (as in corp/high net startup).

Take these into consideration:

- Can live off savings for the next 2 years.

- Can expense 3/4 travel costs for US/EU/Asia.

- Can setup offshore US/HK company and bank accounts.

- Doesn't mind if the process take 2-4-6-8 months.

- Doesn't mind traveling, staying late, taking calls anytime, etc.. if it can give me an edge.

What are the steps to take to land the first whale. Also, I have the following skills: Cryptography/Security (still a beginner), Blockchain (somewhat good), DevOps (medium), Web Development (Pretty good experience).

Bear in mind pretty much most of my clients before were low quality clients (making wordpress sites for the average business, made me decent money but only for the cheapness of the country I live in).

Would appreciate any advice!

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#115

Post by csomar »

kinnth wrote: post #33

We run a mobile game design agency - https://mobilefreetoplay.com helping people create apps. Some tips from me 1. Get yourself an account on Transferwise.com so you can accept all currencies. It then works well to bill people in their local currency as they pay quicker. 2. We use Xero for all accounting and invoicing. It works and saves time at end of year. 3. Slack. I am on 9 different teams. I binned off email a l…

> We work with Google, Amazon

What kind of work do you do for Google/Amazon?

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#116

Post by csomar »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #110
chasd00 wrote: post #85

network and get to know directors/upper management at very large companies. You can do a lot of this by just hanging out at happy hour spots near a large corporate campus. Those people are the ones that get tasked with implementing large programs or processes. If you they know you and your skills are even remotely relevant then they'll reach out to you when they can't get anyone in the internal IT/tech department to…

How close to stalking are you suggesting ?

Don't stalk. If you hang out very frequently, you'll get multiple real random encounters.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#117

Post by csomar »

thrawaylost112 wrote: post #82

1. Get foot in the door. Bid lowest and touch the codebase, oh now it's dirty and you've access to their secret. Tell them, oh it's dirty code - it's unmaintainable crap. I quoted you the wrong rate, to deal with this I'll need $500 per hour I've other contracts waiting for me. But yeaa this is something which I had done last month for a different client. Now, I am busy, so just drop me a line on whatsapp if you don'…

cut the chase and just show up with a gun next time. You are not building sustainable relations. Quite the opposite.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#118

Post by kr4 »

Kluny wrote: post #109
mikeleeorg wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends on which vector you deem yourself mediocre. If you think your technical skills are mediocre and want to be a technical contractor, then focus on being a great solutions provider. And by "solutions provider," I mean take the time to deeply understand the root causes of your clients' problems, then help them find the actual solutions. Sometimes these solutions are not even technical, which is totally okay. C…

I can write code that works, finish features, and I'm pretty good at debugging. I can also teach/encourage others without condescending, ask good questions, and explain a problem clearly technically and non-technically (once I understand it myself). I guess I'm mediocre in that it consistently seems to take me 8-10 hours to finish jobs that come with a 4 hour time estimate (my company is big on estimates). I'm also p…

keep building new stuff, on side in addition to your job (which is usually borring/monotonous). concentrating on details. Once you've spent 10k hours on programming it'd just come naturally to you. You'd be amaised how magically and naturally you can solve complex problems. This is an unfailing formula of attaining mastery in literally anything you can imagine [0].

0: https://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwe...

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#119

Post by thrawaylost112 »

csomar wrote: post #117
thrawaylost112 wrote: post #82

1. Get foot in the door. Bid lowest and touch the codebase, oh now it's dirty and you've access to their secret. Tell them, oh it's dirty code - it's unmaintainable crap. I quoted you the wrong rate, to deal with this I'll need $500 per hour I've other contracts waiting for me. But yeaa this is something which I had done last month for a different client. Now, I am busy, so just drop me a line on whatsapp if you don'…

cut the chase and just show up with a gun next time. You are not building sustainable relations. Quite the opposite.

Both of you guys are posting from your real accounts a politically correct statement but you guys have showed no evidence that your method is really the superior one.

People at exon, large banking companies, stock brokers can make promises and a consultant/contractor can't change his mind?

No body cares about building sustainable business, most just want enough cash to retire peacefully.

Re: Ask HN: How to become a remote contractor?

#120

Post by thrawaylost112 »

ryanwaggoner wrote: post #93
thrawaylost112 wrote: post #82

1. Get foot in the door. Bid lowest and touch the codebase, oh now it's dirty and you've access to their secret. Tell them, oh it's dirty code - it's unmaintainable crap. I quoted you the wrong rate, to deal with this I'll need $500 per hour I've other contracts waiting for me. But yeaa this is something which I had done last month for a different client. Now, I am busy, so just drop me a line on whatsapp if you don'…

So lie, cheat, and steal, basically. You sound like the type who makes contracting and consulting so much harder for everyone else, because you exploit your clients ignorance and trust for your own personal gain. Ironically, you'd make a lot more in the long run if you had a more long-term outlook instead of being so transactional.

I don't force them to make any decision. How am I exploiting them?

Most people end up with less money, not because they lack skill but because they've not used their skill at the right place at right time.

Buffet advise doesn't work for everyone.

Post reply on HN