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Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#51

Post by gtsop »

malthuswaswrong wrote: post #45
gtsop wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Programming is a skill sure, but it does not create value, it creates programs. Economic value is created when a human being spends man-hours to produce an artifact that other people need and thus are willing to pay for. Programming is a form of working, as is designing, researching, building, plumbing etc. The artifact of programming (ie the program) is the value you create by working. Programs do not by themselve…

>if that were the case we would all run "programs " 24/7 on our computers and produce infinite value. Ever heard of bitcoin mining? j/k :D

Haha, yeah I thought of it as soon as I typed the words :D I know you are joking, but seriously speaking, it is only a single class of programs out there and does not necesserily create value, most people would run that at a loss

So technically speaking, yes some programs can, under certain conditions, be ran 24/7 and make value :D

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#52

Post by granshaw »

barry-cotter wrote: post #6

If you’re that good pick a niche and go consulting. No doubt you have a professional network that can attest to your ability. Go to conferences and share war stories. If you like that you can just keep going. There are people who charge $50,000 a week. Or you could make it known you want to confound a startup. With lots of management experience and well out of the ordinary programming skills that’s a plausible use v…

Are you referring to the uncle bob martins of the world who mostly do classes? Surely not 50k a week doing implementation work right?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#53

Post by karpierz »

malthuswaswrong wrote: post #44
dusted wrote: post #23

I guess you already know, and you're asking exactly because you know.. But programming does not create value, it creates programs, which may create value.. Programming is a skill sure, but it does not create value, it creates programs. Programs may create value, so, the valuable skill is not really being able to create a program, but being able to find some problem, whose solution creates value. Programming may be re…

A penny saved is a penny earned. Many programmers are employed to automate tasks and reduce labor requirements. That adds value to the organization. You are splitting hairs by saying "the program" vs "the programming". You are a wizard that casts spells to make people's jobs easier. What exactly that means depends on the management. Once a job becomes easier they can either pay fewer employees to do the job or they c…

The parent's point is that you don't make money by casting arbitrary spells, you make money by solving problems for people. You happen to solve them by casting spells, but they're not paying you for the spell, they're paying to make the problem go away.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#54

Post by tpoacher »

I will answer you question by answering a similar question. (i.e. argument by analogy ... yes, yes, I know)

"I'm a pianist. I'm good at it. How to monetize piano playing?"

Well, first off, someone has to listen to your music. Playing for your own ears is nice and all, but if nobody else can hear your music, then it's not going to generate income.

Second, that music needs to be the kind of music that someone appreciates/needs/values. If you're into weird experimental random-generator-style music that nobody else enjoys in practice, chances are you won't be able to monetize it.

Finally, even if you manage to get good music to the ears of people who want to listen to it, it needs to be delivered in a manner that actually generates income for you. This may require a significant investment to begin with. Do you sign up with a record label? Do you create a channel and monetize via ads? Do you rely on donations? Do you create a company to manage your music?

I realise I have answered exactly zero of your question, but I think talking about music seems to make sense, and suddenly exactly the same problem with coding elicits a "yeah but...". So the point I'm making here is that there is no yeah but in reality ... all the above that applies straightforwardly to music, also applies to coding.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#55

Post by tgflynn »

If you feel so underutilized maybe you're at the wrong company. The concept of the "10x programmer" has been widely discussed and according to conventional wisdom it is just the sort of unicorn that the FAANG's are supposed to be eager to hire and willing to richly reward.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#57

Post by dnautics »

malthuswaswrong wrote: post #42

If you work 40 hours a day and you feel everyone around you is moving in slow motion and you need to fill your day with extra stuff just to give everyone else a chance to catch up then you probably aren't supposed to be working a salaried job. You are supposed to start your own company.

> You are supposed to start your own company

This is not always good advice. Maybe you suck at marketing. Maybe you suck at coming up with things people like. Maybe you suck at raising money. Maybe you don't have any network at all. You probably want either a few of these qualities to bootstrap off of, or, start off as a millionaire, before starting a company.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#58

Post by dusted »

malthuswaswrong wrote: post #44
dusted wrote: post #23

I guess you already know, and you're asking exactly because you know.. But programming does not create value, it creates programs, which may create value.. Programming is a skill sure, but it does not create value, it creates programs. Programs may create value, so, the valuable skill is not really being able to create a program, but being able to find some problem, whose solution creates value. Programming may be re…

A penny saved is a penny earned. Many programmers are employed to automate tasks and reduce labor requirements. That adds value to the organization. You are splitting hairs by saying "the program" vs "the programming". You are a wizard that casts spells to make people's jobs easier. What exactly that means depends on the management. Once a job becomes easier they can either pay fewer employees to do the job or they c…

You can cast all the spells you want, it's great knowing spells.. but they're ultimately only as valuable as the problems they solve. Any old wizard can cast spells..

But knowing what to cast the spells at.. finding the thing that NOBODY ELSE IN THE WORLD thought as a target for spellcasting, that's where the money's at, that person can then get "fu" rich by casting spells OR by just paying some run of the mill wizard to cast spells. The ideaman gets the money. Sure, you can be both a wizard and ideaman, and that increases your changes, I'm just saying the idea part is the tough part, not the spellcasting.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#60

Post by dusted »

karpierz wrote: post #53
malthuswaswrong wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A penny saved is a penny earned. Many programmers are employed to automate tasks and reduce labor requirements. That adds value to the organization. You are splitting hairs by saying "the program" vs "the programming". You are a wizard that casts spells to make people's jobs easier. What exactly that means depends on the management. Once a job becomes easier they can either pay fewer employees to do the job or they c…

The parent's point is that you don't make money by casting arbitrary spells, you make money by solving problems for people. You happen to solve them by casting spells, but they're not paying you for the spell, they're paying to make the problem go away.

Exactly, and the value gained by solving the problem is going to be larger than the value of the spells that did it. Nobody is going to pay more money for a program than they're going to make from having that program.
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