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Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

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Re: Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

#81

Post by solardev »

throwawayacc2 wrote: post #75
solardev wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure how the UK tax code works, or what I'm looking at here (the "inside" vs "outside" part is confusing). At a glance, it looks like it wants to tax you 46% of revenue (52% of profit) at £220,000/year if you're a contractor, which (it says) is the same as earning £180,100 as a regular employee. Those numbers don't seem particularly significant either way to me, coming from the US. Our tax brackets cap out a…

So, the reason I sent you that link is if you look at the numbers, that 21k per month pre tax turns into 8k cash in hand per month after tax. That is nothing short of insane to me. That is almost 3 quarters of your money taken by the government. Maybe you can live with that. I can’t. It’s insane to me. I simply refuse to participate in that. As for taxes, I get your point. Sounds good in theory. Until you realise peo…

It's not quite 3/4, is it? More like 1/2? And that's if you're earning 1000/day (sorry, can't type that currency symbol)... which is like 10x the UK median wage. At lower revenues you're paying much less. But still, your point stands -- it's taking money away from you that you want to keep and spend your own way. Whether that exact percentage is 46% or 66% or whatever doesn't seem quite relevant if you'd rather it be as close to 1% as possible :)

Are there any examples of a system like you're describing working out in reality? Doesn't have to be a country, but maybe a local government, a private community, a membership club, etc.?

Sounds like a libertarian fantasy out of Atlas Shrugged or Bioshock... but hey, we all have our dreams, and my utopia would be your dystopia, lol.

Re: Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

#82

Post by sfpotter »

Test0129 wrote: post #9
sfpotter wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes me sad that all these spun cycles could have been put to use doing something productive if only the tax code were simplified and the IRS automatically pre-filled our taxes, as is done in other, saner countries.

Oh hey look its the "America backwards" trope again. How tiring. Sure. The IRS could change things. But you're also able to do a lot more in America that they can't track. Other countries (e.g. Sweden, etc) are far "simpler", and homogeneous. For example, the depth at which one can trade various instruments, produce companies, etc is far far greater in America than almost anywhere else. This necessitates a somewhat (…

I’m sorry you’re tired. Are you sure you aren’t tired from wrangling with your taxes?

Re: Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

#83

Post by ivanmontillam »

I track parallel currency exchange market rates and provide usage-based API.

It's like oil; many sub-products can be made from this.

For starters, many of them:

- Currency exchange basic calculator.

- Commissions calculator (many exchanges claim to be "no commissions," but you pay a lot in exchange rate flexibility as well)[0]

- Some financial institutions need to track economic indicators... I have that data.

- Integration with CRMs, to issue correct quotes using parallel exchange rates.

- Integration with ERPs, for whatever you use ERPs. - etc. etc. etc.

EDIT: Clarity.

--

[0]: https://www.ivanmontilla.com/blog/how-do-zero-commissions-cu...

Re: Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

#84

Post by dialdial »

LunarCamper wrote: post #30
koeng wrote: post #6

A little while ago, a patent for high throughput DNA synthesis using silicon chips went off-patent, so I have been learning analog IC chip design to build an open source high-throughput DNA synthesis chip. If it works, and I sold them at cost, it would reduce the cost of oligo pool synthesis by ~100x and possibly gene synthesis by 10x. For about 8-9 years now my goal has been to build a cell from scratch for less tha…

Is there a page, blog, twitter account, newsletter, Github repo or anything to follow this? I have no knowledge in this space so I'm of no help, but I'm very interested in the prospect of this stuff becoming more accessible!

Likewise, piggybacking!

Re: Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

#85

Post by iron2disulfide »

koeng wrote: post #6

A little while ago, a patent for high throughput DNA synthesis using silicon chips went off-patent, so I have been learning analog IC chip design to build an open source high-throughput DNA synthesis chip. If it works, and I sold them at cost, it would reduce the cost of oligo pool synthesis by ~100x and possibly gene synthesis by 10x. For about 8-9 years now my goal has been to build a cell from scratch for less tha…

(Digital) chip designer here: this is super cool. What tech node are you targeting? Have you checked out any of the free open-source tools and PDK from Skywater, Google, eFabless and co?

Re: Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

#86

Post by adamgordonbell »

zschuessler wrote: post #5

I heard few song lines from a new artist I've discovered. It has me thinking on a problem I want solved. Although, I'm not actively working on it. Why aren't there more employee-owned companies? And I don't mean solely shareholder programs, I mean actually owned by every employee and they are paid dividends of profit after all planned R&D costs. Similar to the Alaska oil pipeline bonus. Even interns. All studies show…

Hobo Johnson is amazing. Not sure about his pizza place idea, but his stories about relationships are so raw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15nberWl0EU

Re: Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

#87

Post by zciwor »

ultra_nick wrote: post #56
zciwor wrote: post #54

My sister works as a veterinarian and is experiencing some serious burnout from her current practice (a subsidiary of a larger corporation). I guess it's pretty common practice for corporations or private equity to snatch up smaller independent practices and then run them like a sweat shop. Her current CEO's resume is a list of Starbucks, Walmart, and a few other corporate roles that are totally unrelated to the medi…

My wife and I are suffering personally from this. I'll help for free. I'm convinced Vetmed will follow human medicine's history. Currently, the future of human medicine is small clinic subscription medicine without insurance. Apps like Roo could help with temporary staffing issues. Let's talk: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholascgilpin

Connected via LinkedIn. Excited to talk!

Re: Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

#88

Post by andrewmutz »

zschuessler wrote: post #5

I heard few song lines from a new artist I've discovered. It has me thinking on a problem I want solved. Although, I'm not actively working on it. Why aren't there more employee-owned companies? And I don't mean solely shareholder programs, I mean actually owned by every employee and they are paid dividends of profit after all planned R&D costs. Similar to the Alaska oil pipeline bonus. Even interns. All studies show…

Most business ventures have risk of failure and loss of capital. How does that work in this model?

If the capital comes from the employees, this loss would be very hard for them and probably would not appropriate for more workers.

If the capital comes from a bank, is there collateral? If so, where did the capital for that collateral come from? If not, does the bank need to lend to you at an extremely high interest rate for it to be worth the investment?

If the capital comes from investors who have an equity stake in this, how is it different than any other VC? Who keeps the profits when the business is up and running (the employees or the investors)? If the employees, why would the investors invest?

Re: Ask HN: What interesting problems are you working on?

#90

Post by petercooper »

throwawayacc2 wrote: post #80
petercooper wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"A person after my own heart," I originally thought. I, too, enjoy reading HMRC technical guidance, although I haven't actually taken it to such extremes, instead focusing on genuine deductions few people tell you about (like annual medicals). Your post was entertaining, but there might be a fly in the ointment! Are you actually carrying on a trade? Your consulting work is trade, but there are rules around businesses…

Haha I must say, HMRC has got to be the most well documented jurisdiction I dealt with. I think you are right with HMRC. But I incorporated in one of the tax friendly countries in Eastern Europe. The way I understood the rule is, I only need to try to make an income. And I do. I have a paypall button. But, there’s no rule on the cost/income. I’m just spending money to try to make money, which is what every body does.…

Ha, okay, if you're not dealing with HMRC, then different kettle of fish! :-) That's an interesting approach I'd not thought about before, having expenses being paid from an out of jurisdiction company.. good luck!
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