I had set a goal to be ramen profitable by the New Year. I'm not as of yet, but still happy with the progress I've made.
That said, I'm curious. What is a fair goal to set? How long did it take you?
Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
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Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
#2What’s ‘ramen profitable’ mean?
Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
#3What’s ‘ramen profitable’ mean?
And here’s the answer, for anyone curious: http://www.paulgraham.com/ramenprofitable.html
Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
#4This question is kind of general. It depends on your niche market and luck. I do suggest you follow Seth Godin's blog as he gives a lot of insightful advice you can use as startup.
http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/
It might help though if you give more details.
Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
#5If you actually want some advice, you might need to divulge some more information. Start with how much do you need in order to be ramen profitable & how you plan to make it.
Example: Some people mean doing some consulting on the side. Timeline's don't really apply to them.
Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
#6If you actually want some advice, you might need to divulge some more information. Start with how much do you need in order to be ramen profitable & how you plan to make it. Example: Some people mean doing some consulting on the side. Timeline's don't really apply to them.
You're right - my bad.
My startup is a niche dating site (myzamana.com), I make money by selling subscriptions to members that want to message people they're interested in.
Ramen profitable would mean paying food and rent for an average apartment/ food budget in Boston.
Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
#7I don't know how meaningful this is, because I was fully employed for all the time under discussion (and going full-time while only ramen profitable would cause me to have a very unpleasant discussion with the immigration office regarding my worth to Japan), but here you go:
I coding in late June 2006 and launched on July 1st. Ramen profitable where I live is about $1,000~$1,200 a month. Off the top of my head, I spiked up to that on October 2007th, and have sustained it since about October 2008th.
You can check my numbers to see if my memory is faulty or not: http://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats . Sales and expense graphs are on the left hand side. I don't have a profit per month graph simply because it would show wild swings just because of the timing of expenses -- sometimes AdWords will have two bills in one month and then none in the next, for example, just due to minute differences in timing.
Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
#8If you mean 'earns enough to cover monthly living expenses', about thirty months for the ad-supported bedbugregistry.com, and one week for pinboard.in (thanks to an enthusiastic plug from Daring Fireball which resulted in a large number of paid signups).
My limited experience with project revenue is that it's quite spiky, so that you have to be earning considerably more than a minimal amount before you can have confidence that you'll be able to cover your bills in a given month.
Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
#9This question is kind of general. It depends on your niche market and luck. I do suggest you follow Seth Godin's blog as he gives a lot of insightful advice you can use as startup. http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/ It might help though if you give more details.
Seth Godin makes his living by giving advice to others, rather than acting on it himself. I think it's better to solicit advice from the people who have succeeded in what you are trying to do.
Re: Ask HN: How long did it take you to get ramen profitable?
#10If you actually want some advice, you might need to divulge some more information. Start with how much do you need in order to be ramen profitable & how you plan to make it. Example: Some people mean doing some consulting on the side. Timeline's don't really apply to them.
You're right - my bad. My startup is a niche dating site (myzamana.com), I make money by selling subscriptions to members that want to message people they're interested in. Ramen profitable would mean paying food and rent for an average apartment/ food budget in Boston.
Looks like you're aiming more for chapati profitability.