How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So • Hacker News Board

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#81

Post by lscharen » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:38 PM UTC

mstade wrote: post #65

raamdev wrote: post #8

> I find it astonishing that startup indie devs pay out for an office, with all the extra bills that entails. Work from home, keep your overheads as close to zero as possible. I've been a solo dev for nearly a decade (8 years) and I found that sometimes it makes complete sense to pay for an office. Before my daughter was born, I was able to work from almost anywhere: noisy cafes, at home, the library, etc. But after…

I kill two birds with one stone: my apartment is actually two in disguise. I have two front doors, one leading to a third of the apartment (it's a rather large 4-bed) which is quite literally closed off from the rest by simply locking the internal door that connects the two. It may sound silly to have to literally exit the apartment to enter the office when it's literally next door, but it does have some value. Also…

I totally get it; I also need a separate space to switch mindsets.

Your setup reminds me of an article I read many years ago on these sorts of "tricks" to stay disciplined when working from home. One of the tips an individual used was to

  1. Walk out his front door
  2. Lock it
  3. Walk around the block
  4. Re-enter the house

And he was now in "work mode". At the end of the day, he reversed the process by walking around the block in the opposite direction in order to "get home".

Seemed quite brilliant to me at the time.

edit: Just noticed that enraged_camel engages this exact technique below.

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#82

Post by hartator » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:48 PM UTC

lscharen wrote: post #81

mstade wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kill two birds with one stone: my apartment is actually two in disguise. I have two front doors, one leading to a third of the apartment (it's a rather large 4-bed) which is quite literally closed off from the rest by simply locking the internal door that connects the two. It may sound silly to have to literally exit the apartment to enter the office when it's literally next door, but it does have some value. Also…

I totally get it; I also need a separate space to switch mindsets. Your setup reminds me of an article I read many years ago on these sorts of "tricks" to stay disciplined when working from home. One of the tips an individual used was to 1. Walk out his front door 2. Lock it 3. Walk around the block 4. Re-enter the house And he was now in "work mode". At the end of the day, he reversed the process by walking around t…

What's enraged_camel?

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#83

Post by fancy_pantser » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:49 PM UTC

Alupis wrote: post #23

raamdev wrote: post #8

> I find it astonishing that startup indie devs pay out for an office, with all the extra bills that entails. Work from home, keep your overheads as close to zero as possible. I've been a solo dev for nearly a decade (8 years) and I found that sometimes it makes complete sense to pay for an office. Before my daughter was born, I was able to work from almost anywhere: noisy cafes, at home, the library, etc. But after…

I think the real lesson that's being conveyed is "Don't gear up like you're a successful business until you are a successful business". > When your game sells and makes some money, treat it in terms of how many years you’ve got until you’d have to get a ‘proper job’ > I’d released three games before I went ‘full time’, and my 4th was just about ready to launch. The first games were made in my spare time while my Real…

> They run around organizing things, setting up office space, getting logo's designed by fancy marketing companies, hold meetings, etc... they do everything except figure out how to make money.

I just heard an extremely similar message from Steve Martin in his Masterclass video series: "I was talking to some students and they were saying things like, 'how do I get an agent?', 'where do I get my headshots?' and I just thought... shouldn't the first thing you're thinking about be how do I be good?"

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#84

Post by grzm » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:53 PM UTC

hartator wrote: post #82

lscharen wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I totally get it; I also need a separate space to switch mindsets. Your setup reminds me of an article I read many years ago on these sorts of "tricks" to stay disciplined when working from home. One of the tips an individual used was to 1. Walk out his front door 2. Lock it 3. Walk around the block 4. Re-enter the house And he was now in "work mode". At the end of the day, he reversed the process by walking around t…

What's enraged_camel?

HN member 'enraged_camel: https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=enraged_camel

Your parent is referring to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14265636

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#85

Post by SyneRyder » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:54 PM UTC

conradfr wrote: post #55

throw9966 wrote: post #17

The best advice that I got was don't quit your full time job. My desktop sharewares dont sell that often nowadays, but its enough to pay my rent and monthly expenses. The salary that I get from my full time job goes direct to my bank untouched. > "Working from a cafe" 100% agree. For me, no work gets done from a cafe. I wonder what work people do by sitting at Starbucks. I cant write one line of code if I am being co…

IIRC the two guys from 2dboy developed World of Goo in coffee shops.

I think there's quite a few indie developers who do. Delicious Monster got featured in Wired for working out of Zoka Coffee in Seattle [1], and if I remember correctly that's where the Cloak VPN team works from sometimes too.

[1] https://www.wired.com/2005/01/monster-fueled-by-caffeine/

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#86

Post by gommm » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:55 PM UTC

throw9966 wrote: post #17

The best advice that I got was don't quit your full time job. My desktop sharewares dont sell that often nowadays, but its enough to pay my rent and monthly expenses. The salary that I get from my full time job goes direct to my bank untouched. > "Working from a cafe" 100% agree. For me, no work gets done from a cafe. I wonder what work people do by sitting at Starbucks. I cant write one line of code if I am being co…

Coffee shops are great place to do admin work or any work that doesn't demand a lot of attention but tends to be boring. I find that I have an easier time focusing on such work in a coffee shop than at home.

On the other hand, I have a lot more difficulties concentrating on work in an open-space office mostly because the discussions around me would then tend to be related to my work so I can't just completely tune them out.

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#87

Post by [deleted] » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:57 PM UTC

brianwawok wrote: post #70

mstade wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I kill two birds with one stone: my apartment is actually two in disguise. I have two front doors, one leading to a third of the apartment (it's a rather large 4-bed) which is quite literally closed off from the rest by simply locking the internal door that connects the two. It may sound silly to have to literally exit the apartment to enter the office when it's literally next door, but it does have some value. Also…

Was it built as an inlaw suite or something? That sounds like a sweet setup.

[deleted]

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#88

Post by gommm » Thu, May 04, 2017, 5:59 PM UTC

gcb0 wrote: post #80

was the author abused by a 3d space shooting game? why pick on that genre as the holy grail of a game that won't be finished? Iam almost sure I'm missing some internal game dev joke.

It's a reference to Star Citizen which is well known for the repeated delays and promises.... Or maybe a reference to No Man's Sky...

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#89

Post by vog » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:01 PM UTC

c0nfused wrote: post #58

vog wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I tried cafes and libraries but, oddly, they no longer worked for me—the noise and the people walking by suddenly became a huge distraction. I see that issue with cafés, but I never had such an issue with libraries. At least the libraries I know are very quiet and their staff takes great care to keep it quiet. My problem with the library was that on some days, I needed to phone quite often, or was called quite ofte…

The coworking spaces nearest me are priced at 250$/seat /month for the lowest level plan and I am in a cheaper city than most. That doesn't include a desk that's yours, just that you can come in every day and use the space. Your own desk starts at the price point for his office. If your goal is peace and quiet, I would argue his studio is money well spent. Source: http://www.804rva.com/memberships.html

I first thought that this is quite expensive (250$ are roughly 230€), but then I had a look at local offers here in Berlin. Here it is 210€/month, so only slightly cheaper. However, you can get a cheaper place if you use it only part-time.

Source: https://members.co-up.de/

Re: How to Survive as a Solo Dev for Like a Decade or So

#90

Post by matchagaucho » Thu, May 04, 2017, 6:02 PM UTC

raamdev wrote: post #8

> I find it astonishing that startup indie devs pay out for an office, with all the extra bills that entails. Work from home, keep your overheads as close to zero as possible. I've been a solo dev for nearly a decade (8 years) and I found that sometimes it makes complete sense to pay for an office. Before my daughter was born, I was able to work from almost anywhere: noisy cafes, at home, the library, etc. But after…

I've waffled on office location several times. My equilibrium is "home office first", use WeWork or shared office spaces for one-day to meet with clients, and use AirBnB for #DigitalNomad "workations".