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A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

failory.com

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Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#71

Post by sulam »

castle-bravo wrote: post #32
ghostbrainalpha wrote: post #11

The math on this makes no sense at all. > - Live off of $15k a year. Don't buy a house. Don't buy a fancy car. Just save. - Do this for a year. - Land a job that makes you $100k a year. Save the rest. Max out your 401k contribution. - Celebrate by living off of $30k a year. - Do this for three years. - Land a job that makes you $140k a year. Save the rest. Max out your 401k contribution. Get a Roth, put $5k a year in…

Yeah it doesn't make any sense at all. He grossed over 800k on a video game, loves programming, but after another three years he has to go back to his day job? It sounds like he's burning over 100k/year and lying about his expenses in this report. In any case, there's a lot of information left out.

He also said he has 10 years of emergency funds saved. IOW, he's saving and not touching the retirement. Good for him!

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#72

Post by otakucode »

notl4wy3r wrote: post #48
fragsworth wrote: post #5

This is incredibly depressing. It hits home for me because I'm in a very similar situation. I and one other guy almost went broke making Clicker Heroes, but it turned out to be a great success. But so far since then every project has not been worth doing. > I didn't do ads, I didn't do micro-transactions, scummy energy bars, and all those other bullshit monetization tactics. We did this in Clicker Heroes, and I don't…

Even if nobody was using scummy tactics, it'd be hard to compete. There are so many people who want to make video games. Hell, I wanted to, before I got my "boring" BigCo job. Personally, I'm really glad I decided not to make games. I like the safety a regular income brings. Maybe once I hit my number I'll make some games, and we'll see if I'm any good at it. In the meantime, I have nothing but admiration for those o…

Unfortunately, that 'safety' of a 'regular' income is almost entirely illusory as well. Employers stopped providing insulation from market fluctuations in the 1980s. If your market dips, your company will hemorrhage workers without a second thought. Your desire for a place you can 'settle down' will also be ruthlessly exploited, and if you don't jump to a different company every 4 or 5 years, you will rapidly end up making radically less than you could elsewhere due to your experience level. This is unfortunately the scenario companies have built. It can be dealt with so long as you understand the game as well as they do, though.

'Make game of that which makes as much of thee.'

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#73

Post by cdelsolar »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #7
cvaidya1986 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regret minimization framework. Looking back from your old age would you wish you had done something like this? Can you earn it all back with a good fall back plan on your expertise ?

And if you can’t earn it back, are you prepared to work until you die?

Coding until I die? sign me up

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#74

Post by amirrajan »

ryandrake wrote: post #59
angelsl wrote: post #21

No one's mentioned it yet, so I guess I'll be the one. I can't tolerate that many misspelt words and grammatical errors...

My guess is: English is his second language, but yes, I had a real hard time getting through that one. That piece would improve greatly with a little proofreading.

This comment made my day. Thank you :-)

I should have written it after my morning coffee.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#75

Post by amirrajan »

krutzger wrote: post #55

Finally created an account, just to say this "A Dark Room recently hit the #2 spot _overall_ on Google Play (pro tip: stick to iOS, the revenue is almost an order of magnitude better)" I bought the game on android to support the developer despite the game being VERY late to android. With that said, the android port is horrible . It's behind garbage. Amir cannot talk about love for the code and release crap like that.…

That sucks. I’d spend more time on the Android version. But there is a really high piracy rate. Buy a Samsung Galaxy S8, it was tested on there.

Both Michael and I appreciate the hat tip you gave us by buying it. Email me and I’ll glady refund your $0.99.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#76

Post by amirrajan »

downandout wrote: post #69

I have never been directly employed at a large Silicon Valley tech company. Is it really that difficult to work on side projects on your nights/weekends while working at these places? To be sure, it would take longer to get your projects finished, but you would also be doing so with the benefit of a steady paycheck and health insurance. If you happen to hit the lottery with your finished project, great - quit your jo…

+1. This guy took a huge risk and is an idiot. He got stupid lucky.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#77

Post by notl4wy3r »

otakucode wrote: post #72
notl4wy3r wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if nobody was using scummy tactics, it'd be hard to compete. There are so many people who want to make video games. Hell, I wanted to, before I got my "boring" BigCo job. Personally, I'm really glad I decided not to make games. I like the safety a regular income brings. Maybe once I hit my number I'll make some games, and we'll see if I'm any good at it. In the meantime, I have nothing but admiration for those o…

Unfortunately, that 'safety' of a 'regular' income is almost entirely illusory as well. Employers stopped providing insulation from market fluctuations in the 1980s. If your market dips, your company will hemorrhage workers without a second thought. Your desire for a place you can 'settle down' will also be ruthlessly exploited, and if you don't jump to a different company every 4 or 5 years, you will rapidly end up…

I provide my own insulation by spending much less than I make, and saving the rest. I have decades of savings at my current rate of spending. I'm about as safe as a person can be in this world.

My company has been paying me very competitively for more than a decade. I'm not worried about settling down here, but nobody else will make me a higher offer, at least not without requiring much more of my time than where I am at.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#78

Post by amirrajan »

rubicon33 wrote: post #2

> I liquidated my 401k savings (took all the tax penalties up front), and said "alright, gonna live off of this for as long as I can until I figure something out". This is the hard part in all of these stories. Props to him for having the courage (stupidity?). I think this forum is full of people who would not just love to quit their job and work on their own project, but would THRIVE in doing so. The problem is the…

Not courageous. Really stupid.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#79

Post by epa »

alexashka wrote: post #23
evmar wrote: post #4

"If we spend a second thinking about this, if 9 out of 10 startups fail, then we only need to roll the dice 10 times and the last startup will (by statistics) achieve success." That is not how statistics works. : With a 90% failure rate, your chance of failing 10 times in a row is (9/10)^10 ~= 35%.

The intuition behind it still stands - if you're going to not fail 65% of the time when you try 10 times, that's pretty decent.

External factors (such as age, cost, or economy) may prevent you from reaching the 10th time.

Re: A Dark Room: From Sabbatical Year to $800k

#80

Post by krrishd »

downandout wrote: post #69

I have never been directly employed at a large Silicon Valley tech company. Is it really that difficult to work on side projects on your nights/weekends while working at these places? To be sure, it would take longer to get your projects finished, but you would also be doing so with the benefit of a steady paycheck and health insurance. If you happen to hit the lottery with your finished project, great - quit your jo…

> Is it really that difficult to work on side projects on your nights/weekends while working at these places?

I only have internship experience to speak of, but I've noticed that when I'm writing code from 9-5 -- even though I thoroughly enjoy programming and creating stuff with it -- I end up uninterested in doing more of that in the free time I have left. I think it's a psychological thing more than a time thing.

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