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Thank HN: 7 months ago, I asked for help. Now I've got 5 employees.

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Re: Thank HN: 7 months ago, I asked for help. Now I've got 5 employees.

#111

Post by tomotomo »

ynniv wrote: post #24
justlearning wrote: post #15

would you be willing to divulge details on your app/business and country you reside in? Does this income sustain your family? $300-400 usd seems very little to get by. At the time of your posting, it seemed like a "student" in need of the cash. It's pay back time - your experiences,lessons learnt will be appreciated.

$400 USD is quite prosperous in many parts of the world. Not in the US, or the wealthier nations.

Not exactly $400 but in that range, here's what you can get for $600/mo in Saigon: http://www.saigonist.com/content/cost-living-vietnam-its-rea...

Re: Thank HN: 7 months ago, I asked for help. Now I've got 5 employees.

#112

Post by chipsy »

carbocation wrote: post #110
zackattack wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hasnt the stock market historically grown at a 10% annual rate

Yes, I agree (~8% over the very long run I think). But it's not timescale invariant. Look at what it's done over the past 10 years, for example (-1%). I'm not trying to say that the stock market doesn't grow over time. I'm just trying to say that if the mean annual growth is truly 8%, it has a really high variance. Thus, there are some things that I wouldn't count on (say, the ability to arbitrage from a 3%-interest…

The 8% claim is misleading and possibly harmful. Nobody wants returns to be that "lumpy" - down for 10 years! Who could stand it?

All investments have a certain lifespan on them - with things like bonds and T-bills, interest payments and maturity are fixed and contractually obligated, while with equities it's up to company performance. To really do well, you have to think like a trader and run all investments over a specific timeframe with predetermined exit signals for profit, loss, or trend changes.

It may look as if Warren Buffett lets money sit in the market. But he is actually running trades over decades of time. He has to - he literally has too much money to make useful(percentage-wise) profit in smaller time frames.

Re: Thank HN: 7 months ago, I asked for help. Now I've got 5 employees.

#113

Post by dkd »

sirn wrote: post #62
raheemm wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Like where? Not being sarcastic but even in a cheap place like Bangladesh, you need atleast $700/month to have a decent hacker life (constant electricity, decent internet, own apt, a hacker-friendly environment - coffee, music, hobby, junk food, etc).

Here in Bangkok, you can afford a pretty decent life at $400 a month given you don't live too close to a central part of the town. Internet here is cheap, $19.99 for a decent 6Mbps connection. Electricity is cheap, $65 for 24-hour air conditioning with always-on PC. Not sure about being hacker-friendly, though.

2nd on that. By the way, I am from bkk too.

Re: Thank HN: 7 months ago, I asked for help. Now I've got 5 employees.

#114

Post by sundarurfriend »

solutionyogi wrote: post #64
raheemm wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Like where? Not being sarcastic but even in a cheap place like Bangladesh, you need atleast $700/month to have a decent hacker life (constant electricity, decent internet, own apt, a hacker-friendly environment - coffee, music, hobby, junk food, etc).

You need 700$/month to have a decent hacker life in Banagladesh? Wow. I am originally from a second tier city called Surat in India. I think I can have a very comfortable life in 400$. Here's the breakdown (all costs in Indian Rupees): Monthly Rent for 1 Bedroom: Approx 4000 Internet: 2,000 (Not the fastest but hey, we are not hosting servers from the bedroom) Food: 1,500 (50 Rupees per day (eating out) for 30 days)…

How do you eat out and still spend only 50 rupees on food? Here in Bangalore I'd be hard pressed to keep it under 100, and it usually reaches near 150 rupees.

Re: Thank HN: 7 months ago, I asked for help. Now I've got 5 employees.

#115

Post by solutionyogi »

sundarurfriend wrote: post #114
solutionyogi wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need 700$/month to have a decent hacker life in Banagladesh? Wow. I am originally from a second tier city called Surat in India. I think I can have a very comfortable life in 400$. Here's the breakdown (all costs in Indian Rupees): Monthly Rent for 1 Bedroom: Approx 4000 Internet: 2,000 (Not the fastest but hey, we are not hosting servers from the bedroom) Food: 1,500 (50 Rupees per day (eating out) for 30 days)…

How do you eat out and still spend only 50 rupees on food? Here in Bangalore I'd be hard pressed to keep it under 100, and it usually reaches near 150 rupees.

I am talking about Surat (my hometown) and not Bangalore. Also, I am assuming that you would not eat at a high end restaurant. Heck, I was in Mangalore for a year and I think I can eat out every day for 50 bucks a day which will include breakfast/lunch/dinner.

Re: Thank HN: 7 months ago, I asked for help. Now I've got 5 employees.

#116

Post by Mz »

barrydahlberg wrote: post #85
needmoney wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right. But Patrick indicated to me that he was happy for me and that he would understand if I couldn't go on. I'll be totally honest, I should've kept in better sync with him and I felt terrible that my 2nd project fell behind schedule, but I really found myself totally engulfed in putting out fires in my personal business. Nothing went according to plan. I didn't abandon his project though, I finished it and…

Nothing went according to plan... Sounds like a typical startup plan to me!

"I love it when a plan comes together" -- An ironic quote from "The A Team", something their leader said every time something finally came together in spite of a zillion disasters and, no, it never went according to plan.

Re: Thank HN: 7 months ago, I asked for help. Now I've got 5 employees.

#117

Post by carbocation »

chipsy wrote: post #112
carbocation wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I agree (~8% over the very long run I think). But it's not timescale invariant. Look at what it's done over the past 10 years, for example (-1%). I'm not trying to say that the stock market doesn't grow over time. I'm just trying to say that if the mean annual growth is truly 8%, it has a really high variance. Thus, there are some things that I wouldn't count on (say, the ability to arbitrage from a 3%-interest…

The 8% claim is misleading and possibly harmful. Nobody wants returns to be that "lumpy" - down for 10 years! Who could stand it? All investments have a certain lifespan on them - with things like bonds and T-bills, interest payments and maturity are fixed and contractually obligated, while with equities it's up to company performance. To really do well, you have to think like a trader and run all investments over a…

I agree that the 8% number is, at once, misleading, harmful, and true! True because it is a simple observation, but misleading because people behave as though the future recapitulates the past, of which there is no guarantee.

I think that the "misleading and harmful" part is more important--which was the crux of my original comment about the lack of consistency.

Re: Thank HN: 7 months ago, I asked for help. Now I've got 5 employees.

#118

Post by infinite8s »

carbocation wrote: post #110
zackattack wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hasnt the stock market historically grown at a 10% annual rate

Yes, I agree (~8% over the very long run I think). But it's not timescale invariant. Look at what it's done over the past 10 years, for example (-1%). I'm not trying to say that the stock market doesn't grow over time. I'm just trying to say that if the mean annual growth is truly 8%, it has a really high variance. Thus, there are some things that I wouldn't count on (say, the ability to arbitrage from a 3%-interest…

Not only that - the last half century has been the most productive period of US growth in it's history. Just because it happened during the last 50 years doesn't mean the same will occur in the future. At the moment, economists are thinking that with the enormous amounts of debt in this country, it will be a while before we see any kind of sustained growth.
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