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How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

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Re: How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

#111

Post by kbenson »

yeldarb wrote: post #51
burtonator wrote: post #34

I actually did this too... I create Datastreamer ( http://www.datastreamer.io/ ) which (when I created it) was an RSS syndication platform as a service. You gave us RSS feeds and then we would index them and send you the output without having to deal with the insanity of RSS feeds. This was a decade ago though. I've been running it since and now it's more of a massive search engine of content - nearly a petabyte at t…

> I was more focused on enjoying life, traveling, backpacking, etc. > In retrospect when you're sitting on a rocket it might make sense to buy more gas and light up that bad boy. I can identify with this. I started a Facebook game in early 2008 that picked up a million users in its first year. Back then all the stars were aligned and if I would have had a bigger vision for it there’s no reason it couldn’t have turned…

The flip side of this is realizing where the path might have lead you. Were I in your position, I suspect my regret might be tinged with relief. Zynga might be an extremely profitable company, but they also epitomize some of what I view as the most egregious offenses in manipulation human nature for monetary gain.

So, were I presented with your prior circumstances and had I capitalized on them, would my convictions have caused the company to fail, or steered it a less profitable path, or possible have been compromised through a slow erosion, greed, or a combination thereof?

For another take, if the Zuckerberg of 2004/2005 was presented with what Facebook would be in 2019, extreme success, billions of dollars, social problems, and increasing questions about what role it does and has played in Democracy and an informed populace, how do we think he might have thought of all that?

Re: How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

#112

Post by [deleted] »

kokokokoko wrote: post #110
hawkice wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, ya see, it's wrong to pay people in poorer countries less because now you're talking to a poor person. If you hire an American, you never even spoke to a poor person, so it isn't your fault. If that sounds like a fever dream, you aren't alone, but it's my best guess at understanding what's happening. Obviously, my complete lack of employing people in central Africa is why they are all middle class Americans now,…

Or, maybe pay people a living wage no matter what country they are from? Doesn't seem that unreasonable.

[deleted]

Re: How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

#113

Post by goatlover »

wildermuthn wrote: post #44
holoduke wrote: post #13

I created a successful side project back in 2014. It is still running and making 20 times more than I would get with a normal job. But i was lucky. Lucky to be born in a rich country. Lucky because I was given a computer at the age of 5. Lucky because I had unlimited education opportunities. Lucky because I had a friend who gave me access to something I needed for my business. And many other lucks. I will never deny…

A lot of comments here about “luck” ignore the essential nature of it: its subjectivity. Objectively, there is no such thing as luck, but only circumstance. Circumstance can certainly be beyond our control. Luck, however, is our subjective interpretation of circumstance, and is very much within our power to control. Are you lucky or unlucky? Are your circumstances lucky or unlucky? Your answer to that question doesn’…

> Do these beliefs change anything about the real opportunities or obstacles that come our way? Not one bit. But beliefs dramatically affect what we see and what we do.

Wouldn't it be better to believe the truth that beliefs don't change the circumstances that come our way instead of believing in good or bad luck? The downside of thinking you're lucky is a tendency to overlook problems. I've noticed that when people (including myself) are being overly optimistic, potential challenges and pitfalls are minimized.

Re: How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

#114

Post by vesak »

kokokokoko wrote: post #110
hawkice wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, ya see, it's wrong to pay people in poorer countries less because now you're talking to a poor person. If you hire an American, you never even spoke to a poor person, so it isn't your fault. If that sounds like a fever dream, you aren't alone, but it's my best guess at understanding what's happening. Obviously, my complete lack of employing people in central Africa is why they are all middle class Americans now,…

Or, maybe pay people a living wage no matter what country they are from? Doesn't seem that unreasonable.

Well, if a person is producing below a living wage, then it's difficult to pay that person a living wage.

Re: How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

#116

Post by zorga »

unclebucknasty wrote: post #106
zorga wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As a millennial myself, I would like the need for income taken off the table In other words, I'd like someone else to pay for taking care of me, my shelter, my food. > so that I can find a recurring source of meaningful work. So that I can follow my desires rather than being forced to pay my own way. As a gen-x'er I just have say, you are not entitled to other people's labor, certainly not so you can avoid labor yo…

Your entire comment--including suggestions as to what the OP really wants--is predicated on the belief that the current structure is the result of some static law of nature, rather than completely man-made. If you envision other means of distributing the planet's vast resources, then you'll realize that there are alternatives beyond a) working unfulfilling jobs that produce wealth for others in order to subsist; and…

> If you envision other means of distributing the planet's vast resources

Whether you pay for yourself, or others pay for you, is a binary choice. There are no other options that don't fall into those two categories.

> is predicated on the belief that the current structure is the result of some static law of nature

Nope, just on the nature of boolean logic.

Re: How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

#117

Post by DATACOMMANDER »

unclebucknasty wrote: post #109
hnzix wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the fallacy of low rent/cost of living in developing economies Let's say a knowledge worker in a developing country could survive on $1 USD a day, adjusting food and rent to local cost. If a local white collar job paid them $5 a day, and a remote "exploiting" job paid them $15 a day, but an American could earn $50 a day for the same task, is this really a moral hazard?

Yes.

Because he should be employing Americans, or because he should be paying the developing-country worker $50/day? If the latter, how do you think that workers in developing countries are going to go from making $5/day to $50/day if they never make anything in between? Surely a 200% pay increase given immediately is better than a 900% pay increase that’s purely hypothetical?

Re: How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

#118

Post by tiuPapa »

burtonator wrote: post #34

I actually did this too... I create Datastreamer ( http://www.datastreamer.io/ ) which (when I created it) was an RSS syndication platform as a service. You gave us RSS feeds and then we would index them and send you the output without having to deal with the insanity of RSS feeds. This was a decade ago though. I've been running it since and now it's more of a massive search engine of content - nearly a petabyte at t…

What's code war?

Re: How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

#119

Post by akudha »

illumin8 wrote: post #84
derekp7 wrote: post #43

If you don't mind me asking, I'd like some help laying out what my next steps should be on one of my side projects. I had an idea for a side project, ran it by a hand full of friends and associates, expecting to have a bunch of holes poked into it (they have done that to me many times in the past). This time they all think I have something. Problem is I work full time, as a Linux systems engineer (30 years of Unix ex…

Honestly, as someone who has started a 5-6 figure monthly "side-hustle" in an area where there are many other players, and which requires learning new frontend skills, while I'm a crusty UNIX/Linux head, 30 years experience like you, I would say: just do it! Here is the thing I learned in 2018, in which I also generated >$700K of side income working 10-12 hours a week (mornings, evenings, and weekends): If you know h…

Can you talk a bit more about these side gigs of yours? As much as you can, without affecting your biz.

Re: How I Built a $5K a Month Side Project

#120

Post by Lucadg »

burtonator wrote: post #34

I actually did this too... I create Datastreamer ( http://www.datastreamer.io/ ) which (when I created it) was an RSS syndication platform as a service. You gave us RSS feeds and then we would index them and send you the output without having to deal with the insanity of RSS feeds. This was a decade ago though. I've been running it since and now it's more of a massive search engine of content - nearly a petabyte at t…

Couldn't agree more. I had been travelling and backpacking for 8 years when Airbnb came along. To me my website was just a booking platform. Then I realised I could have done something huge. Oh no wait,I did, I traveled full time for 8 years. I sometimes try but I just can't regret this.
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