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Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

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Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#131

Post by dantillberg »

neurotrace wrote: post #124
rayraegah wrote: post #13

Launched in 2016 for free. Started making money in 2018 with $3,000+ MMR. Referral only (side) business. I work full-time as an engineer/principal in growth. I conduct a form of ethnography, embedding myself in the lives of consumers the way Margaret Mead did among Samoans. I interviews my subjects and the people around them, itemizing the contents of their home (photographing and videotaping), and accompany them as…

When I look up MMR I get "measles, mumps, and rubella." I assume that isn't what you're referring to.

I think the parent meant "MRR" -- monthly recurring revenue.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#132

Post by microtherion »

dplgk wrote: post #88
october_sky wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clever. Do you have the intention to make more replacement parts for other products?

The hard part is finding appliances that need fixing. This is super easy if you happen to own a lot do things that break. If not, it becomes quite boring and tedious to scout out things that are breaking for other people, that you have no personal motivation to fix, to get the broken appliance and then figure out the 3d model for the bad part.

A few years ago I bought a replacement part for a baby stroller: https://www.shapeways.com/shops/bugabooparts

It's a neat business model: The person posts DIY repair videos on youtube, which drives traffic to his site. The strollers can easily cost $1000 new, and are often handed down / resold, so there is motivation to keep them running, and they have some weak spots which tend to break. The 3D printed replacement parts can be of superior quality to the original parts.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#133

Post by mrfusion »

electricslpnsld wrote: post #54

For the past few years I've been buying, renovating, and selling small-ish houses. My dad was a contractor growing up so I picked up most of the necessary skills helping him out during middle and high school. I mostly work on weekends and holidays which makes it a bit slow going, but I've made a reasonable amount of money. Even if the money was worse I would still probably do it, I really enjoy both the physical aspe…

Would it make more sense to rent them out rather than sell?

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#134

Post by sourceless »

neurotrace wrote: post #124
rayraegah wrote: post #13

Launched in 2016 for free. Started making money in 2018 with $3,000+ MMR. Referral only (side) business. I work full-time as an engineer/principal in growth. I conduct a form of ethnography, embedding myself in the lives of consumers the way Margaret Mead did among Samoans. I interviews my subjects and the people around them, itemizing the contents of their home (photographing and videotaping), and accompany them as…

When I look up MMR I get "measles, mumps, and rubella." I assume that isn't what you're referring to.

Probably meant MRR

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#135

Post by johannes1234321 »

I have the luxury/privilege that my job pays well. I can do side stuff purely for enjoyment. That enabled me to explore different areas (like bee keeping) or explore scial stuff (i.e. social volunteering in a jail) without having customer demands or such.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#136

Post by bardworx »

xiphias2 wrote: post #65
samsonradu wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would like to hear more about this, specially from an European perspective and EUR-denominated investments.

I'm focusing on Bitcoin and physical gold / silver, as I view stocks and houses overvalued, but I always get downvoted here on HN when I go into details, that's why I prefer if people read a lot for themselves. I like Mike Maloney's youtube series as a start on macroeconomics.

Are there any other books/yt channels you recommend on long term investment? And would you allow me to ask some follow up questions?

Thanks.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#137

Post by pettycashstash2 »

gottebp wrote: post #32

Breville coffee grinders are impossible to get internal parts for. I designed a 3D printed upgrade for the main wear-part in their BCG800XL and BCG600SIL Grinders. The storefront is through ShapeWays[1] and I use iFixit[2],[3] to drive the traffic. It passively makes enough to cover my own coffee needs forever. I spend about 20 minutes per month fielding questions. This all happened because my grinder failed and I co…

I recently ordered a part for my daughters dresser drawer - the Kenlin Rite-TrackII, and paid $12 for four including shipping. 6 to 7 years ago I paid $68 for a single part. To my surprise when I opened my recent plastic mailer envelope, I discovered it was a 3D printed piece. Any idea how one can 3d scan a part for exact copy?

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#138

Post by nimbix »

unixhero wrote: post #100

I am a corporate drone and not a programmer, but anyways; I sell computer chips on the Craigslist of my home country. Mostly Intel CPUs, genuine and not engineering samples. Wherever eBay can't reach due to import tolls, there is a market. Profits are at around 30% margin. It feels fun and does not feel like work. It has helped me save up to some nice vacations. Going to Japan in the summer. This activity is somewhat…

A friend of mine used to work at a junkyard. People would bring in old computers all the time and he could buy working parts from the company by the pound (literally). He made a lot on the side selling them online to people who needed spare parts that were no longer in production.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#139

Post by superamit »

bentossell wrote: post #75

Makerpad.co - I teach people how to build projects without code. I’m collaborating with companies now to help provide educational content on how to use the tools for a non-technical project or business. Last 4 weeks revenue is around 30k (from memberships and companies paying to be listed and create the content which isn’t released yet). It’s pretty much all profit too as I do it solo with little overhead. There’s a…

Came across this recently and love it! Excellent job picking a nice. I see a lot of potential here.

Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?

#140

Post by mrfusion »

rossenberg79 wrote: post #3

I woodwork at a local makershop, I started out making random things for my home and when I no longer had ideas for other stuff I wanted I’d make things and give them away for free to friends. Eventually other people wanted to know if I can make them custom pieces so I began doing it for money, mostly to cover cost of materials and a bit of time for labor. Not making big money from it but it’s fulfilling work and good…

What are your most popular items?
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