I realise that this is not going to make me popular on HN. However, apart from the job, I have the best side-business ─ being idle, sleeping a lot and generally acting like a bum; all the things that make me happy are hobbies and I have never had any real intentions to monetise them.
Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
361–370 of 744 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#362Breville 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 use a super cheap hand grinder I bought off amazon (the stainless steel one that there are 100 different variations of on amazon). There is a plastic part that breaks after about 6 months of usage. Someone modeled and uploaded a replacement piece to Thingiverse. The grinder is cheap enough that it is disposable, but since it is so easy to print a replacement piece with my $179 3D printer, I haven’t needed to throw…
Anecodte: Bought an old one for my aunt, but it was dirty and rusty. Polished it, but I just learned some parts might be Cadmium coated. What a bore.
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#363I realise that this is not going to make me popular on HN. However, apart from the job, I have the best side-business ─ being idle, sleeping a lot and generally acting like a bum; all the things that make me happy are hobbies and I have never had any real intentions to monetise them.
you should sell tutorials about it
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#364Property management. It can be a pain sometimes, but honestly I enjoy having to spend a day once in a while painting a house or clearing weeds.
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#365I buy cars, repair them and recondition them to my level of satisfaction, and send them back out the door, typically targeting 55-65 year olds. I focus mostly on entry level luxury crossovers around 7 to 10 years old, though starting to also do hybrids since there’s more profit in it since everyone is seemingly allergic to batteries and pack replacement/rebuilds. Parts are cheap, I listen to music or a podcast, I do…
I wanted to do this. Restoring devices is very zen like, and I might throw in some computing kits (bt/usb/car tablet).
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#366Music! I play with a gypsy jazz band about four or five times a month here in Amsterdam, and I occasionally give guitar lessons from home. I also make a few bucks a month from Patreon for my YouTube guitar performances.
That gypsy jazz combo sounds amazing, would you mind sharing a link to where I can listen to it?
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#367Well this isn't totally outside programming but you can tutor programming on wyzant.com for some good hourly rates. Even cool if you like teaching what you do, plus you'll probably not be teaching stuff as complex as your daily hustle :)
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#368Not necessarily outside of programming, but I used to do web pages for wineries in Oregon when it wasn't so obvious for a business to have a website. I'd always do it for barter, never cash. We had a pretty nice wine cellar back then.
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#369I realise that this is not going to make me popular on HN. However, apart from the job, I have the best side-business ─ being idle, sleeping a lot and generally acting like a bum; all the things that make me happy are hobbies and I have never had any real intentions to monetise them.
you should sell tutorials about it
Thanks for the suggestion, but it is not a novel concept. It takes some re-configuration or leap of faith, to accept it as a personal development plan.
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#370Launched 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…
I think this is a fascinating project, but I have to ask. How do you get your foot in the door with consumers? I'd feel a bit sketched out if someone showed up and just asked to follow me around for a while. What's the incentive?
I have done a lot of consumer research for a previous job - I honestly think if you give someone an ear to talk to about almost anything a lot of people will do it.
With that being said, you might get a handful of, "no, absolutely not that's creepy" responses to the request, but if you ask enough people someone will say yes and be excited about it.