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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?

#421

Post by rayraegah »

adam_ellsworth wrote: post #269
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…

On ethnography what books would you recommend?

I've been reading books on philosophy, cognitive science and behavioural psychology for half a decade.

For ethnography I don't have any recommendations. I've read books largely to complement my thinking, phenomenology and existentialism. Here's what I've read (notable ones):

Being and Time – Martin Heidegger

The Principle of Reason – Martin Heidegger

Phenomenology of Perception – Maurice Merleau-Ponty

New Reflections on the Revolution of Our Time – Ernesto Laclau

Introduction to Metaphysics – Martin Heidegger

The Basic Problems of Phenomenology (Studies in Phenomenology & Existential Philosophy) – Martin Heidegger

History of Western Philosophy – Bertrand Russell

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

#424

Post by cimmanom »

m0zg wrote: post #351
denormalfloat wrote: post #72

Invest in an S&P 500 ETF. This is probably the lowest effort side project you can have which still makes money. Also, if you learn about the stock market, it makes you more confident in how your savings looks, how your retirement will look, how to manage money, etc.

Wealth Multiplier Protip: if you're a business owner (even if your business is just a single person LLC) you can put away up to $56K a year pre-tax into your "solo" 401k.

Do you need to find an administrator for the solo 401k? How does one set that up?

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

#425

Post by rayraegah »

kingbirdy wrote: post #360
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…

How do you do this while also working as a full time engineer?

I negotiated with my current employer, sacrifice salary for time. I get a few extra hours each week. My full-time job doesn't demand a lot. I manage it quite well and get things done during business hours.

I manage my time quite well, I get eight hours of sleep everyday and the rest I try to be productive. I have a wife who understands what I'm trying to do and helps me out. Needless to say I work on weekends and holidays and gave up all hobbies.

It's not easy but it's a choice. This has helped me build habits and a discipline. I am mindful and try not to bite off more than I can chew i.e. understand my limits.

My side project has also changed the way I think about engineering problems and solutions. Since I work on the growth team its complementary rather than diverging.

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

#426

Post by richk449 »

holoduke wrote: post #230
grecy wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. A friend buys and restores old Porsche 911s. He will pay anything for custom made parts that are rare as hens teeth. As an example there is a housing around the main cooling fan that seems to be titanium or aluminum or something very exotic. [1] A company does sell a replacement, which he paid a fortune for, which had garbage tolerances and we spent weeks modifying it until it fit more or less well enough. I su…

I am into older Maserati's. Own a couple of them. I do a lot of manufacturing myself. 3d printing, cncing. The problem is that whenever I design a replacement panel, wishbones or various other stuff and try to sell them commercialy I will get sued by the original Maserati company. On a low scale it's fine, but you will never get a living out of it. The only parts which are in a gray area are rims, exhausts, filters,…

What do they sue you for? If you are upfront about what you are selling, and you didn't steal any IP, it isn't fraud or theft of trade secrets. Maybe they have patents, and claim you are violating them? I can't see how it is illegal to reverse engineer a part and sell a similar version.

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

#427

Post by rayraegah »

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.

MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue). Sorry about the typo. To clarify its from retainers.

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

#428

Post by rayraegah »

hhs wrote: post #62
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…

This sounds interesting. Did you build an app for this type of ethnography? And do you collect and make sense of qualitative information?

The philosophy behind my approach to research is based on the phenomenon, the science of how things are experienced. I start by working with my clients to identify a human phenomenon at the heart of their business.

I use psychographics to define customer values, opinions, and life-style.

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

#429

Post by rayraegah »

kiic wrote: post #80
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…

This is really interesting. It sounds like this is a form of consulting where would-be founders outsource the idea-gen / problem discovery work to you. How does the problem statement from the client manifest -- is it usually something like "I want you to determine if there's a market for X", or "I want you to explore this demographic of people," or something else?

Clients come to me with major and fundamental business issues, characterized by a high degree of uncertainty. Most of my work is focused on helping my clients get a view of their business from outside.

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

#430

Post by trophycase »

fabricexpert wrote: post #240
asciident wrote: post #208

Not really a productive venture, but it was profitable. I used a 3% cashback credit card on a financial company's money sending service with no fees, and sent my sister $3,500 every two days. She'd then eventually pay me back through bank ACH (also free). Then I'd pay off my credit card every week so my credit balance remained low. Made about $1,500 a month for a year, before they stopped giving cashback for transfer…

This seems a tad unethical

Somewhat disagree. Not only do these spending bonuses encourage endebtedness and consumerism, but don't forget that such bonuses likely aren't offered the the poor (read: bad credit score), and the credit card companies use and sell your information to advertisers (and probably hedge funds) while credit rating agencies likely do the same and are basically not held accountable (see Equifax).

If these are companies like JP Morgan - Chase, then let's also not forget how they were helped by the American taxpayer during the recession and that basically nobody was held accountable.

I'm also of the opinion that it is basically impossible for any corporation to do business ethically, so I largely have no problem with it.

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