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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?

#571

Post by opportune »

krit_dms wrote: post #565
opportune wrote: post #508

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For options? I guess http://www.optionstrading.org/strategies/a-z-list/ is a good place to start. One way people just starting out with options fuck up is that they take out positions with a very large upside but also very high risk to ruin. It's like going to a roulette table basically. If you take out more complex positions you can limit your downside, make money on sideways movements, etc. You can also limit downs…

Hull's Options futures and derivatives is the 101 for most things finance. Its a good place to start. https://www.amazon.com/Options-Futures-Derivatives-English-S...

I think that might have been it actually! Can't remember for sure

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

#572

Post by nestorD »

I translate magic books (with a speciality on old books that I find for my editor).

Like others in this thread, it started as a hobby and evolved as I made contacts. It feels quitte good to know that a hobby is now earning me more money that I spend in it.

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

#573

Post by arsalanb »

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…

Logged into my HN account just to upvote and thank you for this. Is there a way I can contact you about this to learn more about your services?

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

#574

Post by typeliftr03 »

daveslash wrote: post #540
davidjnelson wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks, this is insightful. Sounds like the opportunity cost of a side business isn't worth it for you right?

to;dr -- Never devalue your personal time. If you can, monetize your hobbies that you'd be doing anyway. I don't have a side-hustle yet, but I'm working on one. As you pointed out, there's an opportunity cost to a side-business. I'm working on a scheme to monetize a hobby; make money off something I'd be doing anyway. I'm just over 10 years into my career, recently married with a teenage step-child. My family-time or…

For me, monetizing a hobby is a quick way to start hating it. Unless you really want as much money as you can get, you probably shouldn't monetize all of your hobbies.

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

#575

Post by sauravt »

adamzerner wrote: post #350

Playing poker! My winrate online is only a couple dollars an hour. I don't play live very often so I don't have the sample size to say what my winrate would be, but I'd guess $10-20/hr. So, ultimately, not too much money. But if I keep improving, my winrate should keep going up. It also makes a lot of sense because I'm developing a poker app - https://premiumpokertools.com/ . So I guess it is sort of tied into progra…

Nice app. I've been trying to improve my post flop game. Will check it out.

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

#576

Post by rayraegah »

arsalanb wrote: post #573
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…

Logged into my HN account just to upvote and thank you for this. Is there a way I can contact you about this to learn more about your services?

If you fill out this short form, I’ll reach out to you. If you just want to chat casually I’m on Twitter, same username as HN.

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

#577

Post by rayraegah »

sharkweek wrote: post #370
Sileni wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This is absolutely true. I also ask my clients for customer contact information and reach out to them until I have enough subjects.

Do not be discouraged by the no’s. Starting with friends and network is an option.

It also helps if you have a code of conduct/governance documentation for them to read and understand how their data is gathered and used.

I usually send a copy of all data to my subjects with a thank you letter and how it helped (with a gift card).

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

#579

Post by em-bee »

jawns wrote: post #282

I write nonfiction books. I used to be a magazine/newspaper editor. About eight years ago, I made a career change and became a full-time programmer. But I wanted to continue to write. So I wrote a book proposal, found an agent who loved it, found some publishers who were interested, and went with a publisher who offered a two-book deal. My first book, "Experimenting With Babies: 50 Amazing Science Projects You Can Pe…

you made one years worth of a programmers salary from all your books? how much work was it to get there?
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