I sell filk CDs and craft items at SF&F conventions. It feeds my need to create and share enjoyment with others. My spouse does all the computer stuff for it.
Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
651–660 of 744 posts
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#652Earlier 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…
I started playing with Options recently too. I read many books/blogs but "Trading Options Greeks: How Time, Volatility, and Other Pricing Factors Drive Profits" seems to be most helpful. Not sure if it is really a beginners book or not. I mostly stick with SPY and it keeps climbing. I just buy 30-45 days out calls that are slightly out of money. Usually sell them at 20-30% profits with in a few days. Of course, it is…
It's less than 5% of my total investments too (I am young and don't have tons of money yet). I will check out that book, I've already got a good intuition for the greeks but don't know much theory on how to actually price them in if I were to sell options.
The thing I'd be worried about with medium term SPY calls is that you will be completely wiped out by a recession. Or even if a correction happened like in December and didn't rebound fast enough. Of course during a bull market that's a fine strategy (as long as theta/IV don't eat any potential profits) , and if you are socking away your gains it's probably fine. But if you are just growing your options allocation by 50% every couple weeks and then throwing it all back into the same position, eventually your double or nothing will come up nothing. Just something to consider
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#653Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
someone needs to make wheels for those luggage suitcases, some wheels broke while the case is still good.
If you buy a bag with rollerblade wheels vs the plastic castering garbage that comes on a lot of bags you’ll get significantly more life out of them. I spend 15-20 days/month on the road and get several years out of rollerblade wheels.
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#654Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you make YouTube videos about it? I watch Chris Fix all the time, not for educational purpose (I don't own a car), but because they are so freaking satisfying to watch. Seeing things go from 'meh' to 'wow.'
I wonder how many people are going into diy/craft in the recent years. chrisfix makes nice videos, kingofrandom, dan rohas; for french car/bike chops: '103 mob stories' and 'Garage, Bangers and Rock'n Roll' matthias wandel and others for woodworking AvE OldTony for mech/metal Tons of electrical engineering
I love OldTony for his humour! I'm not quite interested in metal work but he explains things so well and makes it funny during the process!
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#655I established DamnInteresting.com in 2005, a place where myself and handful of others produce original long-form non-fiction in article and podcast form. Despite plenty of traffic, it didn't reach the break-even point for several years, because I despise advertisements and I refused to add them to my site. I funded the project in other ways, such as donations, publishing a book, licensing content, etc. Nowadays it st…
I started reading DI in 2005. I know because I found it during a lunch break at my first job.
The quality there never lets me down. Thanks for it!
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#656I build furniture. I don't make much - honestly, I just do maybe 1 paid project per year. I only use handtools (mostly due to shop constraints) Maybe someday I'll be able to do more with it.
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#657I make and sell staff paper notebooks for musicians: https://www.themusiciansnotebook.com/ I'm an avid saxophone player and am taking evening classes in theory, so I made this to solve a problem that I myself had. Nothing else like it on the market! Every part of this notebook is automatically generated with a bunch of python scripts: the cover design, the interior, the line placement, the margins. The program basica…
Very cool! I'm the CXO of TrueFire (leading music education software company with the largest library of online guitar lessons in the world) and would love to find a way to work together to get your notebooks in the hands of our 1+ million students :-) Let's jam on some ideas!
Would love that! Lots of folks have been asking for a guitar tab version, so if you think there's opportunity then I have a few ideas myself. What's the best way to reach you? jay@themusiciansnotebook.com
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#658I make and sell staff paper notebooks for musicians: https://www.themusiciansnotebook.com/ I'm an avid saxophone player and am taking evening classes in theory, so I made this to solve a problem that I myself had. Nothing else like it on the market! Every part of this notebook is automatically generated with a bunch of python scripts: the cover design, the interior, the line placement, the margins. The program basica…
>automatically generated with a bunch of python scripts
Can you expand on what you mean by this? Seems like straightforward design(s) that you can just keep printing over and over..
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#659Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait, are you saying that private used car sale is illegal in your state?
No, private car sales are legal as long as the seller isn't trying to make a profit off the car.
That seems like an insane restriction on what you can do with your private property. What are they trying to protect against? People peddling lemons? There must be a better way.
Re: Ask HN: What is your money-making side project outside programming?
#660Launched 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?
People like attention, especially if you care about what they're saying and take their needs and frustrations seriously.