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My Second Year as a Solo Developer

mtlynch.io

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Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#101

Post by bdcravens »

SergeAx wrote: post #99
theli0nheart wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sorry to say but this proves that for someone who actually has to work for a living ie earn money, corporate life is absolutely the correct choice. Not really. This just proves that corporate life isn't the most profitable option for the OP. You just can't make sweeping statements like this based on a single anecdote. I'll offer this to other "corporate" folk out there. I was self-employed since late 2010 until I r…

> During my last year of self-employment I took home ~$400k in cash, and lots more in early-stage stock You've lost me here. Are those ealry-stage stock of yourself, giving you were self -employed? Or you made side jobs with cash+stock payments?

I believe clients compensated them with stock.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#102

Post by NKCSS »

xchaotic wrote: post #20

Sorry to say but this proves that for someone who actually has to work for a living ie earn money, corporate life is absolutely the correct choice. Even for Mr Lynch these experiments in charity wouldn’t be possible without the nest egg from google (which he acknowledged). To go from net 100k+ to below zero and still be unprofitable after two years is a financial disaster.

Nah, but it's hard to launch a successfull product; if it wasn't, everyone would be doing it.

I'm doing contracting work for multiple different customers, long-term project, and I generate 100-200k of revenue on a yearly basis from that. That leaves me with slightly higher salary than if I'd work for a boss, but I have tonnes, and tonnes more freedom and time for my kids. It's just not possible to scale that past 300k/yr, because there's only so much time you can sell.

Once you have a product, you can scale it through the roof, since a digital product, if set up well, has negligible costs, will allow you to earn way more, but only if you find something that people want bad enough to pay for and a large enough group to pay for it. Loads and loads of people have the skills required to build a product, but not a lot have the right idea and marketing to go along with it to make it a success.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#103

Post by tempsy »

JacKTrocinskI wrote: post #36
xchaotic wrote: post #20

Sorry to say but this proves that for someone who actually has to work for a living ie earn money, corporate life is absolutely the correct choice. Even for Mr Lynch these experiments in charity wouldn’t be possible without the nest egg from google (which he acknowledged). To go from net 100k+ to below zero and still be unprofitable after two years is a financial disaster.

Totally agree, would never do what OP has done, I like my job and what I do plus I get paid well.

good for you?

for most of history everyone worked for themselves. one could argue the modern day corporate structure is completely unnatural and doesn't fit (most) everyone.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#104

Post by theli0nheart »

SergeAx wrote: post #99
theli0nheart wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sorry to say but this proves that for someone who actually has to work for a living ie earn money, corporate life is absolutely the correct choice. Not really. This just proves that corporate life isn't the most profitable option for the OP. You just can't make sweeping statements like this based on a single anecdote. I'll offer this to other "corporate" folk out there. I was self-employed since late 2010 until I r…

> During my last year of self-employment I took home ~$400k in cash, and lots more in early-stage stock You've lost me here. Are those ealry-stage stock of yourself, giving you were self -employed? Or you made side jobs with cash+stock payments?

> You've lost me here. Are those ealry-stage stock of yourself, giving you were self-employed? Or you made side jobs with cash+stock payments?

Clarified here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22202222

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#105

Post by tonyedgecombe »

criley2 wrote: post #72
Grimm1 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah the focus on exclusively money baffles me. Like cool you get to buy a bigger house and go on some nicer vacations. Depending on the big co, they own you. I can't say I'm not working as an employee right now but every time I've been "broke" and free to do whatever project and take on work as I see fit I've been probably 50-70% happier when you factor in stress from shakier income. That said I understand risk tole…

On the flip side, working for yourself means the job never ends. As an employee you can do 8 hours at work, 16 hours for yourself. You can drop a project and pick it up the next day. The client is pissed? You're still making your salary. It's up to management to staff correctly, not up to you to kill yourself overworking for a salary and no overtime. When it's just you, and your entire livelihood depends on sucking u…

I wish this idea would die. It doesn't need to be like that. It is possible to take a more relaxed approach to your own business just as you might as an employee.

Sure some people overwork but that isn't unique to running a business, you will find those people in big companies as well.

Also my experience was that having a family, owning a property and being rooted in my location gave me the support I needed to succeed.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#106

Post by tonyedgecombe »

daxaxelrod wrote: post #49
chasd00 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" I'd pick poverty over the lack of autonomy, petit politics and meaningless work any day." Would you also put your kids in poverty? It's not a simple when you think beyond yourself.

He said he has no kids. It's not the right path for everyone.

I have kids although they are grown up now. You might be confusing me with the OP.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#107

Post by bdcravens »

JacKTrocinskI wrote: post #38
icedchai wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The totals on the first chart are wrong. In 2 years he lost $23k. (Or you could say the "totals" are correct, but calling it "net profit" is wrong.)

Yeah, either way, financially that would never make sense to me.

OP has significant savings. They are their own VC. Think of it in terms of a startup, most of which don't turn profits for years.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#108

Post by mtlynch »

avl999 wrote: post #32

Thanks for writing this. It is good to see a perspective where a business is being built up slowly as opposed to the typical "I quit my job and now my side project makes $30k a month two months in" posts we usually see. Do you ever feel issues with motivation when you don't see growth as quickly as you'd like?

Thanks for reading!

>Do you ever feel issues with motivation when you don't see growth as quickly as you'd like?

Good question. For me, the more dominant feeling is frustration when I do something that I expect will bring growth, and then there's no measurable effect. That happened over and over again with Is It Keto. It was especially tough because the site's growth depends so heavily on Google, and there seems to be a lag time of weeks or months before Google reacts to certain changes or decides certain pages are worth putting at the #1 slot for related queries. It was tough to make a site change or publish a new post and think, "Okay, I guess I'll just wait 6-8 weeks to see what Google thinks of this."

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#109

Post by tonyedgecombe »

xwdv wrote: post #35
tonyedgecombe wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hard starting a business and most people (90%) don't earn anymore than an employee. None the less some of us just aren't cut out for the corporate life. I'd pick poverty over the lack of autonomy, petit politics and meaningless work any day.

What if the poverty was really, REALLY bad? As in soul crushing, no way out, maybe-kill-yourself, type of poverty? I doubt you’d make that switch so easily.

That's really another question, I have a lot of sympathy for people in that situation but it isn't what we are talking about here.
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