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I'll offer a counter example in that the startup I joined failed miserably and I ended up losing out on a LOT of income. I am now working for a decent 6-figure income and EXTREMELY happy with the stability and 40-50 hour work weeks...in comparison to the ABSOLUTE GRIND I went through trying to help that startup get off the ground - this is a godsend. Your scenario is VERY UNLIKELY IMO.
WHAT is WITH the RANDOM CAPITALISATION?
Great post Micheal, and awesome to see it hit the top of HN - a reminder I guess that the core bootstrapper/hacker community is on here and strong as ever! The numbers and stuff aside (which are looking promising, btw, congrats - look forward to see how the trends continue in y3) the part I liked best was the I still love it section. It's incredibly important and, I'm sure you know, the real driver behind doing what…
>It's incredibly important and, I'm sure you know, the real driver behind doing what you're doing, not money.
Yeah, definitely. I ultimately do need to figure out a way to make some money, but I'd be happy to work for myself for 1/10th the compensation I'd get at a FAANG.
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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.
We are talking about programmers here. Unless there are unique circumstances that sort of poverty is off the table.
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"in August, I bought a modest two-bedroom home in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Population: 17,500." "My living expenses here are ~$2k per month, which is close enough to the rate of return on my personal investments that I'm kind of at equilibrium." - i.e. Michael moved to a much lower cost of living area.
If that "I bought a house" is literal then he doesn't have rent or a mortgage to pay. That's a big chunk of most people's outgoings.
Just because you're coding and building things, doesn't mean you're doing work, or that you're going to make any money.
Most devs are salarymen because that's the best role they can play in society. Their employer plugs them into what the market actually wants. 99% of them are inequipped to perform any that business aspect themselves. They just want to build stuff. Like this devs projects -- a hobby not an enterprise.
The best thing any likeminded dev can do is this: do not write a single line of code until you've vigorously screened for market demand. If you can't pick up a phone and talk to businesses, this isn't for you, or you need to partner with a so called "extrovert" or sales type.
Do not even so much as ponder the technical implementation of an idea for at least a month, don't touch a terminal, and don't type a single char of code.
If you can't restrain yourself from doing so, save yourself the wasted time, money, and energy. If you want a hiatus, just have a real hiatus and fly to a Thai island for 6 months.
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... assuming the author harbors such aspirations in the first place, which you and I don't know. And, frankly, nobody needs to know.
And no such assumption was made in the original statement.
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If you don't have children, a larger space would be more burden than necessity. Be happy that you moved away from the jail cell. I'd move if I could too. ;-)
At least the jail cell comes with an amazing variety of food and unrivaled convenience
last corner of graphic right bottom is a wrong amount. I use to be a number guy, ie accountant hacker. Its not 18k positive as far as net revenue increase from the two years. the percentage is probably right but not the sign before the net rev number. and note you have to reach profits soon per how you file with the IRS..sorry to burst your bubble. same sort of errors in the saas net rev numbers. bone up on your acco…
>I use to be a number guy, ie accountant hacker. Its not 18k positive as far as net revenue increase from the two years.
Can you clarify what you mean? What is the correct way for me to present this information?
>and note you have to reach profits soon per how you file with the IRS..sorry to burst your bubble.
Can you elaborate? Are you assuming that I file as a corporation or a sole proprietor?
Two cents offered because this post really strikes a chord with me, and I also spent some time chasing down rabbit holes early in my software business: These products do not appear obviously commercializable and multiple years invested into them without materially improving the businesses does not decrease my confidence in that snap judgment. You could probably talk to business owners with problems, launch an (approp…
I don't doubt that you're absolutely right, but this bit strikes me as hard. I've struggled to find one business owner with a problem they perceive, let alone 10 with commitments to buying a solution for the same problem.
Ironically, it strikes me that there's a gap here for a business to solve; connecting entrepreneurial devs with business owners aware of problems.