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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

#321

Post by jshevek »

qmmmur wrote: post #296
rickitan wrote: post #224

I see a lot of comments criticizing your path and progress. Making remarks like "why didn't you stay at Google". I applaud your decision, effort, and perseverance. I admire your risk taking and having skin in the game. Trying to make it out on your own. People forget the journey is not just about the money. It's about learning, growing and bringing your ideas to life. Being an artist, and expressing yourself through…

I don't think I've cringed more than 'expressing yourself through products'.

"I don't think I've cringed more than 'expressing yourself through products"

Can you rephrase this criticism in a way that meaningfully contributes to the discussion? All I see is your personal judgementalism directed at someone's phrasing.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#322

Post by pnathan »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #155
amelius wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ironically, it strikes me that there's a gap here for a business to solve; connecting entrepreneurial devs with business owners aware of problems. This. Why hasn't this gap been filled yet?

>> Ironically, it strikes me that there's a gap here for a business to solve; connecting entrepreneurial devs with business owners aware of problems. >This. Why hasn't this gap been filled yet? It's called Upwork. No seriously, hear me out. When a business owner has a problem they perceive could be solved with technology, they create a job or they go on job posting sites seeking either an employee or a contractor to…

No. That's bottom feeder stuff generally

I used to have an Upwork account, to try and swing some cash on the side. Most of those jobs are paid far out of proportion to what they are asking people to do. "Facebook but for XYZ", is something I'm pretty sure I've seen there, several times.

I suspect that you can get a lot more leverage visiting your local business organization watering holes...

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#323

Post by jshevek »

qmmmur wrote: post #319
spiffytech wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The arts and crafts world is full of people expressing themselves through products. Independent software doesn't have to be different.

The arts is full of people expressing themselves for pay below the poverty line, often not expected or wanted as remuneration for their expression. Treating business as expression and calling it the same thing as actual art is quite oblivious to the reality.

Both kinds of activities, the one that you characterize and the one that the parent comment characterizes, occur in the art world.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#324

Post by cambalache »

rickitan wrote: post #224

I see a lot of comments criticizing your path and progress. Making remarks like "why didn't you stay at Google". I applaud your decision, effort, and perseverance. I admire your risk taking and having skin in the game. Trying to make it out on your own. People forget the journey is not just about the money. It's about learning, growing and bringing your ideas to life. Being an artist, and expressing yourself through…

Nice words, similar words were said to me. Now I am broke and semi-unemployable. So onlookers beware.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#325

Post by dhruvkar »

pnathan wrote: post #320
dhruvkar wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear you. I was in Software for a couple of years and I only saw software/IT problems. But these problems usually had a variety of solutions and only some glue was required. Now I've been in the natural stone industry for 4 years and I can't count the number of problems to which the solution is "add more people". So much data entry and data extraction from PDFs ERP/CRM/Other software. 100s of man-hours spent on som…

> We need more software engineers venturing out into other industries and identifying and solving problems. this seems to line up with my experience well. But I don't have a good line of sight for me to actually experience those businesses outside of taking a non-SWE job and going from a well-compensated expert to barely-paid newb. Spending years learning a specific industry in the hopes that I can turn my former ski…

Agreed, that's not a pragmatic path. But if starting a business is your goal, and finding a viable idea is your obstacle, I'd argue this is a sure-shot way of FINDING said idea.

Some potential paths can be:

1. SWE @ SW company -> "BA" @ non SW company or whatever term is used for generic-problem-solver in that industry.

2. Part-time hourly work in another industry. This is fairly easy through temp agencies.

3. Apprenticeship in another industry (perhaps in more hands-on industries).

Some are hard to get, others don't pay as well. But to find gold, I'd say some level of hardship is required, and this, in my view, is a bulletproof way of finding that gold.

Whether you're able to dig it out and then able to sell it at a profit, is totally another question.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#326

Post by moltar »

patio11 wrote: post #79

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 think your advice is on point.

But my impression of the author was that they are well off already and is just trying to have fun while also possibly earning money down the road. In other words, they are trying to follow their passion.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#327

Post by poulsbohemian »

pnathan wrote: post #322
poulsbohemian wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Ironically, it strikes me that there's a gap here for a business to solve; connecting entrepreneurial devs with business owners aware of problems. >This. Why hasn't this gap been filled yet? It's called Upwork. No seriously, hear me out. When a business owner has a problem they perceive could be solved with technology, they create a job or they go on job posting sites seeking either an employee or a contractor to…

No. That's bottom feeder stuff generally I used to have an Upwork account, to try and swing some cash on the side. Most of those jobs are paid far out of proportion to what they are asking people to do. "Facebook but for XYZ", is something I'm pretty sure I've seen there, several times. I suspect that you can get a lot more leverage visiting your local business organization watering holes...

>No. That's bottom feeder stuff generally

That might be true, but it doesn't negate that there are a lot of business owners there doing exactly what I stated.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#328

Post by rjpr »

patio11 wrote: post #79

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…

> If you run an API-based business in the future: Usage-based billing is a really tricky business model for a solo developer.

Can you elaborate on this? Is it just because of the inconsistency in revenue or is there some technical challenge I haven't considered?

I'm currently developing a usage-based API SaaS as a solo developer so this in particular really piqued my curiosity.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#329

Post by jldugger »

WD-42 wrote: post #318
jldugger wrote: post #281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the point is that if you can self-fund by living off the investments, you're really effectively retired and not particularly motivated to fix profitability gaps in your new career. In a sense, it's cool, cuz like, you're helping people in the world out for less than the cost to provide that service. But in terms of recommended reading material for people hoping to replicate the situation without an infinite r…

If the argument is that he already has enough money to retire, wouldn't his continuing to work at Google also be considered "playing around"? Most people probably wouldn't look at it that way, they'd consider him "productive" or "motivated". So why does it matter if he is working at Google or on solo pursuits? The argument would probably be that he's lucky to be in the position he's in. But presumably he earned the m…

> So why does it matter if he is working at Google or on solo pursuits?

I don't think it does, but looked at purely through the lense of 'how to be a solo entrepreneur' maybe discount advise from folks who can afford to be wrong for years.

I want to distance myself from the 'you should just work for google' folks. I totally respect the idea that using your savings to build the services you want from society. My position is that by default, postings on HN are viewed as recommendations to others. And yes there are other reasons to write, even if nobody else is reading it. But with zero qualifiers (Show HN, Ask HN, etc), my expectation from HN front page material is that people should read and learn from the material.

Anyone hoping to learn from the post for their own ambitions needs to be able to separate the typical from atypical in the author's post. The author is forthright that he's funding this via savings and I think it's reasonable to think he can afford to do so in perpetuity -- again, great for him; I hope to be in a similar boat some day. But like, last year's post describes a cost cutting strategy of buying a house, and most self employed persons find it challenging to get a mortgage without multiple years proof of income.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#330

Post by rickitan »

qmmmur wrote: post #319
spiffytech wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The arts and crafts world is full of people expressing themselves through products. Independent software doesn't have to be different.

The arts is full of people expressing themselves for pay below the poverty line, often not expected or wanted as remuneration for their expression. Treating business as expression and calling it the same thing as actual art is quite oblivious to the reality.

I made the original comment, and I think we see the world in a different way. This is how I see it:

Creating a business is a creative act. It involves logic and rationality as much as intuition and imagination.

I do think it's an expression of yourself, you're packing all you've learned into something that you think will be valuable to other people. Your personality is reflected in your product, so is your voice.

Ultimately it's up to the creator to treat their business however they seem best. If you want to be all about profits, good for you. If you want to explore ideas, try things and enjoy the creative process while slowly building revenue, also good.

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