No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees • Hacker News Board

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#311

Post by pugz » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 1:42 AM UTC

deathgrips wrote: post #304

wolco5 wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australia spends 10.5% on health. US 17.5 Is the increased level of care worth 7% In Canada it's 11.5 so 6%,extra. In Canada the waiting lists for mri and other advanced testing can be long where the same tests/operations can be done as a walkin option that day in the US.

Do Canadians and Australians need as much healthcare as aging and obese Americans do?

I just looked into it now. As of 2018, apparent 38% of Americans are obese and 28% of Australians. So it's probably a difference that _does_ factor into costs, but I wouldn't know how much.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#312

Post by pugz » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 1:42 AM UTC

DVassallo wrote: post #284

callmeed wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I make more than enough to afford proper health insurance on the open market. Everyone at Gumroad is paid very well and should be able to afford the same. This might be true for everyone at Gumroad , but I wouldn't be so sure. You also seem dismissive (probably unintentionally) of one of the biggest problems we have in the US right now: health care and insurance is ridiculously expensive–especially for people with…

When I lived in Ireland I paid 51% of my income in taxes. Imagine that!

Was that the marginal rate that you paid or the effective rate?

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#313

Post by TedDoesntTalk » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 1:53 AM UTC

biztos wrote: post #286

sayrer wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought that plan sounded pretty good, except for the health insurance part. Where do you get your health insurance?

I can't speak for the OP but, since you are a contractor and not an employee, wouldn't you get your health insurance in exactly the same place as all the other independent contractors do in your country? [Edit to clarify because this is being downvoted: many countries require that independent contractors buy private health insurance. Germany, where I live, requires it. As I understand it the situation is similar, for…

In the US, you can buy medical insurance from the same mega corps that offer it through Fortune 500 companies... its just not subsidized by your employer so you pay larger premiums.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#314

Post by DVassallo » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 1:55 AM UTC

pugz wrote: post #312

DVassallo wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I lived in Ireland I paid 51% of my income in taxes. Imagine that!

Was that the marginal rate that you paid or the effective rate?

It was marginal, but it kicked in after around EUR 25K IIRC. There were only 2 rates. This was 2010.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#315

Post by brianwawok » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 2:20 AM UTC

lostcolony wrote: post #309

brianwawok wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You say that, but the other side of this argument is having to rebuild every. Single. Part. Of a program because nothing was designed with forethought and scalability in mind. Great code is both simple and has the ability to scale if needed in the future.

Sure. A lack of premature optimization does not imply a lack of consideration.

Then by that note, premature optimization doesn’t imply excess complexity nor effort. So we have gone in a complete circle and conveyed nothing.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#316

Post by valzam » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 2:32 AM UTC

biztos wrote: post #295

jfengel wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some of it is a quirk of the American health care system. Your health care costs the same regardless of your work hours, and it's a significant fraction of compensation. If you were working 80% as much, they would probably only be able to pay 70% of your salary. (Assuming you were linearly productive, which it's not, but it's the same assumption you were making and is good enough for this illustration.) There are oth…

I don't think that's a quirk. In Germany the public health insurance is based on your salary, but private insurance is not -- and independent contractors (such as everyone working for Gumroad) are required to use the private option. From the private insurer's point of view, it would be crazy to charge more or less based on how much someone works or earns. The public insurance does so out of a solidarity imperative co…

Contractors can buy the public option are actively discouraged from doing so because they are on the hook for both the employer and employee contribution. Also ofc there is the "if you have ever been privatly insured you cannot simply go back to public". But for contractors with 2-3 kids public might still be cheaper than private.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#317

Post by quickthrower2 » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 2:35 AM UTC

deathgrips wrote: post #304

wolco5 wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Australia spends 10.5% on health. US 17.5 Is the increased level of care worth 7% In Canada it's 11.5 so 6%,extra. In Canada the waiting lists for mri and other advanced testing can be long where the same tests/operations can be done as a walkin option that day in the US.

Do Canadians and Australians need as much healthcare as aging and obese Americans do?

We're aging too!

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#318

Post by newen » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 2:36 AM UTC

adewinter wrote: post #269

ilovegumroad wrote: post #256

I wish I had $8M dollars and a bunch of really dedicated people to build a company to >$1M ARR and then get rid of all of them. At that price you are looking at a company at roughly $X0M value already. Most companies end up having to work tirelessly to grow because they have baggage of money that needs return. If you can get rid of that baggage it's relatively easy to just slow down and reap the rewards. FANG could a…

I'm curious why you think folks at gumroad don't "work much" and that most of the work had been done by those no longer at the company. Did you used to work there and have some insider knowledge? Seems to me the post wasn't even claiming to have >$1M ARR either (there was a graph for the creators ARR which I think is different?) and that everyone does work... they just do it using a non-traditional process. edit: The…

ARR for SaaS companies do matter. It usually means you can sell the company for a decent multiplier of the ARR.

And they’re definitely getting more than $1M ARR, not just creators ARR.

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#319

Post by Bakary » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 2:36 AM UTC

stuxnet79 wrote: post #288

spoonjim wrote: post #285

I mean honestly this is the entrepreneurial feat of a century. Get your company VC funded to the point of hiring 23 employees. Build your name, do all your failing, learn everything about the market with VC money. Then throw the employees AND the VCs in the dumpster and keep the core asset for yourself, rebuilding it into a $11 million business with contractors, so that you don't have to worry about things like their…

Agreed. Really inspiring story. I'm not as far along on my entrepreneurial dreams as the CEO but as a freelancer, I'd be interested in working at a firm with a similar set up as Gumroad. I'm very much a mercenary and I find it's hard to be honest about this while still maintaining a good working relationship with colleagues.

I think the person you replied to was being sarcastic but I'm not even sure anymore

Re: No meetings, no deadlines, no full-time employees

#320

Post by quickthrower2 » Fri, Jan 08, 2021, 2:39 AM UTC

DVassallo wrote: post #77

_2d30 wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you willing to provide any additional clarity on "very competitive rates as contractors"? I understand if not but would be useful to help some of us externally think about this model.

I’m making $10K/mo for a quarter-time PM role at Gumroad (so about $250/hr).

Honestly that's very nice money and more than I make full time. I'd happy take a role like that and work (10 hours per week?). Even if I wasn't that keen on the role (that's 30 hours per week to do what I want!)