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How to Lose Money

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Re: How to Lose Money

#131

Post by Xevi »

DeusExMachina wrote: post #44

> I have over 40,000 students taking my online courses and they have generated a few thousand in gross revenues. I have 400, and I made a living out of it for the past couple of years. Sure, I was earning more when I was a freelancer. So, I guess his point stands, I am losing money in that sense. And if money was the only metric, he would be spot on. But money is not the only reason. It's also true that most people j…

May I ask how you're able to make a living for several years with only 400 students? Do you sell each course for like $500 or more?

Re: How to Lose Money

#132

Post by DiggyJohnson »

onion2k wrote: post #126
ZephyrBlu wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're selling a product related to vim I think HN is probably one of the best places on the internet to advertise your product, don't you? In practice, I think that if you're posting to HN then HN readers are likely to be in your target audience. Because why would you be posting here if they aren't?

If you're selling a product related to vim I think HN is probably one of the best places on the internet to advertise your product, don't you? I imagine most HN readers fall in to two groups - those who are greybeards who already know a lot about vim, and those who are much more familiar with VSCode and don't care to learn vim. If I was advertising a vim course I'd target places on the internet where junior sysadmins…

This is where we hang out. I’m very open to other suggestions though, as well.

Re: How to Lose Money

#133

Post by Pyramus »

finiteseries wrote: post #82
rozab wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The term has a more complex meaning in America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Anglo-Saxon_Protestants#...

Every American cited in this section, Anglo-Saxon in modern usage , is dead. The only remaining usage of Anglo Saxon in the contemporary USA is as part of the already antiquated “WASP” term. Anglo Saxon in reference to the US is in my very-online anecdotal experience roughly ~70% French speakers, 15% continental Europeans, and 15% race based nationalists. Americans usually just say “white”, even when specifically ref…

Thank you for the replies with respect to my usage of the term 'Anglo-Saxon', which I had not really reflected upon.

In Germany the term is used to refer to the germanic tribe of the same name, which settled in Britain, and its asserted descendents, i.e. a somewhat loose collection of Great Britain, the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Re: How to Lose Money

#134

Post by bluGill »

superbcarrot wrote: post #61
tim333 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has there ever been a glut of unemployed Comp Sci./Eng grads? I think it's limited by the work being hard and perhaps a bit unglamorous.

No there hasn't but historically there haven't been that many graduates to begin with. I'm trying to make the point that we're finally approaching a stage when the supply of graduates will be higher than the demand in the market. The growth in tech from the past 20 years won't last forever and the advice to just get a CS degree will be harmful in the near future. I don't have first-hand perspective on this but my imp…

I just hope some of those engineers in India have a great idea and invent something that changes the world.

There are a number of "robots" that don't exist that I'd love to have. Something to do laundry. (we already have washers and dryers, but folders are just getting started, and nothing to pick my dirty clothes off the floor and put clean back into my closet). Something to do dishes (again gathering them off the table to clean in the cupboards)

There is also a lot of options in the medical field. Right now I know someone who was told that surgery is the normal path for his cancer, but because it is so close to a nerve they aren't willing to risk that - finding a better answer for his case is a combination of medical science and engineering. I know someone else who is going to die who if cancer was discovered sooner would have been treatable. I won't even mention the next pandemic.

The above is but a short list of things that an engineer can work on. I look forward to seeing what the rest come up with.

Re: How to Lose Money

#136

Post by smiley1437 »

Options are effectively Zero Sum - meaning that whoever is on the other side of the contract is predicting the opposite of whatever you're thinking.

Successful long-term options traders don't trade options 'directionally' (like buying 50K of GME calls), they manage a whole portfolio of options, and then take directional portfolio risk. This is sort of like diversifying, then running risk analysis, then figuring out where there is money to be made ie dummies who priced contracts incorrectly.

And, to run an option portfolio, professional options traders run risk management software like Blackrock Aladdin and Goldman Sachs SecDB. These cost a LOT of money (close to 6 digits a year)

Now, remember the zero sum part? No matter how smart you think you are, if you don't have these tools, you don't have the data or analysis that is available to the big boys. It's like playing poker with someone where they know the exact odds every second as cards appear, but you only have the vaguest idea.. Sure, you could get lucky once in a while but in the long run, not knowing the odds is going to hurt you and you are likely to lose all your money.

Re: How to Lose Money

#137

Post by ronyfadel »

claudiawerner wrote: post #121
ronyfadel wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes and no. A Comp Sci./Eng. degree is pretty much guaranteed to get you a decently paying job. My ROI has been > 20x. Learning a 3-5 yr curriculum on your own is a surefire way to get you demotivated and/or depressed.

>A Comp Sci./Eng. degree is pretty much guaranteed to get you a decently paying job. What does this mean? "Decently" as in what? I left university last year with a master's in EE and I'm paid £26k/year before tax(!) to write C. Even for graduate jobs, that's not amazing.

"Decently paying job" as in higher than average wage (in the UK) at the least, and more often than not it's in top brackets.

It doesn't mean that you can't get a bad deal, but that wouldn't be the norm.

The average software engineer's salary [1] in the UK is much higher than the average electrical engineer's salary [2]. Since you're writing code anyways (within the realm of doing software engineering work), would it make sense to pivot over to a software engineering position?

[1] https://www.totaljobs.com/salary-checker/average-software-en...

[2] https://www.totaljobs.com/salary-checker/average-electrical-...

Re: How to Lose Money

#138

Post by simonbarker87 »

Xevi wrote: post #131
DeusExMachina wrote: post #44

> I have over 40,000 students taking my online courses and they have generated a few thousand in gross revenues. I have 400, and I made a living out of it for the past couple of years. Sure, I was earning more when I was a freelancer. So, I guess his point stands, I am losing money in that sense. And if money was the only metric, he would be spot on. But money is not the only reason. It's also true that most people j…

May I ask how you're able to make a living for several years with only 400 students? Do you sell each course for like $500 or more?

Not OP: Probably a monthly membership program, $25 per student per month would be $10k gross.

Ionic Academy is a good example I can think of, I was a member for just under a year, super helpful and regular content and probably doesn’t need huge amounts of members to be viable

Re: How to Lose Money

#139

Post by yreg »

metafunctor wrote: post #124
jmvoodoo wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's unlimited opportunity loss. If you sell at say $100 and it goes to $1000 while you're in cash, you "lost" $900 vs your original position. However if you hold at $100 and buy a put for $2 that hedges you, you can still participate in the upside while limiting your downside. Also, downside risk has been historically undervalued (this may be changing though) which is why tail risk funds exist.

Yeah, well, pfft. Not being on the market is an opportunity loss, sure. But it's not "unlimited".

The strategy forces you to time the market. You might get unlucky by holding cash during a market rally, then buy back for a dump.

An investor who sells when they think the market is going to go downhill, with the intention to buy back later is not acting as an investor but as a trader.

That's why hedging with options is less risky (and less profitable in the best case).

edit: My use of word 'unlimited' applies if you want to keep the same stake at the companies. In money terms you cannot lose more than the value of your holdings.

Re: How to Lose Money

#140

Post by awefasdfasdf »

CoffeePython wrote: post #83

Building an online course[1] has been one of the easiest ways to make money in my personal experience. Other things I've tried building: SaaS, Trades business, Freelancing business. I've made over $8k since I launched last month and it's been a great stepping stone into other ideas. The main problem I see going forward is getting consistent traffic. Building the course was the "easy" part and now I'm focusing hard on…

How do you arrive at $100-$300/day?
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