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Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

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Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#41

Post by dusted »

gtsop wrote: post #40
dusted wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only a little bit, the idea is what creates the majority of value, not the actual work put in. The man-hours spent are irrelevant. If someone is doing strip mining by men with shovels, the value they create is not the price of the mined material, but the value that that material brings when it's put to good use. If someone comes along start doing strip mining by truck and bulldozer, they will spend a fraction of the…

With all the respect, but you've got your economics wrong. That's alright though, i don't mean to be disrespectful by saying that. The bedrock of prices is human time spent (yes there are exceptions, but they are just that, exceptions) > If someone comes along start doing strip mining by truck and bulldozer, they will spend a fraction of the man hours, and yet create orders of magnitude more value They only reason th…

It's entirely okay for you to have that point of view.

I disagree though, he wouldn't sell at a market rate, he would sell below, and enough below that market saturates at his own price, this either increases the market size or new markets based on the wider and cheaper availability of his product emerge.

Recognizing what to do is the most important.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#42

Post by malthuswaswrong »

If you work 40 hours a day and you feel everyone around you is moving in slow motion and you need to fill your day with extra stuff just to give everyone else a chance to catch up then you probably aren't supposed to be working a salaried job. You are supposed to start your own company.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#43

Post by chasd00 »

sunjester wrote: post #5

I am incentivized by the software that is to be built and not by the money offered. I feel that if someone is motivated by money to create software we will just end up with more Microsoft and less Linux.

If someone is going to tell me what software to write then they are going to pay me for it. That’s what “work” is for.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#44

Post by malthuswaswrong »

dusted wrote: post #23

I guess you already know, and you're asking exactly because you know.. But programming does not create value, it creates programs, which may create value.. Programming is a skill sure, but it does not create value, it creates programs. Programs may create value, so, the valuable skill is not really being able to create a program, but being able to find some problem, whose solution creates value. Programming may be re…

A penny saved is a penny earned. Many programmers are employed to automate tasks and reduce labor requirements. That adds value to the organization. You are splitting hairs by saying "the program" vs "the programming". You are a wizard that casts spells to make people's jobs easier. What exactly that means depends on the management. Once a job becomes easier they can either pay fewer employees to do the job or they can take more clients with the staff they have. That's not my decision. My job is to add value to the enterprise by reducing labor costs.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#45

Post by malthuswaswrong »

gtsop wrote: post #33
dusted wrote: post #23

I guess you already know, and you're asking exactly because you know.. But programming does not create value, it creates programs, which may create value.. Programming is a skill sure, but it does not create value, it creates programs. Programs may create value, so, the valuable skill is not really being able to create a program, but being able to find some problem, whose solution creates value. Programming may be re…

> Programming is a skill sure, but it does not create value, it creates programs. Economic value is created when a human being spends man-hours to produce an artifact that other people need and thus are willing to pay for. Programming is a form of working, as is designing, researching, building, plumbing etc. The artifact of programming (ie the program) is the value you create by working. Programs do not by themselve…

>if that were the case we would all run "programs " 24/7 on our computers and produce infinite value.

Ever heard of bitcoin mining? j/k :D

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#47

Post by edmcnulty101 »

malthuswaswrong wrote: post #42

If you work 40 hours a day and you feel everyone around you is moving in slow motion and you need to fill your day with extra stuff just to give everyone else a chance to catch up then you probably aren't supposed to be working a salaried job. You are supposed to start your own company.

How do you get the clients is my biggest issue.

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#48

Post by nerbert »

barry-cotter wrote: post #6

If you’re that good pick a niche and go consulting. No doubt you have a professional network that can attest to your ability. Go to conferences and share war stories. If you like that you can just keep going. There are people who charge $50,000 a week. Or you could make it known you want to confound a startup. With lots of management experience and well out of the ordinary programming skills that’s a plausible use v…

> Or you could make it known you want to confound a startup.

How would one go about that effectively?

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#49

Post by gtsop »

dusted wrote: post #41
gtsop wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With all the respect, but you've got your economics wrong. That's alright though, i don't mean to be disrespectful by saying that. The bedrock of prices is human time spent (yes there are exceptions, but they are just that, exceptions) > If someone comes along start doing strip mining by truck and bulldozer, they will spend a fraction of the man hours, and yet create orders of magnitude more value They only reason th…

It's entirely okay for you to have that point of view. I disagree though, he wouldn't sell at a market rate, he would sell below, and enough below that market saturates at his own price, this either increases the market size or new markets based on the wider and cheaper availability of his product emerge. Recognizing what to do is the most important.

Whether they would sell below market rate is subject to strategic, legal and even political factors.

However, bare in mind there are math involved here.

If the market sells 1 ton of iron for 20$ (manual labour) and I manage to get a truck I could either sell 1 ton for 20$ as the others and make more profit than them, or I could sell, let's say 1 ton for 10$. This is a strategic move that would squeeze the competition, but it means I sell more product for less money than others. It's not 100% the correct move for every company at every buisness sector.

There are even more agressive moves, selling goods bellow cost in order to squeeze out the competition. There are even less companies that can pull this off.

At the end of the day, technological advantages are ephemeral and are meant to be used (by whichever strategy) while the competition hasn't caught up yet. When the competition catches up prices inevitably fall (unless there is a cartel of course but that is another topic)

Re: Ask HN: What's the best way to monetize actual programming?

#50

Post by vt100 »

throwaway34135 wrote: post #11
soneca wrote: post #3

Maybe you should renegotiate those IP clauses or find a new job that doesn’t have them. It seems to be the main blocker for you to do what would make you happy.

How would one sell that / do jobs like that actually exist? I'm trying to imagine the conversation where I would suggest that without the framing that I should be allowed to work on my own projects on company time because I'm not being productive with most of my working hours.

Consulting gigs tend to be flexible with regard to side projects. Just convince them that it won't detract from your ability to get their work done, and that the IPs are distinct and have no overlap.
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