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Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?

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Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?

#1

Post by tayo42 »

The thought of returning to corporate working kind of disgusts me. daily meetings, middle management bs, politics, bureaucracy... im sure your familiar with the typical complaints.

Ive realized I don't seem to have any money generating skills, the only thing I seem actually be good at is making money for other people.

So im wondering if anyone has been able to use their coding skill to make a living that isn't working in a business.

Things ive tried and thought about(please correct anything that seems wrong!):

monetizing hobbies - I see why people don't recommend this, im not good enough anyway. to old to go pro at sports, not good enough or have credentials to teach.

coding tutoring and teaching - i tried this on codementor.io, there's more mentors then people needing help, its competitive and doesn't pay much when you consider how much extra work goes into it. I also don't have a CS degree so it doesn't seem like I can teach at a school. Maybe there are better ways to teach?

bug bounty chasing - I thought this would be easier then it really is. i guess its like a whole different skill set, interesting as a hobby but its going to take to long to get good. and its competitive

make a company or sell a thing software thing - I can code up my dream ideas with ease, what i don't know how to do is market anything or get users. seems to be another skill that will take months and maybe not even turn out to do anything

freelance - compared to just working rates seem low and its hard to find work from what ive seen

If you have cool ideas or something worked out for you, id be interested in hearing them! Otherwise I need to get working on a resume, id rather not!

Re: Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?

#3

Post by rozenmd »

Consider teaching on your own blog - it's not immediate money, but if you're patient, you'll start to get folks asking if you're available for consulting, or if you've considered writing a book on what you write about.

Source: I wrote a book about a single function in React, it did okay.

Re: Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?

#4

Post by tayo42 »

rozenmd wrote: post #3

Consider teaching on your own blog - it's not immediate money, but if you're patient, you'll start to get folks asking if you're available for consulting, or if you've considered writing a book on what you write about. Source: I wrote a book about a single function in React, it did okay.

Ive thought about the blog thing, i just have no idea how to find readers? With the book the publisher takes care of the marketing part? I think that's a common theme Im noticing with where I seem to stop. How do i find, reader, clients, users for whatever i want to do.

Re: Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?

#5

Post by rozenmd »

tayo42 wrote: post #4
rozenmd wrote: post #3

Consider teaching on your own blog - it's not immediate money, but if you're patient, you'll start to get folks asking if you're available for consulting, or if you've considered writing a book on what you write about. Source: I wrote a book about a single function in React, it did okay.

Ive thought about the blog thing, i just have no idea how to find readers? With the book the publisher takes care of the marketing part? I think that's a common theme Im noticing with where I seem to stop. How do i find, reader, clients, users for whatever i want to do.

It comes from naturally participating in the community - someone will ask a question, you'll respond "oh hey here's how you do that", and link them to your blog with additional details (or you'll write an article that solves the issue and share it if it comes up again)

Re: Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?

#6

Post by Brajeshwar »

You sound like someone who can be a technical co-founder to someone who is good with sales and the schmoozing part. A lot of Startup founders are looking for such a person, who is the "Guy in the Chair".

You get paid to do what you like. And things goes well, get a big payday later on. If not, by then, you would know how to do another one but with a much better experience, connections, and still not do the "typical complaints."

Re: Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?

#7

Post by arjvik »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #6

You sound like someone who can be a technical co-founder to someone who is good with sales and the schmoozing part. A lot of Startup founders are looking for such a person, who is the "Guy in the Chair". You get paid to do what you like. And things goes well, get a big payday later on. If not, by then, you would know how to do another one but with a much better experience, connections, and still not do the "typical c…

How do you find the non-technical cofounders to do this?

Re: Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?

#8

Post by ktpsns »

Depending on your country, freelancing next to the day-job may be an option to testing "the new job" without giving up the security/benefits of an employment (for instance an affordable employer's contributed health care if you are in western europe). Hourly rates for IT freelancing professionals are only increasing, there is a long standing and ongoing shortage for skilled people. It is not uncommon to earn a yearly sallary of an employee within a few month as a freelancer. This means: Even more time to checkout what you really want to do.

Edit, disclaimer: I co-founded a cooperative to help skilled IT people to work independently as freelancers, giving legal advices and a network.

Re: Ask HN: Alternative ways to make money with coding and system skills?

#9

Post by ranting-moth »

Brajeshwar wrote: post #6

You sound like someone who can be a technical co-founder to someone who is good with sales and the schmoozing part. A lot of Startup founders are looking for such a person, who is the "Guy in the Chair". You get paid to do what you like. And things goes well, get a big payday later on. If not, by then, you would know how to do another one but with a much better experience, connections, and still not do the "typical c…

It's funny when you get paid to do what you like. It stops being a chore and you feel like it's almost cheating. You're paying me for this?

Then of course, not all days are like that. Although John Conway allegedly said that he never worked a day in his life. Can't find the source of that though.

I think it's sometimes an overlooked mistake in companies when they move people around. "Hey, Tim is like a world class performer. He's doing X, let's move him to Y". It works for some, but not for others.

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