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Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

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431–440 of 515 posts

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#431

Threads like this one always baffle me. You have to think of the competitive landscape like a jungle. All of the creatures in the jungle are looking for food, and some have far more competitive advantages than you. If you find a food source that no one else has happened to stumble upon, would you scream out that you've found it? No. If someone is asking you, it's because they want to know how they can get what you ha…

This seems like a reasonable take, but I can tell you with 100% certainty I'm not a threat to any of the devs/entrepreneurs in this thread. For me, it's just fun to see how other people are scratching out a living. My feeling is that not all successful ideas are easily replicable when you consider all the factors that contribute to one's success, so just because someone else managed to pull it off doesn't mean I could.

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#432

Threads like this one always baffle me. You have to think of the competitive landscape like a jungle. All of the creatures in the jungle are looking for food, and some have far more competitive advantages than you. If you find a food source that no one else has happened to stumble upon, would you scream out that you've found it? No. If someone is asking you, it's because they want to know how they can get what you ha…

Extending the metaphor, a competitor can be good for business depending upon your strategy. If you're a hyena, you benefit from having lions around because the lions can kill a much larger animal than a pack of hyenas ever could. Maybe someone else on HN can advertise their copy of a product, but all that's doing is growing the target market for the OG product which already has a (small) monopoly.

Competition is often a validation of there being a need for your product.

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#433

Threads like this one always baffle me. You have to think of the competitive landscape like a jungle. All of the creatures in the jungle are looking for food, and some have far more competitive advantages than you. If you find a food source that no one else has happened to stumble upon, would you scream out that you've found it? No. If someone is asking you, it's because they want to know how they can get what you ha…

Evil idea: post lies about finding lots food at location X, then secretly sell tools that help people get to location X.

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#434
post #433

Threads like this one always baffle me. You have to think of the competitive landscape like a jungle. All of the creatures in the jungle are looking for food, and some have far more competitive advantages than you. If you find a food source that no one else has happened to stumble upon, would you scream out that you've found it? No. If someone is asking you, it's because they want to know how they can get what you ha…

Evil idea: post lies about finding lots food at location X, then secretly sell tools that help people get to location X.

Oops, forgot rule #1.

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a laser/cnc shop as well. I never tried etsy. Are you using just a cnc router to create your products? Does the product price justify the time you are spending for them?

CNC is 75% of the way there, then there is sanding away most of the machine marks, then finish sanding. My current personal best is around 10 minutes per tray, and I make about $15 of each one (after fees and shipping and materials). So My time isn't exactly uncompensated, but its no where close to how much my time is worth as a software engineer with nearly 20 years of experience. I batch out a bunch of them on the…

Thank you for your detailed response. I just purchased a laser marker (50W) and planning to utilize it for the customized items. I think it might justify my cost eventually. I am also thinking about the software engineering with experience vs handmade wooden / metal things to sell. But I realize I also waste time doing weird hobbies and why not make money while having fun so that would be the justification. Last question if you don't mind, did you try metal or any metal product modification mixed with wood?

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#437

I launched DamnInteresting.com in 2005, and just last year it started consistently earning $2k/month. That's gross revenue, a goodly chunk of that goes out for hosting costs, research expenses, paying writers/editors, licensing fees, etc. It's been interesting to see the changes in the audience over time. In 2005, 100% of our audience was desktop browser readers. Somewhere around 2011, mobile readers became the domin…

I've been a fan for over 15 years, just wanted to say thank you! Great content, super cool domain name too :)

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#438

I'm the founder of the open-source and cross-platform note-taking app https://www.get-notes.com (written in Qt C++). I earn about $2000 a month from ads on the landing page (organic SEO), but very soon plan to add a subscription for pro features (while people could still compile it from source and get the full experience without paying, if they wish). I started the project 8 years ago to create a slick looking note-t…

Props to you for allowing compilation for the pro version, I'd probably support you just for doing that

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#439

I'm slowly building some success in Android and iOS games (most revenue comes from iOS!). I've got a paid game that is a yahtzee-inspired poker game with just a touch of cosmic horror [1] and a free-to-play word game [2]. I've been fortunate to get some featuring by Apple which has driven most of my sales. I'm hopeful the daily word game, Well Word, will start to take off because it's the best game I've made and I'm…

Not sure if you’re interested in feedback, but I found well world intimidating and didn’t understand the objective/affordances. Clicked it and had a bunch of letters and no idea what to do. Closed it. Looks pretty though.

Really appreciate the feedback, thank you. Truth be told, the website is kind of an after thought version of the game. The Android and iOS version are the real deal. If I haven't lost you entirely, and you like word games, please give it a shot on your phone.

Re: Ask HN: Side project of more than $2k monthly revenue? what's your project?

#440

I'm slowly building some success in Android and iOS games (most revenue comes from iOS!). I've got a paid game that is a yahtzee-inspired poker game with just a touch of cosmic horror [1] and a free-to-play word game [2]. I've been fortunate to get some featuring by Apple which has driven most of my sales. I'm hopeful the daily word game, Well Word, will start to take off because it's the best game I've made and I'm…

I just tried well word, unlike a sibling comment I think it's fun :)

Though I have to agree that it's a bit unclear how to proceed at first. Maybe make a link to the tutorial more easily accessible, or even auto-suggested on first visit?

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