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I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

calebporzio.com

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Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#201
post #192
post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not hating on socialism. It has it's merits like providing healthcare if properly implemented but having excessive permits and licence is one of the facets of socialism. Socialism is not the perfect system.

To be fair, all systems can be (and are) criticised.

I agree. Given this truth, complaining that people complain about your system of choice seems pretty silly

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#202
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would estimate Sr. or better is possible for someone who is able to independently run a OSS project. Going off https://www.levels.fyi/company/Google/salaries/Software-Engi... that comes out to ~$350k/yr going up one more level gets you ~$500k/yr I will let you decide if 3.5x - 5x is "not even close".

> I would estimate Sr. or better is possible for someone who is able to independently run a OSS project. I don't believe that's a correct assumption. It's been a while but: https://techcrunch.com/2008/01/01/zed-shaw-puts-the-smack-do...

This was very sad to read...

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#203

Reading these makes me sad about the law in my country, Finland. The lowest tier of OP ($7 for no reward) would be illegal here. We have a law called "Money Collection act", which states that to gather donations (i.e. payments with nothing in return), you have to get a permit. This permit costs money, is not given to individuals, and is given only for non-profit activities. So this means that if you see a donation/sp…

Yeah, we have an active person in the Sandstorm community from Finland who maintains Wekan[1]. I didn't previously know the specifics, but he's had to tell a lot of people "sorry, I can't accept donations" too. It's so much easier in the US. If you're an individual it's going to be taxable income, but there's no up-front paperwork to do (for that matter, you don't have to "set up" a sole proprietorship here either --…

My side project is a programming statistics service: https://codestats.net/

It's mainly for fun and I want to keep it free, but of course I wouldn't mind if there was some money coming in to pay for the costs and motivate to work on it more. Currently I'm selling stickers and in the future I will implement some kind of paid accounts which will have some minor features that free accounts don't have – the dilemma is to keep it balanced so that free users don't feel second class.

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#204

Reading these makes me sad about the law in my country, Finland. The lowest tier of OP ($7 for no reward) would be illegal here. We have a law called "Money Collection act", which states that to gather donations (i.e. payments with nothing in return), you have to get a permit. This permit costs money, is not given to individuals, and is given only for non-profit activities. So this means that if you see a donation/sp…

Yeah, we have an active person in the Sandstorm community from Finland who maintains Wekan[1]. I didn't previously know the specifics, but he's had to tell a lot of people "sorry, I can't accept donations" too. It's so much easier in the US. If you're an individual it's going to be taxable income, but there's no up-front paperwork to do (for that matter, you don't have to "set up" a sole proprietorship here either --…

If you haven't done so already, you REALLY should look into setting up an LLC for contract work in the US. Legally separating your business assets from your personal assets is very important. It doesn't cost a ton -- varies by state and whether you involve a lawyer or not. It will make your taxes a bit more complicated, but consider that the cost of insurance against somebody trying to sue you and take your house.

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you link sources to contesting it? I'm interested in learning what kind of things are approved.

Basically you state that it isnt donation but payment for gig. Which would apply to github "donations" as well, they arent donations but payment for the open source work. Finnish peoples problem isnt the laws, but the fact that they are total pussies when it comes intrepreting the law.

Sure if you set up your sponsor tiers like "$5/mo: x minutes of bugfixing for you" then it would be just sales. I think if you just accept money and say "thanks" in return with a vague promise of working on open source, that's a pretty grey area and I'd rather not have to explain it to the authorities in the first place. :P

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Denmark after taxes you would probably have about 329,000+ dkk, which yes, that is a pretty good half a middle class couple. So you can take care of half a family on that reasonably, not astoundingly great, but quite reasonable. on edit: actually looking at wages in Denmark I see I am somehow doing a lot better than I thought, which is pretty much amazing to me considering how badly I thought I was doing. Since I…

Eh, I live in Sweden and I make around that much before taxes and me and my wife could manage with just my paycheck if we really had to. That's with a mortgage on a house, two cars, and a four year old kid. I doubt the cost of living in Denmark is that much higher than Sweden, so I'd say you're living beyond your means if you can't make it work on 329K DKK after tax...

Have you been to copenhagen? If u’d head out to eat you won’t find anything for less than 500 SEK/pp unless u want fast food. Drinks are cheap though :)

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#207
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can easily get a comfy job with $350k

"easily"?

Yes it's a numbers game. Apply for as much job as possible and ask for a minimum of $200k base. With a little bit of back and forth you can settle for $180k and then get a lot of equity.

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#208
post #4

Props. Well done. The thing that struck me most was the podcast appearance. I was distantly affiliated with the music industry at one point and I saw over and over the value of being in the right place at the right time. Great bands languish because they just weren't seen. I don't mean to diminish the work, either the technological or the effort of finding sponsors. I just want to caution about extrapolating success…

Success is more random than we'd like to believe

Perhaps, but I think a lot of people tend to say that, then conclude that they should just wait around for luck (not saying you're doing this, though).

Another approach is to do everything you can (podcast appearances, for example!) to increase your "luck surface area".

Re: I Just Hit $100k/year On GitHub Sponsors

#209
I honestly think that platforms like Github and Patreon is the future of universal basic income. I think as labor becomes deprecated due to globalization and automation, more and more people are going to quit their jobs and pursue more creative and meaningful endeavors.

Obviously in the beginning, power law will take into effect where a few people will have enough income to thrive in these platforms. I do think that these platforms will eventually have more features like pooled donation, say you could donate to a collective of creators that you care about, will lead to significant portion of the economy to more meaningful work.

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