31–40 of 63 posts
I haven't had your courage though, I quit my job in Japan before working on my own projects... Too many hours of overtime killed me afterwards for side projects...
It's the epitome of entrepreneurship, far more so than some 'feature' that gets funded and a quick exit.
If you ever decide to do this on a larger scale I don't doubt that you'll be very successful, it's the attitude and the time put in that matter, not so much the product.
It's one of the very few business I've seen where luck has been completely (or at least, almost completely) eradicated and the whole thing is turned in to a science.
The next big question is: Can you scale it ?
I think you can, please keep us informed of your new adventures!
Even if he gets REALLY crazy and doubles his hours each week, I can only imagine the success that is waiting for him.
Congrats on the move, I tip my hat to a true professional and successful warrior of the game.
K
Are you staying in Japan, or moving back home? If you're staying, how did you pull that off (visa-wise) without a "regular" job?
1) it's possible to self-sponsor as long as you can show a certain amount of income from part time work or, in Patrick's case, internet earnings.
2) your visa is not tied to your employer. you can get a 3 year visa, quit your job, then continue to work freelance for 3 years as long as you do all your tax etc correctly. then hopefully by the time you have to renew your visa you'll have a corporate entity set up with enough paid-in capital to sponsor your visa for you. or you do (1).
What I'm curious about: patio11 seems to have developed some formidable experience in the non-bullshit aspects of "SEO" (running actual A/B tests and iterating as a result). The odds are good that that's actually worth more, on a consulting basis, than selling bingo cards. Maybe he'll add some products? Best of luck in any case!
I think he wrote that he has amassed a big amount of experience, enough to write a book, but that he would rather spend his time writing actual software.
Cheers
Edit: I actually have it on my list to read every single post he has written.
For those who aren't aware, Patrick is incredibly helpful off-HN also. As in, if you email him, he always gets back to you, no matter how busy he is.
Thanks for being so awesome :)