$550 pays for a month of living and development expenses in this person's country? So he only saved up about $2000 to last 4 months???
“I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
301–310 of 346 posts
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#302Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's not that I disagree, especially with the opinion that the gaming industry is over-saturated and that a lot depends on luck in that industry. But I'd say that 4 months worth of savings is in the better end when starting a new business. Most people who do startups or who otherwise become entrepreneurs have much less than that. And I think having too much of a cushion can lull you into a false sense of "doing somet…
Maybe I'm just way too risk-averse, but 3-4 months of expenses in savings is what I'd consider a minimum while in a stable full-time job .
Huh. I mean, I'm in a full time stable job and I don't keep that much in savings. Nowhere near in fact. But then again if the company wanted to fire me it would have to give me at least 3 months notice,so I treat that as my "buffer" to find a new job while still getting paid.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#303I think one thing you learn from selling a lot of different products is that when the market is oversupplied, the suffering of selling into an oversupplied market is not worth it. Selling stuff is just selling stuff and creatives often have trouble understanding that the value of their work to other people is not entirely dependent on their own individual powers: it's based on a bunch of factors that are entirely out of their control.
He could have bought socks wholesale and sold socks retail while huffing gasoline, causing major brain damage, and sleeping 16 hours a day and still made more money. He could have driven a truck for Walmart and made way more money while getting health and dental (probably not possible in his country but I am sure there are equivalents).
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#304Quitting your job with only 4 month worth of savings, with a new mortgage, to enter an industry known for its oversaturation, extreme competition, and high luck element for indies ? That's insane. Maybe I'm just risk-adverse. That said, I think he actually succeeded, despite appearances. Managing to release a working game in 3 month, that actually got sales, is a feat in itself. The game will keep trickling sales, if…
GDC: How to Survive in Gamedev for Eleven Years Without a Hit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmwbYl6f11c TL;DR: prepare for this to happen, and build a long tail of games/sales. I don't want to sound mean but I don't think anyone should buy the game because they feel sorry and he is begging. I can't condone it. It has become trendy for people to make GoFundMe campaigns or write articles begging people to help. Assum…
lol, of the 11 years he did mostly the same game over and over plus a bit of consulting.
It's a wonder that he survived at all
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
And twice your salary in a retirement fund by the age of 30, and three times your salary in retirement by 35. Basically quit your day job only if your side hustle is already making more money per month (not per hour) because odds are even making more per month is still going to result in not being able to survive much past 57. Side note, how many 57 year old indie game devs are there?
How does the average American put tens of thousands of dollars into a retirement account within 5 years at a point in life where there is a morgage and/or children? That does not seem like conventional wisdom.
They don't.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#306The dude had $2,000 in savings and was like, "yup this should be plenty." Post-mortem complete.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#307Earlier quoted context omitted.
The average salary for a developer in the top cities in Romania is around EUR 1,000 or $1,100 after taxes (that is about $2,500 in US before tax - yes, taxes are that high, actually a bit higher). A very good developer gets double. $2000 in savings are 4 months of living on the edge, not regular living. Getting a full time job as a developer in Romania is extremely easy if you have any decent skills, there is a short…
> The average salary for a developer in the top cities in Romania is around EUR 1,000 or $1,100 after taxes (that is about $2,500 in US before tax - yes, taxes are that high, actually a bit higher). Can you explain that ratio? €1000--€1100 is roughly equal to $1200--$1300, and some quick searches tell me income tax in Romania is a flat 16%. That ends up very far from $2500.
The income tax is one of the many taxes you pay; on average for $1 you keep after tax, the state takes $0.85 on the pay day and another $0.19 when you spend it. You pay 2 health taxes, 2 pension taxes, unemployment tax and some smaller ones. Only a part appear on the payslip, so most people don't know the real cost they have for the employer.
People think that Europe has free goodies - there is nothing free when taxes are 60-70%. The free health care is actually a tax that does not give any guarantee you will ever receive anything, you may die waiting for treatment and it happens a lot.
I have included as taxes everything the employer is paying for you to the state without you having any decision power. Nothing of what I mentioned is optional or giving you anything guaranteed. The pension is also a tax because if you live to get something in return or you die before retiring, all the money you paid during your life are lost. The beauty of socialism is that the state takes almost everything from you and then it gives you some back, making you dependent on the state's good will.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#308Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, our mortgage advisor recommended a certain buffer amount in savings, and it was quite a lot. Either one year or 18 months, and I think that was combined income. That was just to ensure the mortgage could still be paid for a while if we both lost our jobs. I'm personally planning for an exit strategy which will see me working for myself in about 6 months time. I have roughly one year's take-home pay and will idea…
It sounds like the mortgage advisor encouraged you to borrow a larger sum, so that she/he could get a larger commission. There's no need to keep that much money in the bank just in case you lose your job and can't pay your mortgage. Most lenders (at least where I'm from) will arrange a payment holiday if you tell them you've lost your job. After all, they benefit by earning more interest whilst you're not making paym…
1 year in the bank (CD/savings) is for multiple reasons. Mostly it's for that really nasty scenario where there's a major recession leading to household job loss, when it can be particularly hard to find an equivalent replacement salary. And cash equivalent is important because selling assets in a down market is doubly expensive. Worse is a down market may make the mortgage lender even more likely to foreclose in the hopes of extracting some short term gains to offset losses in other investments. So you risk a losing your equity just by missing a single payment.
I certainly don't drop every dollar into my mortgage every month, it's just not worth the risk for a potential 4% return on investment.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#309> All in all just getting the business prepared ended up costing me about 550 more dollars than I was expecting. That's one month out of the 4 taken out.
Damn son, $550 won’t last me a week – let alone a month! I should look into where the money is going, clearly.
Re: “I thought I could ship at least 700 units to stay in business”
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfortunately we don’t live in a society where people who are passionate about art can pursue their passions fully and avoid starving or otherwise risking their quality of life. In our society merely choosing to pursue your art to your fullest extent is considered a business venture and not an artistic venture, and even choosing not to because of money reasons is itself a business decision.
True, but now is the greatest time in history to be able to pursue art. It's obviously tough, but people can sacrifice for their art and share it like never before. Just think how many incredible artists have lived but spent their entire lives merely surviving.
The idea that art must be sacrificed for is itself a profoundly toxic one.
Art is the culture that underpins society. Normalizing the idea of sacrificing to create it is itself antisocial.