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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

#331

Post by virgilp »

Erlich_Bachman wrote: post #279
virgilp wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, yes you need to report revenues, but... do you need a company for that? Do e.g. all Finnish photographers on Shutterstock have a company, in order to receive payments?

Yes, if you sell things (or electronic things), in any meaningful amount (no one will care for 200$ per year though), you have to set up a company or a sole proprietorship. It is like this in most western countries. The activity that you are doing in that case is called business, and of course you need to have a company or a similar business structure (like sole proprietorship) to do business. Whether all people do i…

It's different here - for revenue from intellectual property rights in particular you do not need to be a business (you do need accounting & to submit an annual declaration to the revenue service; but you can do that as a regular person, there's no need to register a business).

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

#332

Post by kemitchell »

hinkley wrote: post #320
kemitchell wrote: post #298

The more individual developer stories I look into on Sponsors or Patreon or wherever, the more I see a recurring pattern. The vast majority of developers don't make any significant money. The outliers that do use the platform as a general-purpose payment processor. They take donations, but they also sell things. The line between isn't terribly clear. The platforms help style all the payments as "donations" or "sponso…

In class and race struggles it's not uncommon to see someone worry aloud about token individuals who are "allowed" to succeed out of proportion to their peers. It gives the rabble hope, which keeps them sedate. But the success rate barely exceeds attrition at the top of the pyramid. I don't think I personally will ever know if this is just an accident of the system (being happily exploited), planned, or a little bit…

I agree there's a lottery-like dynamic in open software funding. The winner-outliers are well known, broadly remarked, and frequently advertised. The long, long tail of financial busts gets downplayed, though we all know it's there.

Same for startups, by the by.

I don't think it's necessary to personalize the rules, odds, and constraints that reinforce these outcomes. We could find individuals who see how it works and like it. But I haven't seen evidence to show they add up to any kind of conscious conspiracy. I'm more concerned about the smaller players who aren't winning and haven't seen how the game is skewed.

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

#333

Post by [deleted] »

Ndymium wrote: post #132

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…

[deleted]

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

#334

Post by Shorel »

sytelus wrote: post #249

I hate sponsorware concept OP is proposing. It seems to work for him but it’s opposite to the spirit of open source. His idea is that keep code secret until you find N sponsors. Further, he will hide important tutorials if you are not sponsor. I would hate to use this kind of open source project. Here is more viable freelancing: - create framework/library that everyone needs - for feature requests/bug fixes, prioriti…

You are free to hate and free not to use such a product.

The truth is that many developers have taken the high road, and done the right thing, and they have been unable to make a living out of their open source efforts.

I hate that the ecosystem is so weak the OP has to resort to this model, but I have nothing but sympathy for the OP.

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

#335

Post by amelius »

koheripbal wrote: post #248
marcus_holmes wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sell licenses. People can buy a licensed version of your project. It's exactly the same as the free version, but it comes with a different licence.txt (which allows the purchaser to say that they supported you). If you're not allowed to sell copyright licenses in Finland, then your whole software business is screwed.

I don't even see the point. If there's no enforcement of this law, why even bother with the illusion of legality? Just accept donations - and likely no one will ever bother coming after you.

Well, GGP said that accepting donations costs money. So perhaps selling licenses is more profitable?

Also, if you receive more than a few hundred dollars, perhaps the Finnish IRS will start noticing.

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

#336

Post by bluekite2000 »

jermaustin1 wrote: post #101
bluedino wrote: post #27

Comparing $90k as a W2 employee doesn't really compare to making $112k as a LLC or contractor. Taxes, health insurance, retirement... On the other hand, his amounts are going up, so I'm interested to see how high they will go, and what it will consistently level out at.

If you set the entity up correctly and work with a decent accountant, your $112k turns into more like $40k taxable, and if you are married, that $40k drops to $20k @ 10% + $20k @ 12% or ~ $4500 in taxes.

What do you mean set up correctly? And how does 112K turn into 40K taxable?

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

#337

Post by msoad »

r3trohack3r wrote: post #218
msoad wrote: post #8

$100k is still not even close to how much you can make in SV as an engineer. Specially an engineer at this caliber. But working on OSS full time is probably 100x more fulfilling than building CRUD for a boring ad company.

I made significantly more than this working in SV. IMO it's totally fair to say $100k is "not even close" for certain roles in certain companies. But then I moved. I'm here to tell you, the Bay Area has a quality of life problem that far exceeds the cost of living difference. After moving, my monthly _mortgage_ payment is almost $1k less than the rent I was paying for a not-so-nice house in San Jose. When I run the n…

Where are you living? very interesting!

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

#338

Post by komali2 »

Grimm1 wrote: post #182
komali2 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well that's fair, though a different discussion. I would argue you could probably find a project at Google that promotes your values, who knows though. In any case, my numbers hold up for bay area startup salaries as well - if they didn't, I wouldn't live here lol.

I'm currently working on founding a search engine that is in direct opposition of Google's values, or potentially lack thereof, so I think that might be a hard sell for them ;) And the numbers don't really work out for founders for the first couple years in terms of any salary so I think again we view money differently. I'm not really disputing that your numbers work for being an employee but they don't really hold o…

That's really cool, care to link? I'm slowly extricating myself from Google and Facebook.

I think we don't disagree for reasons other than raw money about why working somewhere other than FAANG would be good. Probably reasons similar to why I don't work at FAANG ;P

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

#339

Post by troebr »

cvlasdkv wrote: post #264
koheripbal wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over the course of an entire lifetime, the random good vs bad luck tend to wash out and people usually end their lives financially roughly in line with their capabilities. - my personal opinion and experience.

Demonstrably false considering massive wealth inequality and poverty. It's incredibly harmful and uneducated to hold such a callous opinion. It also goes against the plentiful studies showing that socieconomic status (SES) is more significant predictor of success than almost any other attribute. Simple scenarios: - immigrants/refugees moving to a different country - getting visas in what is largely a lottery system -…

Back when I applied for an H1B visa, the chances that I'd be outright rejected was 30%. The next few years I believe it climbed to 60%. Just the fact that I found a company willing to apply to my visa involved a lot of luck. Even me being on the US before the H1B involved a lot of luck. Then luck to get the visa. So much of my career was based on luck. Sure, I seized some opportunities when they flew by, but it's not like I was steering super hard to make them happen. Some people will make success happen because they're super smart and relentless, but for a lot of people like me, I believe there's an incredible amount of luck involved.

It kind of grinds my gears when some people give lessons on how to be successful and don't acknowledge that luck was a part of it.

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

#340

Post by lstamour »

stefanfisk wrote: post #321
parliament32 wrote: post #302

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It is like this in most western countries. No it isn't... In Canada, you can happily accept money from people and just stick it in the "other income" box on your tax return, where it'll get income-taxed appropriately. If you're trying to do business deductions or want to pay business taxes instead, yes you need a business. If you're trying to set up a physical location, yes you need a business license from your city…

"It is like this in most western countries" can still apply even if Canada is an exception.

Generally speaking the same is true of “gifts”, though. You don’t have to report a gift as income if it’s reasonable, but drawing that line is where things get... complicated. Then you have to call in specialists like tax lawyers, etc.
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