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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

#381

Post by purpleidea »

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…

Nice idea, but most people want open source for free, and never contribute back, and so we only get code that big companies want, and not individual driven things that often have better ethics behind them, instead of the companies ulterior motive.

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

#382

Post by gbacon »

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…

We see power-law distributions everywhere, notably the 80-20 Pareto rule. They are the rule with uniform distributions being the rare exceptions. The claim of a hidden puppeteer running this gigantic con that occasionally allows success and precisely mixes column A with column B such that the rabble attack one another only and never the mastermind pulling the strings is truly extraordinary.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareto_distribution

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

#383

Post by imhoguy »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #59
TomMarius wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$100k gives you a really nice lifestyle anywhere in Europe.

Before or after taxes?

You can't compare US taxes to EU taxes. Paying these (taxes and social contibutions) you also get something in exchange: free public medical care, free education, state pension, various safety nets. Although quality and amount depends on country.

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

#384

Post by HugoDaniel »

jfengel wrote: 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…

yeah this is ripe for survivorship bias

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

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

#385

Post by M2Ys4U »

suifbwish wrote: post #380
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…

This is exactly the kind of problems cryptocurrency was made to address. I would just say each donation comes with a postcard so you are giving them something in return. If my government ever tries to do something like this, I will leave it up to them to figure out that I’m collecting donations.

That sounds like a very quick way to get a tax evasion charge...

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

#386

Post by haditab »

ttymck wrote: post #270
axegon_ wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those numbers are real, no doubt about it but even if you potentially have the skills and knowledge to compete for those positions, your odds of getting such a job are still incredibly slim. If you are young, immensely talented(for the lack of a better word), and in a location near the job offering, then yes, there's a chance. But even giants such as FAANGs will have their doubts when you're 30+ and on the other side…

To be fair, it will be just as hard to make a compelling, valuable OSS project if you don't possess the same skills and talents that FAANG hires for.

From experience I would say running the OSS project is definitely harder, but the type of person who is capable of making a successful OSS project is not the type of person who can chain themselves to a chair for 3 months and practice interview questions. Studying for FAANG interviews is arduous and extremely non-rewarding. It is like the extreme opposite of an OSS project, where you put in the same hours and have exactly nothing to show for it.

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

#387

Post by bluekite2000 »

jermaustin1 wrote: post #350
bluekite2000 wrote: post #336

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

I'm not an accountant or tax lawyer, so this isn't advise, only my back of the envelope calculation, not even using things like the 172 deduction, or business expenses, but my estimate was actually way off almost double. Gross Income: $112k - SEP IRA 25%: -$28k - Owner Health Insurance: -$15k - 199-A Deduction (20%): -$12k Total business income for taxes: $47k - Married Filing Jointly Deduction: -$24k - Total taxable…

Do you use a service for bookkeeping?

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

#388

Post by vajrabum »

maxwelljoslyn wrote: post #303
wongarsu wrote: post #293

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the confusion in this thread is that (in most of Western Europe) you automatically become a business (or even company) by the sole act of doing "business" (enterprise with the purpose of earning money), and once you cross some (small) threshold you have to register in some capacity. That can be a ~$20 bureaucratic act, compared to the ~$500 act of setting up a proper company. But of course at that point it va…

Thank you for explaining this. As an American, I was unaware.

You can take donations but AFAIK business licenses are required in every state in the US whether you provide product, service or something online. If you take donations then by law you have to declare that as income.

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

#389

Post by M2Ys4U »

VBprogrammer wrote: post #41
TomMarius wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$100k gives you a really nice lifestyle anywhere in Europe.

Except major cities like London, Paris, Dublin where it is somewhere around 'table stakes'.

At current exchange rates, $100k is about £80k or €88k.

In the UK that pre-tax income would put you well in the 95th percentile.

Post-tax the 97th percentile.

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

#390

Post by zrail »

ska wrote: post #266
zrail wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally just buying an insurance policy is significantly less complicated and roughly the same cost, IME. Professional liability, errors and omissions, etc. cost me ~$1k a year when I was doing consulting for $1mm in coverage. My LLC taxed as an S-corp cost more than that just in tax prep services. A single member LLC provides some benefits but those benefits often require a lawyer to invoke (i.e. you're getting su…

E&O insurance is in absolutely no way a replacement for incorporation. In most cases if you need the former, you need the latter also, but there are many uninsurable cases where you want the protection of an LLC anyway.

I guess never really analyzed it in depth and just had both. What does E&O miss that a single member LLC protects against (and vice versa)?
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