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Back Office Exposed: Bingo Card Creator

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Re: Back Office Exposed: Bingo Card Creator

#41

Post by patio11 »

cdr wrote: post #37
nicpottier wrote: post #18

For all those reading this thinking, man, I could never do this or be successful at my own business, follow his advice, JUST DO IT! It isn't that hard, it is especially not that hard if you approach it like he did and grow very slowly and keep your costs down. I did the same thing with my best friend years ago, starting off while still having a job, then making a leap when things were slightly vetted. Best decision o…

Actually, I found patio11's background to be generally pretty average and unexceptional - I was thinking "if he can do it, anyone can". (no offense intended to patio11:)

None taken. I agree with "anyone can do this", with the proviso that it really helps if you can do at least one kind of programming and enjoy learning things.

Re: Back Office Exposed: Bingo Card Creator

#42

Post by jasonlotito »

skmurphy wrote: post #20

This was the best exchange in the interview: Q: Can you share the key metrics you watch on a daily basis? Why are they important to you? A: I have published a variety of stats but I don’t watch metrics on a daily basis because I don’t make metrics-based decisions on a daily basis, and absent making decisions watching metrics is only as productive as playing WoW.

There were so many awesome answers. It was an excellent article. One line that really caught my attention was this:

> what are you working on which is more niche than bingo cards for elementary schoolteachers, anyhow?

Re: Back Office Exposed: Bingo Card Creator

#44

Post by dpritchett »

atomical wrote: post #43

"If you spend just a few minutes on Hacker News, you’ll come across Patrick McKenzie in one way or another" You can say that again. I am starting to feel the overload.

Unlike most HN tropes I haven't found the "and here's how patio11 does it" angles to be tiresome. A one-man profitable non-funded small code-driven business is chock full of lessons for all of us.

Re: Back Office Exposed: Bingo Card Creator

#46

Post by chc »

jacquesm wrote: post #28
patio11 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get a lot of credit (perhaps more than I deserve) because I talk a lot, am amicable, and write in a compelling manner. Communication is the great underlooked startup/engineering skill. I prefer taking the opposite tack [+] with regards to simplicity: there is indeed such a thing as simple. Your business, on day one, is simple. It will gradually become more complex as you learn things and learn what the business nee…

I think we're all rooting for you because you come across as as a genuinely nice guy and because you live the dream that many here just dream of, to wean yourself from your pay-check and to go 'independent' without any outside help. It's impressive, to say the least, far more so than many of the 'my feature just got funded' items and if you keep at it you'll do very well in the long run. Keep an eye on your savings,…

I expect that Patrick knows that better than most people, since every summer is a one long rainy day for his product.

Re: Back Office Exposed: Bingo Card Creator

#47

Post by bmm6o »

gruseom wrote: post #16
d_r wrote: post #12

"But if you say you’re booked solid with your children and yet you still find time to watch television and play online poker, then it is time to have a frank discussion about your true priorities in life." Besides the very honest and insightful write-up (thank you!), this last sentence is worth its weight in gold. It's too easy to make excuses for not following your goals and blame something other than your own lack…

I think that sentence is unfair. If you have a job and small children, it's easy to be so exhausted after putting them to bed that there is no energy left to think about anything important. It's true of course that children are the handiest excuse around. But it's also true that once you start down the job-and-family highway it can be exceedingly difficult to get onto an exit. The implication here -- that if you're n…

I don't think the quote calls anyone lazy. All he's doing is pointing out the contradiction between saying "I would do X but I don't have the time", and engaging in time-filling activities. It's fine if your other responsibilities (family, etc) don't leave you able to take on something else. Nobody is criticizing you for putting your family ahead of your startup - you'd be insane not to. But the first step in overcoming an obstacle is honestly identifying what that obstacle is.

Re: Back Office Exposed: Bingo Card Creator

#48

Post by djb_hackernews »

nicpottier wrote: post #40
Elite wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What are doing in Africa? I'd love to talk to you about it sometime. I'm doing some work there as well construction/water&waste mgmt. We'll soon make some very early stage efforts to enter the energy industry as well. See my profile for contact info.

I'm starting a software company, primarily focusing on SMS based data collection systems. See this blog post for the whole story of how I got here: http://blog.nyaruka.com/18178694

should also see txtGate http://github.com/niryariv/txtgate for a good model of turning a single device into an sms gateway and data collection device. Good luck, keep us updated.

I should mention I first saw txtGate here on HN because the developer is a member. More of a proof of concept than anything else, but a great idea.

Re: Back Office Exposed: Bingo Card Creator

#49

Post by frankwiles »

patio11 wrote: post #26
boredguy8 wrote: post #14

And no credit for fixing his httpd.conf configuration :( <3 patio

Joey gets credit for the part of my config which functions as designed.

If Apache is eating up all of your RAM with children, you should really look into using nginx or Varnish out front (depending on how cacheable the content is). You'll see your need for more Apache children drop considerably, due to the spoon feeding problem.

Hope that helps, have really enjoyed reading your posts.

Re: Back Office Exposed: Bingo Card Creator

#50

Post by Poiesis »

loewenskind wrote: post #29
gruseom wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that sentence is unfair. If you have a job and small children, it's easy to be so exhausted after putting them to bed that there is no energy left to think about anything important. It's true of course that children are the handiest excuse around. But it's also true that once you start down the job-and-family highway it can be exceedingly difficult to get onto an exit. The implication here -- that if you're n…

Agreed. And what's more, marriage and raising a child both take a lot of time. I often don't even open my laptop at home because I just don't have the time. Personally, I realized that (a) I can't live with the idea of working at a big corp until I retire and (b) if I wish to remain married and connect with my kids (you only have 10 years!) I don't have the time to do this on the side. Given those two truths I decide…

Personally, I figure that if I stay at $BIGCORP I will have far less time to connect with my kids--over the long term--than if I work for myself. I might have to front-load the time a bit as I get set up but this is not a given, given the small hourly commitments possible.

But the "free" healthcare makes it a tough decision.

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