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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

#461

Post by z3t4 »

ehsankia wrote: post #398
eXpl0it3r wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest difference would be that GitHub Sponsors has no fees [1], so everything people put in will go to the developer. Where Patreon can take 5-12% depending on the plan [2]. Additionally, GitHub is just so much closer to the actual open source work and more easily discoverable for users of your product. As a supporter, I'll pick GitHub over Patreon anytime. [1] https://help.github.com/en/github/supporting-the-o…

That's what I was surprised the most about. 0% cut and they also mentioned a 5k match? What? How is that even viable for Microsoft? That seems superior to basically every single platform out there. It's an instant win for GitHub Sponsors.

Paying 5k to high profile people is probably just a fraction of what they spend on marketing, but probably more effective.

Say you are a marketer and you bring hundreds of paying users to a platform, 5k is cheap.

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

#462

Post by m0zg »

neltnerb wrote: post #400
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…

IANAL, but I have done this a few times. I'm pretty sure you do not need a company to make money as a self-employed person in the USA. Not in terms of federal taxes anyway. What you might need a company for is to pay sales taxes you charge for physical goods, or get insurance appropriate for your line of work. That's likely to be state-by-state. You just get the convenience of an EIN by registering and some additiona…

You also need a company so you don't lose your house and life's savings if you're sued, too. That's what freelancers primarily create companies for. IRS doesn't really let you take advantage of any tax loopholes unless you employ a bunch of other people.

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

#463

Post by phodge »

z3t4 wrote: post #460
phodge wrote: post #417

Joel Spolsky does a good job of explaining what's actually happening here in his old "Strategy Letter V" from 2002 [1]. Caleb hasn't discovered some secret means of convincing people to pay for OSS they can download for free. What he's done is create a commodity (the open source package) and then once it's popular, make a tidy profit off its complimentary product (training videos). Unfortunately it's still true that…

I wonder if you could just pick a big open source product with a large community and sell complimentary product products for it... Or that you first must be a celebrity? Or at least have enough social proof.

I can't say I'm an expert on RedHad's business model, but I think this is what they've done with Linux. Mysql did something similar as well, but in their case they built mysql from scratch themselves rather than attaching to an existing product.

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

#464

Post by SpelingBeeChamp »

m0zg wrote: post #462
neltnerb wrote: post #400

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAL, but I have done this a few times. I'm pretty sure you do not need a company to make money as a self-employed person in the USA. Not in terms of federal taxes anyway. What you might need a company for is to pay sales taxes you charge for physical goods, or get insurance appropriate for your line of work. That's likely to be state-by-state. You just get the convenience of an EIN by registering and some additiona…

You also need a company so you don't lose your house and life's savings if you're sued, too. That's what freelancers primarily create companies for. IRS doesn't really let you take advantage of any tax loopholes unless you employ a bunch of other people.

I don't understand characterizing compliance with tax law as using "loopholes." What are you referring to?

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

#465

Post by bnastic »

avgDev wrote: post #289
jermaustin1 wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

This. In US there are many benefits of owning a business. Cars are an expense, home office is an expense, etc. When you work for someone else you don't have this flexibility but your risk is lower and you are not worried about finding clients.

Same in the UK, and I believe in other countries, it's not strictly a US thing.

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

#466

Post by jermaustin1 »

bluekite2000 wrote: post #387
jermaustin1 wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I do not. Bookkeeping for a small business really doesn't take much time. I spend about 2 hours a month working the books, then come January, I have my accountant's clerk come back and do a final pass over everything to prep for taxes.

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

#467

Post by jermaustin1 »

markdown wrote: post #438
jermaustin1 wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

> Owner Health Insurance: -$15k WTF? Who pays $15k PER YEAR for health insurance? That's nuts. In most countries USD$15k would pay for healthcare for 2 or 3 people for their entire lives.

$15k is a cheap family policy in most of the country. My wife and I pay $24k/year for the cheapest silver option with a low deductible. My wife gets pneumonia and bronchitis almost annually, and every few years gets hospitalized. On top of that, she has 5 medications she takes for her asthma and allergies that without insurance would add up to almost $1000/mo, so sure we could go uninsured and save close to $12k/year, but the second she gets pneumonia and ends up in urgent care or the ER, we've lost all of the savings. And that is just her, I have to get my blood drawn quarterly for a thyroid condition, and each time they bill that to the insurance it's $1600.

So sure $15k is ridiculous to pay for health insurance, but in the US, its the cheap option for a family.

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

#468

Post by jermaustin1 »

mNovak wrote: post #393
jermaustin1 wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

With S-corps you do have to actually pay yourself wages, thus incurring some FICA taxes. Rule of thumb I believe is 50% of net income, up to ~$100k. Given that, you can then also contribute (and deduct) as the company up to 25% of salary towards 401k Another gem many people don't know about is "Increasing Research Activities", for certain industries this essentially translates to 5-10% of your total payroll becoming…

I was doing my estimation based on an LLC, since most people don't set up S-Corps. I do operate through as an S-Corp, and I pay myself ~60%, and put 20% into my SEP-IRA.

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

#469

Post by rootshelled »

codingdave wrote: post #360
drummer wrote: post #255

>Now, people watching the screencasts will naturally encounter these “private” screencasts and if they like the free ones, they will sponsor me (at $14/mo.) to get access. Why are we calling this 'sponsoring'? It just factually is selling a product to people for a specific amount. Sponsoring/donating is more like people giving money for something that would otherwise be free. Otherwise Microsoft could also require a…

It is collecting money with an expectation of additional content in the future. So it isn't just a purchase. A subscription is closer, but sponsor adds the implication that your sponsorship is what allows the content creator to keep doing it. Also, one of the dictionary definitions for sponsor is: "provide funds for (a project or activity or the person carrying it out)." So it seems accurate enough of a term to me.

"provide funds for (a project or activity or the person carrying it out)."

So does a subscription or purchase. So not sure what you are trying to imply with this.

He gives access to stuff if you pay him money, with a promise of more stuff in the future. This just sounds like an subscription to me.

While I do agree there is a disconnect between open source dev payment and business, I don't think mislabeling a subscription as a donation does anyone any good.

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

#470

Post by flurdy »

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.

Not sure you understand the Scandinavian/Nordic psyche.

My non-Scandinavian girlfriend never understood why people pay for the bus there if they never get checked. Or why people bother to leave money in a little box at an unmanned coffee/waffle/etc stand in the middle of nowhere. But most do as it is the right thing to do, guilt free.

And if there is a slight chance the tax authorities might contact him the guilt/embarrassment is worse than any token fine.

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