Ask HN: Am I crazy? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#61

Post by bmelton » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 12:50 AM UTC

I don't expect any upvotes on this comment, but if you're in the Annapolis, MD area, I've got a guest room (or couch if you really want) that you're welcome to.

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#62

Post by dreeves » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 12:55 AM UTC

adatta02 wrote: post #42

donw wrote: post #17

You're totally nuts. And can crash at my place for a day if you end up in the silicon valley as well.

agreed. you're welcome to crash at our pad in Boston as well.

ditto Manhattan, if you don't mind getting woken up at 7am by a 2-year-old. PS: as someone below says, ditch the car!

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#63

Post by aditya » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 1:02 AM UTC

timdorr wrote: post #58

odvious wrote: post #6

Set up a website to chronicle your journey posting photos, interviews (even summaries), etc. and put a donate button on it. I wwould donate once I see you're doing it and committed.

Or if you want to try and get the money ahead of time: http://www.kickstarter.com/

+1 on kickstarter - and if you're in NY, I'll give you my couch, the idea is very compelling and if you're passionate about it, you can make it happen.

Worst case, you lose the $1500 and end up looking for a job. Not so bad, is it?

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#64

Post by Frocer » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 1:06 AM UTC

joshuarr wrote: post #52

You can either do it, or always wish you did. Your choice.

This is one of the best quotes I've read on HN. Very true!

I have also seen much crazier things. A friend of mine from college who is a stand up comedian, decided to hitchhike his way from NYC to LA to "find Tom" of MySpace. He filmed his entire journey and shared it on the web. Additionally, he also crashed with all his MySpace friends the whole way so his cost is practically 0 (besides the bus tickets).

It's definitely doable on an even smaller budget :) Good luck and let me know when you arrive at the valley!

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#65

Post by jbarciauskas » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 1:10 AM UTC

joshuarr wrote: post #52

You can either do it, or always wish you did. Your choice.

I think there's a corollary to this - if it turns out you don't always wish you did, it probably wasn't that great. The question then becomes, how certain are you this is something you will always regret having not done?

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#66

Post by jsz0 » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 1:13 AM UTC

Sure, go for it. Why not? There's very little risk. $1500 is nothing in the grand scheme of how much money you'll make in your life.

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#67

Post by tmikew » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 1:46 AM UTC

Do some research on a fellow by the name of Napolean Hill you may find it interesting.

You will not likely have a better opportunity than now to do this. It sounds fun to me and I am an old guy. I keep wondering. Why would you not also earn a little money along the way as needed? Doing whatever.

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#68

Post by jhancock » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 2:11 AM UTC

jbarciauskas wrote: post #65

joshuarr wrote: post #52

You can either do it, or always wish you did. Your choice.

I think there's a corollary to this - if it turns out you don't always wish you did, it probably wasn't that great. The question then becomes, how certain are you this is something you will always regret having not done?

The problem is you do not know if its something you regret until you have the regret. From my experience, the more regrets you accumulate, the more you learn to not have them and enjoy the process of life.

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#69

Post by jhancock » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 2:13 AM UTC

amohr wrote: post #18

tc wrote: post #3

If you don't have any other streams of income, you might want to think about ways you could get $1k/mo flowing into your bank account to keep you afloat while you flesh this out. $1500 isn't a lot of money, but perhaps that constraint will just make you more creative. As for the validation that you're seeking, I've seen people do much crazier things that have turned out well. Which is all to say that, yes, the idea i…

The point of doing it on such a small budget (besides being how much I have) would be to force me into making it up on the fly. The project is deliberately structured to be somewhat open-ended.

So long as you have someone to stay with and feed you to recuperate after its all over, you should go for it. The only thing that should stop you is knowing that you would actually be living on the street when its over and have little way of picking yourself back up.

Re: Ask HN: Am I crazy?

#70

Post by jhancock » Thu, Sep 03, 2009, 2:16 AM UTC

amohr wrote: post #16

nostrademons wrote: post #8

How able/averse are you to living with or taking money from your parents while you do this? I think it's a great idea, but there's no way you've got enough money to do this and take it to the point where it's publishable or monetizable. $1500 is like one month's rent in SF. While you can stretch that out by couchsurfing or camping, there'll be a lot of other expenses (gas? car breaking down? cell phone bills for all…

My mom would bankroll my phone bill and probably some other things. She also has her own business, so I could work for her while I compiled my work.

thats what I assumed...you got momma to back you up, she's not gonna let her child starve ;). go for it!!