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Hey, I also work my ass off to the point of getting sick and I have accomplished nothing. By that I mean I have not made any money. I've listed some of my proje

Hey, I also work my ass off to the point of getting sick and I have accomplished nothing. By that I mean I have not made any money. I've listed some of my projects here and not even a single up vote. I don't like it but it is what it is. I'm simply trying to say that I'm no less ambitious, and that is probably true of a lot of us here. The gods of luck have simply not been on my side, yet.

sfeng 10y ago
It's very true that how hard you work doesn't correlate directly with success. That said, learning how to work hard is one of the best things you can do to become successful. Once you master that, you then have to learn from each experience. If some of the things you're doing haven't worked out, try to examine them and figure out where you went wrong. Feel free to post some here for others to chime in. Also, don't necessarily think not climbing to the top of HN means you're not successful. It can be a popularity contest (Zuck will always make it to the top), and it's also somewhat random. Often the content which makes it to the frontpage was upvoted by friends, or reposted many times, I wouldn't take it too seriously.
- user837387 10y ago
  This is really good advice. Thanks.
- paradite 10y ago
  I just want to point out that the upvoted by friends part is against Hacker News policy and not encouraged and I personally consider them as very unethical: > Can I ask people to upvote my submission? > No. Users should vote for a story because it's intellectually interesting, not because someone is promoting it. > When the software detects a voting ring, it penalizes the post. Accounts that vote like this eventually get their votes ignored. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html
yarou 10y ago
Why would you care if your projects are upvoted? When I build side projects, I just care about learning a new language, framework, library etc...I couldn't care less if it got me upvotes on here or anywhere for that matter.
- user837387 10y ago
  Well, I want to be successful the same way Mark is successful, I want to make money. Having money I can then work on even more ambitious projects. Isn't that what we all want to do? Getting thousands of people to look at and/or comment on your project is one proxy and one first step. You have to get people interested on what you are working on or else you will never make money off of them.
juancampa 10y ago
Hey man, what are you side projects? I'm interested!
- user837387 10y ago
  Unfortunately this is my throw away account. I speak my mind so I come off as a troll. I'll post the latest project I'm working under my real user id in a few months. I'm kicking myself since this appears to be a good opportunity for some self promotion. Fuck Me. Edit: This is making me realize that I should stop being an anonymous coward and put myself out there to try to make my projects and I known to the world. I'll make this my new year's resolution.
  - iamskeptic 10y ago
    Anonymous Cowards are something from Slashdot, right? I don't think that applies here. I also have a few different accounts, while keeping my main account more 'professional'. I do it for a few reasons: the HN hive mentality hates dissenting opinions in general (doesn't matter how well written and based on facts), everything has to be super politically correct these days and the 'cultural fit' mantra could mean I would have a disadvantage getting a job (since many employers/startups will check your comment history to decide if you're a "fit", while simultaneously posting on their blog about diversity efforts). I'd say keep using your throwaway accounts. It's not the end of the world you didn't get to promote your side project in this thread.
    - joe563323 10y ago
      Just curious. How do you manage switching b/w the accounts. Just plain logout and login ?
  - user5994461 10y ago
    > throw away account [...] being an anonymous coward Well. In the current era of NSA and surveillance, it makes sense to make a new account for every message.

sfeng 10y ago

It's very true that how hard you work doesn't correlate directly with success. That said, learning how to work hard is one of the best things you can do to become successful. Once you master that, you then have to learn from each experience. If some of the things you're doing haven't worked out, try to examine them and figure out where you went wrong. Feel free to post some here for others to chime in. Also, don't necessarily think not climbing to the top of HN means you're not successful. It can be a popularity contest (Zuck will always make it to the top), and it's also somewhat random. Often the content which makes it to the frontpage was upvoted by friends, or reposted many times, I wouldn't take it too seriously.

user837387 10y ago
This is really good advice. Thanks.
paradite 10y ago
I just want to point out that the upvoted by friends part is against Hacker News policy and not encouraged and I personally consider them as very unethical: > Can I ask people to upvote my submission? > No. Users should vote for a story because it's intellectually interesting, not because someone is promoting it. > When the software detects a voting ring, it penalizes the post. Accounts that vote like this eventually get their votes ignored. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html

yarou 10y ago

Why would you care if your projects are upvoted? When I build side projects, I just care about learning a new language, framework, library etc...I couldn't care less if it got me upvotes on here or anywhere for that matter.

user837387 10y ago
Well, I want to be successful the same way Mark is successful, I want to make money. Having money I can then work on even more ambitious projects. Isn't that what we all want to do? Getting thousands of people to look at and/or comment on your project is one proxy and one first step. You have to get people interested on what you are working on or else you will never make money off of them.

juancampa 10y ago

Hey man, what are you side projects? I'm interested!

user837387 10y ago
Unfortunately this is my throw away account. I speak my mind so I come off as a troll. I'll post the latest project I'm working under my real user id in a few months. I'm kicking myself since this appears to be a good opportunity for some self promotion. Fuck Me. Edit: This is making me realize that I should stop being an anonymous coward and put myself out there to try to make my projects and I known to the world. I'll make this my new year's resolution.
- iamskeptic 10y ago
  Anonymous Cowards are something from Slashdot, right? I don't think that applies here. I also have a few different accounts, while keeping my main account more 'professional'. I do it for a few reasons: the HN hive mentality hates dissenting opinions in general (doesn't matter how well written and based on facts), everything has to be super politically correct these days and the 'cultural fit' mantra could mean I would have a disadvantage getting a job (since many employers/startups will check your comment history to decide if you're a "fit", while simultaneously posting on their blog about diversity efforts). I'd say keep using your throwaway accounts. It's not the end of the world you didn't get to promote your side project in this thread.
  - joe563323 10y ago
    Just curious. How do you manage switching b/w the accounts. Just plain logout and login ?
- user5994461 10y ago
  > throw away account [...] being an anonymous coward Well. In the current era of NSA and surveillance, it makes sense to make a new account for every message.