5 ms·

What I learned while 6x-ing my income in 4 years

33 points by allenleein 10y ago

probably_wrong 10y ago
> Lesson: Don’t run out of money. Oh, of course, how come I didn't think of that? I'm actually more interested in this footnote: > I even sold “get on HN frontpage” as a service to local startups. I charged a whopping $100 per essay Is good to have independent confirmation that people have moved from gaming Reddit to gaming Hacker News.
- Swizec 10y ago
  That was many years ago. It doesn't actually work anymore. "gaming" is also a strong word. It was more like "Get 5 upvotes to hit the bottom of the frontpage, then if content is good enough it floats up, if it's not it doesn't" The trick was that I was reliably able to guess the taste du jour of the HN crowd.
  - abandonliberty 10y ago
    Beer please
jupp0r 10y ago
24k in Slovenia sounds equivalent to 125k in the Valley though, ... The bottom line might also be "migrate to a richer country"
- gambiting 10y ago
  It's always relative. On my UK salary I would starve in SF. In Poland, where I am from, I could afford to buy or build a house in few years, outright, without a mortgage. But where I am now, I can maybe apply for mortgage in couple years time then pay it off in 15-20 years. Does that mean I should move? If yes, then surely, the answer would be to move to the "poorer" country if I could maintain the same salary as I have now, since my standard of living would be a lot higher than it is now.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    And that seems to be the basis for claiming the EU smoothing out wage differences across the member nations. Problem is that while it may rise the wages in a poorer country some decades down the line, right now it suppresses the wages in the richer countries because of an onrush of foreign workers that are undercutting the local workforce.
    - gambiting 10y ago
      I'm very confused why would it be undercutting the local workforce. I certainly would not accept to be paid any less than any of my British coworkers. I didn't move here for work - I came here to university, finished my BSc, then MSc, and then I got a job - I don't feel like I'm being paid any less because I'm a "foreigner".
      - digi_owl 10y ago
        Thats because you are educated and are directly hired. Tradesman jobs on the other hand...
- Swizec 10y ago
  It helps. But with 24k in Slovenia you save maybe 1k/year. With 125k in the Valley, you can save 10k/year. That's a big difference.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    Reminds me of the hoopla over gasoline prices. Ran into a chart showing those pr liter across Europe, and Norway came out as most expensive. But almost as a footnote they also included one that calculated liters pr average wage. And all of a sudden the table was reversed.
pja 10y ago
Reading this is somewhat painful thanks to the social sharing buttons on the left which hover on top of the text.
- Swizec 10y ago
  Sorry. HN made the database go kaput and somehow that meant the text loads but the CSS does not. There's normally a margin there.
velodrome 10y ago
In the same 4 years that I 6x-ed my income, I also 9x-ed my expenses. I’m really bad with money, and people keep giving it to me! He needs to be more frugal... Net income (profit) is important. $100k income / $90k expense vs $20k income / $10k expense. Reminds me of Ecommerce vs SAAS.
- chadscira 10y ago
  He doesn't need to 6x his revenue anymore, now he just needs to slash those expenses. I'd like to see the average effective profit per hour, spread across the 4 years.
- Swizec 10y ago
  > He needs to be more frugal Turns out mum wasn't lying when she said the fridge doesn't fill itself.
  - velodrome 10y ago
    Swizec, don't be so hard on yourself. You just need to separate your needs vs wants. Save today's wants for tomorrow's needs.
- bryanrasmussen 10y ago
  Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds, nineteen shillings and six pence, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
candiodari 10y ago
Bit of bad advice. You could summarize it as "kid gets a job in SF programming while moving. 6x'es his income TO 140k (before tax)" Okay ... so far I understand that that's possible (although may I say you got royally screwed every year except the 4th). What most people here want to know is how to multiply that income from this point forward.
sean_patel 10y ago
> Last year, I spent $125,535. I don’t even know where that money went. I certainly don’t feel like I got much out of all that money. Really? I lost all confidence in whatever this person is trying to sell us, when I read this. Indicates a very financially-irresponsible person.
ttam 10y ago
Interesting that you were able to get the O-1 with such an "average" career. I guess that's a hidden advantage of writing a few books, hem? You're able to send them a polished application :)

33 points by allenleein 10y ago

> Lesson: Don’t run out of money. Oh, of course, how come I didn't think of that? I'm actually more interested in this footnote: > I even sold “get on HN frontpage” as a service to local startups. I charged a whopping $100 per essay Is good to have independent confirmation that people have moved from gaming Reddit to gaming Hacker News.

Swizec 10y ago
That was many years ago. It doesn't actually work anymore. "gaming" is also a strong word. It was more like "Get 5 upvotes to hit the bottom of the frontpage, then if content is good enough it floats up, if it's not it doesn't" The trick was that I was reliably able to guess the taste du jour of the HN crowd.
- abandonliberty 10y ago
  Beer please

jupp0r 10y ago

24k in Slovenia sounds equivalent to 125k in the Valley though, ... The bottom line might also be "migrate to a richer country"

gambiting 10y ago
It's always relative. On my UK salary I would starve in SF. In Poland, where I am from, I could afford to buy or build a house in few years, outright, without a mortgage. But where I am now, I can maybe apply for mortgage in couple years time then pay it off in 15-20 years. Does that mean I should move? If yes, then surely, the answer would be to move to the "poorer" country if I could maintain the same salary as I have now, since my standard of living would be a lot higher than it is now.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  And that seems to be the basis for claiming the EU smoothing out wage differences across the member nations. Problem is that while it may rise the wages in a poorer country some decades down the line, right now it suppresses the wages in the richer countries because of an onrush of foreign workers that are undercutting the local workforce.
  - gambiting 10y ago
    I'm very confused why would it be undercutting the local workforce. I certainly would not accept to be paid any less than any of my British coworkers. I didn't move here for work - I came here to university, finished my BSc, then MSc, and then I got a job - I don't feel like I'm being paid any less because I'm a "foreigner".
    - digi_owl 10y ago
      Thats because you are educated and are directly hired. Tradesman jobs on the other hand...
Swizec 10y ago
It helps. But with 24k in Slovenia you save maybe 1k/year. With 125k in the Valley, you can save 10k/year. That's a big difference.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  Reminds me of the hoopla over gasoline prices. Ran into a chart showing those pr liter across Europe, and Norway came out as most expensive. But almost as a footnote they also included one that calculated liters pr average wage. And all of a sudden the table was reversed.

pja 10y ago

Reading this is somewhat painful thanks to the social sharing buttons on the left which hover on top of the text.

Swizec 10y ago
Sorry. HN made the database go kaput and somehow that meant the text loads but the CSS does not. There's normally a margin there.

velodrome 10y ago

In the same 4 years that I 6x-ed my income, I also 9x-ed my expenses. I’m really bad with money, and people keep giving it to me! He needs to be more frugal... Net income (profit) is important. $100k income / $90k expense vs $20k income / $10k expense. Reminds me of Ecommerce vs SAAS.

chadscira 10y ago
He doesn't need to 6x his revenue anymore, now he just needs to slash those expenses. I'd like to see the average effective profit per hour, spread across the 4 years.
Swizec 10y ago
> He needs to be more frugal Turns out mum wasn't lying when she said the fridge doesn't fill itself.
- velodrome 10y ago
  Swizec, don't be so hard on yourself. You just need to separate your needs vs wants. Save today's wants for tomorrow's needs.
bryanrasmussen 10y ago
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds, nineteen shillings and six pence, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.

candiodari 10y ago

Bit of bad advice. You could summarize it as "kid gets a job in SF programming while moving. 6x'es his income TO 140k (before tax)" Okay ... so far I understand that that's possible (although may I say you got royally screwed every year except the 4th). What most people here want to know is how to multiply that income from this point forward.

sean_patel 10y ago

> Last year, I spent $125,535. I don’t even know where that money went. I certainly don’t feel like I got much out of all that money. Really? I lost all confidence in whatever this person is trying to sell us, when I read this. Indicates a very financially-irresponsible person.

ttam 10y ago

Interesting that you were able to get the O-1 with such an "average" career. I guess that's a hidden advantage of writing a few books, hem? You're able to send them a polished application :)