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I stalked you a little based on that comment, and I can't figure out what it is you really do. You must be living a good life if you've got time to maintain a

I stalked you a little based on that comment, and I can't figure out what it is you really do. You must be living a good life if you've got time to maintain a toy programming language (https://github.com/kerkeslager/fur https://github.com/kerkeslager/fur), and you must be able to pick your work carefully if you're so passionate about GPL, which I can respect. But how do you make money? And how did you get started? I'd be concerned about losing health insurance or draining savings while losing the opportunity cost of employment. How sure were you that your plan would work before you took the leap?

kerkeslager 7y ago
I don't think I'm really ready to give you the keys to life or anything. I'm happy with where I'm at, but it's certainly not perfect and it wouldn't work for everyone. I'll answer your questions, though. > But how do you make money? I do web development, mostly. I mostly ensure that I have work by undercharging for my services ($80/hour, which is pretty competitive for a Python developer with 10+ years of experience, 6ish of them in Python). I have low expenses because I live without some comforts (I live in a shared rental). I drive a 1996 Toyota Tacoma with 248K miles on it. I rock climb. It's not an extraordinary life, but it's mine and I like it. > And how did you get started? Parted ways on fairly good terms with my last salary job, without any real plan. > I'd be concerned about losing health insurance or draining savings while losing the opportunity cost of employment. Not to nitpick semantics, but you're currently paying the "opportunity costs" of employment. The opportunity costs of employment are what you lose by being employed, not the other way around. Health insurance is literally my biggest expense, more than rent, and I'm a healthy 32 year old guy. The US is not a good place to be a human with a fallible body. What can I say, it's a risk. Plan for health insurance in your savings. Ultimately, not being in the US is probably the best idea--we're the only first world country with a third world healthcare system. > How sure were you that your plan would work before you took the leap? Not sure at all. It hasn't always "worked", either, I worked at a coffee shop and drove recycling to the dump for some local businesses, did landscaping, pet watching. I've never starved, never had to borrow money from friends or family. But I'm still not sure. Your boss could lay you off tomorrow. Tomorrow's Friday, that's when they lay people off. There's certainly a risk in branching off on your own, but don't underestimate the risk of doing the same thing you've always done. Probably you'll be okay no matter what choice you make, even if it's a mistake. It's just your finances. Your finances matter, but there are more important things. EDIT: I'm passionate about the GPL, but can't really afford to be Richard Stallman about it. The reason I license my free software under the GPL is that I want it to push humanity forward, not get locked off in private codebases. But that's what I do on my free time, not what I do for work. I'd love to get paid to write GPL code and maybe some day I will, but most of the code I write is closed source for companies. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite--I like to think it makes me pragmatic.
- anon9001 7y ago
  Thank you. That's eye opening. This thread is making me realize how much the US health care system really is impacting my life choices. > It's not an extraordinary life, but it's mine and I like it. From where I'm sitting it seems pretty extraordinary :)
  - kerkeslager 7y ago
    > This thread is making me realize how much the US health care system really is impacting my life choices. Have you considered going to London/Toronto/Vancouver? There's lots of business potential in all three places, healthcare included in taxes (though not immediately--I'm not an expert but I know from friends there's definitely a waiting period in Canada and probably in the UK). You could work a salary job for a year or two to build up contacts and then branch out on your own. The weather is simply too cold for me in those places. I need more sun, even NY is a bit rough for me. But if healthcare is a big concern it might work for you. I know people who have worked in and loved all three. > From where I'm sitting it seems pretty extraordinary :) Haha, well, thanks. I guess what I'm trying to say is, there isn't a script you have to follow. The typical 9-5 American dream sounds like it's a bad script for you, but what I've done might not be any better. Try stuff out, don't live in fear of mistakes, find out what works for you.
- thisismyswamp 7y ago
  > ($80/hour, which is pretty competitive for a Python developer with 10+ years of experience, 6ish of them in Python) I have this kind of experience, but the most I can make is $50/hour. How do you find high value clients?
  - kerkeslager 7y ago
    I don't know if I have a real strategy here. I just give my rate early in the process and don't make it sound like it's negotiable. Some people don't call me back, and I suspect my rate is why. I do offer a lower rate to nonprofits. I've gotten one client through Craigslist (oddly) but despite ads on a bunch of websites, the rest of my work has come through referrals. I suspect the biggest thing is just being in a good location. I live 90 minutes from NYC and can get there easily. The majority of my clients are in NYC and I think it would be hard to get the same rate in any but a few other cities (SF, Seattle maybe?). There are some intangibles here. I interview well. I have code samples that I think are good--I don't have a lot to compare them to, but maybe they stand out compared to other devs. I do one stack (Python/Django/React) which is in high demand. I've been told I'm easy to work with and my clients have always been willing to give me recommendations (the recommendations are confidential, but I imagine they're positive because I keep getting work based on them). My experience is with some big name (top 50) companies. There are a lot of things in my situation that might be different from yours. In general "finding high value clients" sounds a lot like advertising, and I don't really believe in advertising. I think advertising is a distraction from providing value, and believe that if I provide value to my clients the results will speak for themselves. I wonder: how do you know you can only make $50/hour? If you just started telling people your rate was $80 from the get-go what would shake out?

kerkeslager 7y ago

I don't think I'm really ready to give you the keys to life or anything. I'm happy with where I'm at, but it's certainly not perfect and it wouldn't work for everyone. I'll answer your questions, though. > But how do you make money? I do web development, mostly. I mostly ensure that I have work by undercharging for my services ($80/hour, which is pretty competitive for a Python developer with 10+ years of experience, 6ish of them in Python). I have low expenses because I live without some comforts (I live in a shared rental). I drive a 1996 Toyota Tacoma with 248K miles on it. I rock climb. It's not an extraordinary life, but it's mine and I like it. > And how did you get started? Parted ways on fairly good terms with my last salary job, without any real plan. > I'd be concerned about losing health insurance or draining savings while losing the opportunity cost of employment. Not to nitpick semantics, but you're currently paying the "opportunity costs" of employment. The opportunity costs of employment are what you lose by being employed, not the other way around. Health insurance is literally my biggest expense, more than rent, and I'm a healthy 32 year old guy. The US is not a good place to be a human with a fallible body. What can I say, it's a risk. Plan for health insurance in your savings. Ultimately, not being in the US is probably the best idea--we're the only first world country with a third world healthcare system. > How sure were you that your plan would work before you took the leap? Not sure at all. It hasn't always "worked", either, I worked at a coffee shop and drove recycling to the dump for some local businesses, did landscaping, pet watching. I've never starved, never had to borrow money from friends or family. But I'm still not sure. Your boss could lay you off tomorrow. Tomorrow's Friday, that's when they lay people off. There's certainly a risk in branching off on your own, but don't underestimate the risk of doing the same thing you've always done. Probably you'll be okay no matter what choice you make, even if it's a mistake. It's just your finances. Your finances matter, but there are more important things. EDIT: I'm passionate about the GPL, but can't really afford to be Richard Stallman about it. The reason I license my free software under the GPL is that I want it to push humanity forward, not get locked off in private codebases. But that's what I do on my free time, not what I do for work. I'd love to get paid to write GPL code and maybe some day I will, but most of the code I write is closed source for companies. Maybe that makes me a hypocrite--I like to think it makes me pragmatic.

anon9001 7y ago
Thank you. That's eye opening. This thread is making me realize how much the US health care system really is impacting my life choices. > It's not an extraordinary life, but it's mine and I like it. From where I'm sitting it seems pretty extraordinary :)
- kerkeslager 7y ago
  > This thread is making me realize how much the US health care system really is impacting my life choices. Have you considered going to London/Toronto/Vancouver? There's lots of business potential in all three places, healthcare included in taxes (though not immediately--I'm not an expert but I know from friends there's definitely a waiting period in Canada and probably in the UK). You could work a salary job for a year or two to build up contacts and then branch out on your own. The weather is simply too cold for me in those places. I need more sun, even NY is a bit rough for me. But if healthcare is a big concern it might work for you. I know people who have worked in and loved all three. > From where I'm sitting it seems pretty extraordinary :) Haha, well, thanks. I guess what I'm trying to say is, there isn't a script you have to follow. The typical 9-5 American dream sounds like it's a bad script for you, but what I've done might not be any better. Try stuff out, don't live in fear of mistakes, find out what works for you.
thisismyswamp 7y ago
> ($80/hour, which is pretty competitive for a Python developer with 10+ years of experience, 6ish of them in Python) I have this kind of experience, but the most I can make is $50/hour. How do you find high value clients?
- kerkeslager 7y ago
  I don't know if I have a real strategy here. I just give my rate early in the process and don't make it sound like it's negotiable. Some people don't call me back, and I suspect my rate is why. I do offer a lower rate to nonprofits. I've gotten one client through Craigslist (oddly) but despite ads on a bunch of websites, the rest of my work has come through referrals. I suspect the biggest thing is just being in a good location. I live 90 minutes from NYC and can get there easily. The majority of my clients are in NYC and I think it would be hard to get the same rate in any but a few other cities (SF, Seattle maybe?). There are some intangibles here. I interview well. I have code samples that I think are good--I don't have a lot to compare them to, but maybe they stand out compared to other devs. I do one stack (Python/Django/React) which is in high demand. I've been told I'm easy to work with and my clients have always been willing to give me recommendations (the recommendations are confidential, but I imagine they're positive because I keep getting work based on them). My experience is with some big name (top 50) companies. There are a lot of things in my situation that might be different from yours. In general "finding high value clients" sounds a lot like advertising, and I don't really believe in advertising. I think advertising is a distraction from providing value, and believe that if I provide value to my clients the results will speak for themselves. I wonder: how do you know you can only make $50/hour? If you just started telling people your rate was $80 from the get-go what would shake out?