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> $150/hr in 10 hour chunks and get the most in-depth insight into what I'm doing Yeah, it's... an option, I guess, if you've got the dough. Many of us don't h

> $150/hr in 10 hour chunks and get the most in-depth insight into what I'm doing Yeah, it's... an option, I guess, if you've got the dough. Many of us don't have that kind of budget so we look for some of those experts who have blogs and youtube channels.

compacct27 6y ago
That's totally fair, this guy is on the higher end and this is the only project I'd be willing to pay that for. You can find one for less, though, if you ever find yourself wanting one. Mentor.io is a good place for it.
commandlinefan 6y ago
I'm trying to figure out what I know well enough to charge $150/hour to teach people now...
- pvarangot 6y ago
  I've charged that rate and it's usually veeeery niche knowledge that somehow seems to combine more than 10 years of experience. Like I worked in information security and aerospace and am a C/C++ coder and someone is thinking about a software product that's a C++ library for securely communicating with satellites. I'm usually contacted by engineers or companies that do market surveys and have the detailed knowledge of my background, so doing a lot of those (which are usually also compensated at like 40 to 60 per hour) pays off. I haven't been able to engage in any of these for two years now because I moved to the US on an H1B visa, but the offers still keep on coming. I got like five in 2019 and two in 2020 and I had to say no.
bilbo0s 6y ago
I hesitate to throw this out here, because it goes against the "do it as a business" ethos here on HN. However, if you are really interested in some topic, why not trade your knowledge for the knowledge you seek? In centuries past, if there were a mathematician who wanted to know more about botany, it was the most normal thing in the world for him to contact a botanist interested in math and trade the knowledge. This usually involved one going to stay at the home/studio/estate/whatever of the other for what today would be considered a long period of time. The upside was that you could learn all you needed to know from what was as good a source as you were likely to ever find. If you think about a modern version of this model, you could get all the information you need on the subject you're interested in and it wouldn't cost you a nickel. We have the internet, they didn't. Might even get a pretty good friend out of the deal. Of course you need knowledge to trade, and pretty deep knowledge at that. At the same time, if there is an arborist out there looking to learn programming, and you have heaven only knows how many fruit trees on your property, what do you have to lose by checking his/her clients for references? You can teach him/her programming. They can teach you what you need to know to care for your property. You guys can each contact each other's references to make sure you're actually experts in your respective fields. There doesn't seem to be any risk in trying? (Unless I'm missing it?) It just seems a really easy fix to the money problem. And you can access knowledge from everyone from arborists and physicists to dance teachers and electric motorcycle engineers to international development experts and nanotech engineers. The sky would be the limit.
- titanomachy 6y ago
  But this problem is exactly why we invented money in the first place... If I'm an interventional radiologist and I want to learn algebraic topology, what are the chances of a coincidence of wants? How many algebraic topologists do you think there are in the world who will trade their time for a chance to get better at placing arterial stents? On the other hand, I can basically guarantee you that someone somewhere is willing to pay money for an arterial stent, and somewhere else there is a world-class expert mathematician who will accept money in exchange for tutoring.
- louhike 6y ago
  Ivan Illich suggested having a system of credits for learning in his book Deschooling Society. Everybody would have a basic amount of credits to ask for help for his self-education. This amount will be more higher if you have a less privileged background. If you want more credits, you will have to gain them by educating other people.

compacct27 6y ago

That's totally fair, this guy is on the higher end and this is the only project I'd be willing to pay that for. You can find one for less, though, if you ever find yourself wanting one. Mentor.io is a good place for it.

commandlinefan 6y ago

I'm trying to figure out what I know well enough to charge $150/hour to teach people now...

pvarangot 6y ago
I've charged that rate and it's usually veeeery niche knowledge that somehow seems to combine more than 10 years of experience. Like I worked in information security and aerospace and am a C/C++ coder and someone is thinking about a software product that's a C++ library for securely communicating with satellites. I'm usually contacted by engineers or companies that do market surveys and have the detailed knowledge of my background, so doing a lot of those (which are usually also compensated at like 40 to 60 per hour) pays off. I haven't been able to engage in any of these for two years now because I moved to the US on an H1B visa, but the offers still keep on coming. I got like five in 2019 and two in 2020 and I had to say no.

bilbo0s 6y ago

I hesitate to throw this out here, because it goes against the "do it as a business" ethos here on HN. However, if you are really interested in some topic, why not trade your knowledge for the knowledge you seek? In centuries past, if there were a mathematician who wanted to know more about botany, it was the most normal thing in the world for him to contact a botanist interested in math and trade the knowledge. This usually involved one going to stay at the home/studio/estate/whatever of the other for what today would be considered a long period of time. The upside was that you could learn all you needed to know from what was as good a source as you were likely to ever find. If you think about a modern version of this model, you could get all the information you need on the subject you're interested in and it wouldn't cost you a nickel. We have the internet, they didn't. Might even get a pretty good friend out of the deal. Of course you need knowledge to trade, and pretty deep knowledge at that. At the same time, if there is an arborist out there looking to learn programming, and you have heaven only knows how many fruit trees on your property, what do you have to lose by checking his/her clients for references? You can teach him/her programming. They can teach you what you need to know to care for your property. You guys can each contact each other's references to make sure you're actually experts in your respective fields. There doesn't seem to be any risk in trying? (Unless I'm missing it?) It just seems a really easy fix to the money problem. And you can access knowledge from everyone from arborists and physicists to dance teachers and electric motorcycle engineers to international development experts and nanotech engineers. The sky would be the limit.

titanomachy 6y ago
But this problem is exactly why we invented money in the first place... If I'm an interventional radiologist and I want to learn algebraic topology, what are the chances of a coincidence of wants? How many algebraic topologists do you think there are in the world who will trade their time for a chance to get better at placing arterial stents? On the other hand, I can basically guarantee you that someone somewhere is willing to pay money for an arterial stent, and somewhere else there is a world-class expert mathematician who will accept money in exchange for tutoring.
louhike 6y ago
Ivan Illich suggested having a system of credits for learning in his book Deschooling Society. Everybody would have a basic amount of credits to ask for help for his self-education. This amount will be more higher if you have a less privileged background. If you want more credits, you will have to gain them by educating other people.