9 ms·

I don't get when people say $X/month is too much. Too much for you maybe. But for me, if I can save 1 hour per month, that's worth $500. That's the top of what

I don't get when people say $X/month is too much. Too much for you maybe. But for me, if I can save 1 hour per month, that's worth $500. That's the top of what I've charged per hour for some consulting gigs. So $10/m is literally nothing for me if I can save time. Time is your most valuable asset. Money is nothing. Focus on time.

evanlivingston 6y ago
erm, isn't that assuming an income of $1,040,000 after tax based on a 40 hour work week?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- bartread 6y ago
  Well, GP did say that was the top end of their hourly rate, so maybe not that much, but I think it's safe to say they're very solidly into six figures. Under those circumstances the calculus does no doubt change/ I don't think it reflects the reality experienced by the majority of people with less otherworldly remuneration, families, etc.
- nilsbunger 6y ago
  Not exactly. To make it equivalent first you need to consider employer side of FICA, which take about $100k. Then health insurance and other benefits. And vacation, sick pay, and any equipment you need to do the work. Finally, maybe the biggest variable is non-billable hours. Maybe there isn’t 2000 hours of work available at that rate. And a lot of people who charge that much spend a substantial time finding new clients, writing new project proposals (many of which don’t get executed), and doing things to promote themselves like conference talks or speaking to press. It would typically net out to anywhere from $500k-$900k depending on how much of those overheads you have. Nothing to sneeze at but similar ballpark as senior FAANG comp
- ryanSrich 6y ago
  I don't do consulting anymore, but I know plenty of consultants that gross over a million per year. Of course, business expenses, taxes, etc. bring their net income down considerably.
  - behringer 6y ago
    Don't forget expensive recurring calendar costs.
tanseydavid 6y ago
How many failure states does a conventional Meat Thermometer have? How long of chain of dependencies on other technologies does a conventional Meat Thermometer have?
monkey_monkey 6y ago
Great, I'm hoping you'll sign up for my upcoming weather widget which tells you the weather in a single location. It's only $30 a month, and it will save you time as you will no longer have to use any other weather widget. At some point in the future I plan on offering additional locations (at a compellingly low per location monthly service fee TBD).
- blacktriangle 6y ago
  If I lived in that location, and that widget had a great UI, maybe combined some reminders (good morning, 70% chance of rain today, don't forget your umbrella!), maybe it integrated with my calendar and let me know I need to leave early if I'm in a location far away from where I need to be and it's snowing really bad. And all of that is ignoring the possibility that the idea is to build into some other thing, but there's minimal advantage to waiting.
  - monkey_monkey 6y ago
    No, it just tells you the weather in a single location. If you want those features, you'll have to look at my competitors' more economy priced offerings, I'm afraid.
- Gorbzel 6y ago
  As great as the endless possibilities software offers are, it really obscures the amount of effort necessary to bring real world products to life. The jump in hubris from “Great, I can code!” to “Well, I could build a tool to do that, so no one deserves to make a living/profit/native app/business doing it” is waaaay too prevalent around here. Of course none of the people who say such things could actually do so. Instead, they continue to post the aforementioned type of comment along with the following: - Ask HN: Where are all the profitable ideas? - Show HN: I built some half-assed idea that no one will ever use to learn the latest technology fad. - Who’s Hiring: I hate my job at some random SaaS firm because I hypocritically don’t assign worth to building software. Anyhow, where is this mythical weather widget getting its data? How reliable are its forecasts? What makes it better than the tools Apple/Google build into their OSes after spending millions acquiring formerly indie weather tools?
wtmt 6y ago
If every comment has to be suffixed with “for me” or “IMO”, it would be quite tedious to read. In most cases it’s clear. In cases like this, it could also be that the writer isn’t earning a six figure USD income or is in a country where even a $10 here and a $10 there add up relative to one’s income. It’s also very easy to say that X is most valuable and Y is nothing when you have very limited X and have a lot of Y.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  on the contrary, it's very important for people to distinguish clearly between statements of objective fact and personal opinions. they ought to do it more often. imo. more on topic, time is inherently more valuable than money due to its fundamental scarcity. there are only 24 hours in a day, and only so many days in a person's life. if you have time, you can always trade it for money. but if you have money, you can't always exchange it for time.
  - frenchy 6y ago
    That's overly reductive. In many cases, it's easier to make more money from existing money than it is to make money from just time.
  - tshaddox 6y ago
    I think it’s very clear that different people have different amounts of money and thus different ability and willingness to pay certain amounts for certain things.
jeffreyrogers 6y ago
I don't get it either when you consider most people drop $10/month on plenty of other things. I'm pretty sure I spend a decent multiple of that on coffee.
koonsolo 6y ago
If you charge per hour, your customer will pay for that lost hour. However, if you work on your own product, you might save more than $10 per month indeed.

evanlivingston 6y ago

erm, isn't that assuming an income of $1,040,000 after tax based on a 40 hour work week?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
bartread 6y ago
Well, GP did say that was the top end of their hourly rate, so maybe not that much, but I think it's safe to say they're very solidly into six figures. Under those circumstances the calculus does no doubt change/ I don't think it reflects the reality experienced by the majority of people with less otherworldly remuneration, families, etc.
nilsbunger 6y ago
Not exactly. To make it equivalent first you need to consider employer side of FICA, which take about $100k. Then health insurance and other benefits. And vacation, sick pay, and any equipment you need to do the work. Finally, maybe the biggest variable is non-billable hours. Maybe there isn’t 2000 hours of work available at that rate. And a lot of people who charge that much spend a substantial time finding new clients, writing new project proposals (many of which don’t get executed), and doing things to promote themselves like conference talks or speaking to press. It would typically net out to anywhere from $500k-$900k depending on how much of those overheads you have. Nothing to sneeze at but similar ballpark as senior FAANG comp
ryanSrich 6y ago
I don't do consulting anymore, but I know plenty of consultants that gross over a million per year. Of course, business expenses, taxes, etc. bring their net income down considerably.
- behringer 6y ago
  Don't forget expensive recurring calendar costs.

tanseydavid 6y ago

How many failure states does a conventional Meat Thermometer have? How long of chain of dependencies on other technologies does a conventional Meat Thermometer have?

monkey_monkey 6y ago

Great, I'm hoping you'll sign up for my upcoming weather widget which tells you the weather in a single location. It's only $30 a month, and it will save you time as you will no longer have to use any other weather widget. At some point in the future I plan on offering additional locations (at a compellingly low per location monthly service fee TBD).

blacktriangle 6y ago
If I lived in that location, and that widget had a great UI, maybe combined some reminders (good morning, 70% chance of rain today, don't forget your umbrella!), maybe it integrated with my calendar and let me know I need to leave early if I'm in a location far away from where I need to be and it's snowing really bad. And all of that is ignoring the possibility that the idea is to build into some other thing, but there's minimal advantage to waiting.
- monkey_monkey 6y ago
  No, it just tells you the weather in a single location. If you want those features, you'll have to look at my competitors' more economy priced offerings, I'm afraid.
Gorbzel 6y ago
As great as the endless possibilities software offers are, it really obscures the amount of effort necessary to bring real world products to life. The jump in hubris from “Great, I can code!” to “Well, I could build a tool to do that, so no one deserves to make a living/profit/native app/business doing it” is waaaay too prevalent around here. Of course none of the people who say such things could actually do so. Instead, they continue to post the aforementioned type of comment along with the following: - Ask HN: Where are all the profitable ideas? - Show HN: I built some half-assed idea that no one will ever use to learn the latest technology fad. - Who’s Hiring: I hate my job at some random SaaS firm because I hypocritically don’t assign worth to building software. Anyhow, where is this mythical weather widget getting its data? How reliable are its forecasts? What makes it better than the tools Apple/Google build into their OSes after spending millions acquiring formerly indie weather tools?

wtmt 6y ago

If every comment has to be suffixed with “for me” or “IMO”, it would be quite tedious to read. In most cases it’s clear. In cases like this, it could also be that the writer isn’t earning a six figure USD income or is in a country where even a $10 here and a $10 there add up relative to one’s income. It’s also very easy to say that X is most valuable and Y is nothing when you have very limited X and have a lot of Y.

leetcrew 6y ago
on the contrary, it's very important for people to distinguish clearly between statements of objective fact and personal opinions. they ought to do it more often. imo. more on topic, time is inherently more valuable than money due to its fundamental scarcity. there are only 24 hours in a day, and only so many days in a person's life. if you have time, you can always trade it for money. but if you have money, you can't always exchange it for time.
- frenchy 6y ago
  That's overly reductive. In many cases, it's easier to make more money from existing money than it is to make money from just time.
- tshaddox 6y ago
  I think it’s very clear that different people have different amounts of money and thus different ability and willingness to pay certain amounts for certain things.

jeffreyrogers 6y ago

I don't get it either when you consider most people drop $10/month on plenty of other things. I'm pretty sure I spend a decent multiple of that on coffee.

koonsolo 6y ago

If you charge per hour, your customer will pay for that lost hour. However, if you work on your own product, you might save more than $10 per month indeed.