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>Don't expect it to pay rent for the first 7 years, after 7 years, expect to pay 1-2 months of rent. This. Work on several projects simultaneously. Success oft

>Don't expect it to pay rent for the first 7 years, after 7 years, expect to pay 1-2 months of rent. This. Work on several projects simultaneously. Success often doesn't come once you deploy, it's a gradual buildup over the years. Ten extra users this month, 12 extra users next month. It's a snowball. If you ship and sunset your project after 3 months because you didn't get 100,000 signups, you are stopping too early IMO. Instead, automate everything, try to run at zero cost and leave it alone for a year or even better 3 years and go work on something else or get a full time job. I had a project make $100 for the first 2 years and $30000 in year number 3 without making any substantial changes.

LoyCgg 4y ago
What would happen if you spent a couple of bucks on cheap facebook ads on first year?
- tppiotrowski 4y ago
  I used Adsense. Only spent $200 or so but could only get a single signup or two. TBH I haven't used ads since and prefer word of mouth.
- ogarten 4y ago
  Not much. You are probably better of investing a couple of days into writing tutorials and creating show cases. A low barrier to entry is the single most important thing for any library. Almost forgot, a clear statement of what the library does and what kind of problem it solves is also something that doesn't seem too common when creating a readme.
- hospitalJail 4y ago
  I probably just suck at this, but I had basically 0 success with Facebook ads. Worse, any posts on Facebook after spending Ad money are hidden by the algorithm. I personally did a decent sized social media blitz for a few months, then only posted when relevant to a parent thread. I suppose SEO on google helps too. Not that I try, I just naturally am the best at specific keywords.
debugnik 4y ago
> try to run at zero cost and leave it alone for a year or even better 3 years I'd love to try, but by the end of year 2 I would have already lost 7200 € on social security contributions alone unless I evaded taxes. Running at zero cost gets really tricky in certain countries, I'm afraid.
- scrollaway 4y ago
  In most countries you can register as independent instead of a company. It means higher taxes on profit but much lower registration and maintenance costs. This is a perfectly legal way of making a tiny bit of money while still paying taxes. Some countries even let you make money without declaring it, as long as you’re within a threshold. You probably won’t get accepted at most payment providers with that setup though so YMMV, you can always manually process invoices / give your product for free while gating it behind “intent to pay”, etc.
  - debugnik 4y ago
    Oh I didn't mean as a company. In Spain, as soon as you register as self-employed (the infamous autónomo) you must pay the social security contribution, ~300 €/month at the lowest bracket, and AFAIK there's no threshold to avoid it, not even zero. (Well, technically there's case law for a threshold but you're taken to court anyway.) Many people here used to bootstrap their online businesses by registering in the UK, but then Brexit happened. I'm considering "free with intent to charge", but right now that's a bet I can't afford.

LoyCgg 4y ago

What would happen if you spent a couple of bucks on cheap facebook ads on first year?

tppiotrowski 4y ago
I used Adsense. Only spent $200 or so but could only get a single signup or two. TBH I haven't used ads since and prefer word of mouth.
ogarten 4y ago
Not much. You are probably better of investing a couple of days into writing tutorials and creating show cases. A low barrier to entry is the single most important thing for any library. Almost forgot, a clear statement of what the library does and what kind of problem it solves is also something that doesn't seem too common when creating a readme.
hospitalJail 4y ago
I probably just suck at this, but I had basically 0 success with Facebook ads. Worse, any posts on Facebook after spending Ad money are hidden by the algorithm. I personally did a decent sized social media blitz for a few months, then only posted when relevant to a parent thread. I suppose SEO on google helps too. Not that I try, I just naturally am the best at specific keywords.

debugnik 4y ago

> try to run at zero cost and leave it alone for a year or even better 3 years I'd love to try, but by the end of year 2 I would have already lost 7200 € on social security contributions alone unless I evaded taxes. Running at zero cost gets really tricky in certain countries, I'm afraid.

scrollaway 4y ago
In most countries you can register as independent instead of a company. It means higher taxes on profit but much lower registration and maintenance costs. This is a perfectly legal way of making a tiny bit of money while still paying taxes. Some countries even let you make money without declaring it, as long as you’re within a threshold. You probably won’t get accepted at most payment providers with that setup though so YMMV, you can always manually process invoices / give your product for free while gating it behind “intent to pay”, etc.
- debugnik 4y ago
  Oh I didn't mean as a company. In Spain, as soon as you register as self-employed (the infamous autónomo) you must pay the social security contribution, ~300 €/month at the lowest bracket, and AFAIK there's no threshold to avoid it, not even zero. (Well, technically there's case law for a threshold but you're taken to court anyway.) Many people here used to bootstrap their online businesses by registering in the UK, but then Brexit happened. I'm considering "free with intent to charge", but right now that's a bet I can't afford.