9 ms·

Side gigs don't really earn much. If you've got a friend that you've worked with before and they have a startup or something, ask for some peanuts amount of equ

Side gigs don't really earn much. If you've got a friend that you've worked with before and they have a startup or something, ask for some peanuts amount of equity as an hands on advisor. It'll do more for your CV than 20 hour side gigs glueing some libraries together. Or pick a well known library / framework and contribute. Or rescue a "looking for [co-]maintainer" library out there.

ghaff 4y ago
Books can serve a similar role, especially if they're through a publisher. You almost certainly won't make much but people often give you quite a bit of credit for being an expert as an author. (Perhaps more than they should.)
pc86 4y ago
Somewhat related; how do you find these "looking for [co-]maintainer" libraries?
- 3pt14159 4y ago
  I took over one because I was using it and it had a giant "LOOKING FOR MAINTAINER" in the README and it was interesting enough for me to want to maintain it. Basically, look around / do some targeted searches on GitHub / ask in lang discords / slacks if anyone needs help. Lots of work to do out there.
ollieglass 4y ago
I am curious about the impact of being an advisor on a CV. Could you share what it's done for you?
- 3pt14159 4y ago
  I'd prefer to keep my CV off of HN. It's a bit spicy. That said, the peak I've pulled down as a SRE is a total comp of CAD$600k a year and I'm presently a CTO of a barely-in-the-media startup. I'm doing ok.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
    > It's a bit spicy. No idea what this means, but I love it.
    - kjellsbells 4y ago
      You gotta feel for the techs running adult sites. Used to be (maybe still is?) the bleeding edge of web tech. Payments, micro payments, video, advanced site search, content filtering, crypto,... I guess there is a lesson there, like "serving primal urges = $$$". But you never see those resumes on linkedin.
itake 4y ago
I earn $10k/mo contracting 20 hours per week. Personally, this extra income helped me maximize my day job benefits (401k and ESPP) and provided liquidity during the home buying process.
- keepquestioning 4y ago
  Where did you find your gigs?
  - mr-yamasi 4y ago
    That's a little like asking for someone's favorite fishing hole. My experience has been that serious networking has been more effective than anything else.
    - keepquestioning 4y ago
      Cold calling on LinkedIn?
  - itake 4y ago
    An ex-co-worker started a dev shop a 5+ years ago.
- angarg12 4y ago
  Maybe you can answer a question that is nagging me. I recently moved to the US, and ever since I keep getting messages on LinkedIn offering contract/freelance jobs. However the hourly rate is so poor that it would pay less that my current job base pay (not counting stocks and bonuses). In Europe the rule of thumb is that contract job should pay 2x your full time job rate. This is based on the associated overhead plus lack of benefits (e.g. you need to pay your own pension contribution). This made me think, is anyone taking these contract jobs? I see several possibilities: a) Contract work in the US is not attractive. b) People reaching out in LinkedIn are the bottom of the barrel. There are better rates out there. c) People run several contracts in parallel, or with a full time job. Is any of these true or am I missing something?

ghaff 4y ago

Books can serve a similar role, especially if they're through a publisher. You almost certainly won't make much but people often give you quite a bit of credit for being an expert as an author. (Perhaps more than they should.)

pc86 4y ago

Somewhat related; how do you find these "looking for [co-]maintainer" libraries?

3pt14159 4y ago
I took over one because I was using it and it had a giant "LOOKING FOR MAINTAINER" in the README and it was interesting enough for me to want to maintain it. Basically, look around / do some targeted searches on GitHub / ask in lang discords / slacks if anyone needs help. Lots of work to do out there.

ollieglass 4y ago

I am curious about the impact of being an advisor on a CV. Could you share what it's done for you?

3pt14159 4y ago
I'd prefer to keep my CV off of HN. It's a bit spicy. That said, the peak I've pulled down as a SRE is a total comp of CAD$600k a year and I'm presently a CTO of a barely-in-the-media startup. I'm doing ok.
- HeyLaughingBoy 4y ago
  > It's a bit spicy. No idea what this means, but I love it.
  - kjellsbells 4y ago
    You gotta feel for the techs running adult sites. Used to be (maybe still is?) the bleeding edge of web tech. Payments, micro payments, video, advanced site search, content filtering, crypto,... I guess there is a lesson there, like "serving primal urges = $$$". But you never see those resumes on linkedin.

itake 4y ago

I earn $10k/mo contracting 20 hours per week. Personally, this extra income helped me maximize my day job benefits (401k and ESPP) and provided liquidity during the home buying process.

keepquestioning 4y ago
Where did you find your gigs?
- mr-yamasi 4y ago
  That's a little like asking for someone's favorite fishing hole. My experience has been that serious networking has been more effective than anything else.
  - keepquestioning 4y ago
    Cold calling on LinkedIn?
- itake 4y ago
  An ex-co-worker started a dev shop a 5+ years ago.
angarg12 4y ago
Maybe you can answer a question that is nagging me. I recently moved to the US, and ever since I keep getting messages on LinkedIn offering contract/freelance jobs. However the hourly rate is so poor that it would pay less that my current job base pay (not counting stocks and bonuses). In Europe the rule of thumb is that contract job should pay 2x your full time job rate. This is based on the associated overhead plus lack of benefits (e.g. you need to pay your own pension contribution). This made me think, is anyone taking these contract jobs? I see several possibilities: a) Contract work in the US is not attractive. b) People reaching out in LinkedIn are the bottom of the barrel. There are better rates out there. c) People run several contracts in parallel, or with a full time job. Is any of these true or am I missing something?