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Since you're on HN, I assume you already have a good computer. Invest the money in books that will teach you how to start a profitable and sustainable business,

Since you're on HN, I assume you already have a good computer. Invest the money in books that will teach you how to start a profitable and sustainable business, and purchase any additional tools you need to start producing and shipping. (Here are the books I recommend: http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/ http://personalmba.com/best-business-books/) I've easily spend $10k in books (and $20k+ in training) over the past ten years, and can't think of any other investment that has an ROI that's remotely close. Example: after reading Value-Based Fees by Alan Weiss, I tripled my profitability pretty much overnight. The book cost $40. Buying every book on my recommended list would set you back about $1,500. (Less if you hit the library, and buy only the books you want to keep for easy reference.) The rest can be spent buying tools, specialized training, and inexpensive test marketing. As long as your first idea isn't very capital intensive, $3,000 can take you far if you use it to invest in your own knowledge and skills.

orangecat 15y ago
Consider the mathematically equivalent scenario: if he had only $3k in CC debt, would you recommend putting $3k more on the card for books and training?
- joshkaufman 15y ago
  Absolutely. If you're able to take a one-time $1-3k expense and turn it into a $10k+ annual increase in salary / profit, that's a huge win. In my experience, the actual returns are much, much higher than $10k/yr for pretty much everyone who's willing to invest the effort. Most of my early book / course purchases were financed with credit card debt. I paid off my cards in full with a small portion of my first product launch. I'd do the same thing in a heartbeat.
  - veidr 15y ago
    I heartily agree with you. I bought my first real computer with a student loan in 1993, outgrew it, and the next year I started a company to secure a loan for a $5700 computer. This was way more than I could afford, and in fact I often couldn't make the payment so I damaged my credit record and it seemed to my responsible friends that I was a financially incomptent retard. But, three years later, I shipped my first real product, having done all the learning and coding on that very same machine, and made enough money to recover all that several times over. The knowledge I gained during those years led to a programming career that continues to the present. Early in life, I think it makes sense to not pay down debt, or take on even more debt, in order to buy something is going to be a force-multiplier for you. Obviously, without additional effort, there is not much you can do with $3000 that is likely to have a higher return than paying off the card. But, depending on your own interests and motivation, there are a lot of things that--when combined with your own efforts--will allow you to upgrade your own value. So figure out what those things are, and whether any of them can be had for $3000.
polyfractal 15y ago
I'm going to be adversarial and say that no one needs to spend $10k in books and $20k in training to learn programming or tech-related skills. There is plenty of material on the internet to get you rolling without a dime invested. If you own a laptop and can use your schools internet - start learning. And stop spending your money. Go freeze your credit card in a block of ice or something.
- joshkaufman 15y ago
  And I'm going to agree with you - if you're learning programming, there's no reason to spend $10-20k. All you really need is a good computer, some relatively inexpensive software, and a few subscriptions to online services that will save you time and headaches. Beyond that, all you need is free time, a project to work on, and a willingness to invest the effort. I spent that much because I was learning and doing much more than programming, and even then, some of my spending was inefficient due to lack of good guides and less useful online material at the time. I bought a ton of things that weren't that useful in the end. Even with the "waste," it's still the best investment I've ever made. I think it's entirely possible to be too frugal when it comes to learning. If you can take a course that costs $1-2k, and it directly teaches you things that help you make 5-10x more money on a recurring basis, that's a bargain.

orangecat 15y ago

Consider the mathematically equivalent scenario: if he had only $3k in CC debt, would you recommend putting $3k more on the card for books and training?

joshkaufman 15y ago
Absolutely. If you're able to take a one-time $1-3k expense and turn it into a $10k+ annual increase in salary / profit, that's a huge win. In my experience, the actual returns are much, much higher than $10k/yr for pretty much everyone who's willing to invest the effort. Most of my early book / course purchases were financed with credit card debt. I paid off my cards in full with a small portion of my first product launch. I'd do the same thing in a heartbeat.
- veidr 15y ago
  I heartily agree with you. I bought my first real computer with a student loan in 1993, outgrew it, and the next year I started a company to secure a loan for a $5700 computer. This was way more than I could afford, and in fact I often couldn't make the payment so I damaged my credit record and it seemed to my responsible friends that I was a financially incomptent retard. But, three years later, I shipped my first real product, having done all the learning and coding on that very same machine, and made enough money to recover all that several times over. The knowledge I gained during those years led to a programming career that continues to the present. Early in life, I think it makes sense to not pay down debt, or take on even more debt, in order to buy something is going to be a force-multiplier for you. Obviously, without additional effort, there is not much you can do with $3000 that is likely to have a higher return than paying off the card. But, depending on your own interests and motivation, there are a lot of things that--when combined with your own efforts--will allow you to upgrade your own value. So figure out what those things are, and whether any of them can be had for $3000.

polyfractal 15y ago

I'm going to be adversarial and say that no one needs to spend $10k in books and $20k in training to learn programming or tech-related skills. There is plenty of material on the internet to get you rolling without a dime invested. If you own a laptop and can use your schools internet - start learning. And stop spending your money. Go freeze your credit card in a block of ice or something.

joshkaufman 15y ago
And I'm going to agree with you - if you're learning programming, there's no reason to spend $10-20k. All you really need is a good computer, some relatively inexpensive software, and a few subscriptions to online services that will save you time and headaches. Beyond that, all you need is free time, a project to work on, and a willingness to invest the effort. I spent that much because I was learning and doing much more than programming, and even then, some of my spending was inefficient due to lack of good guides and less useful online material at the time. I bought a ton of things that weren't that useful in the end. Even with the "waste," it's still the best investment I've ever made. I think it's entirely possible to be too frugal when it comes to learning. If you can take a course that costs $1-2k, and it directly teaches you things that help you make 5-10x more money on a recurring basis, that's a bargain.