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Don't nickle and dime yourself on tools that save you time. If there's a SaaS offering that can reduce your workload, just pay for it (unless it's a truly ridic

Don't nickle and dime yourself on tools that save you time. If there's a SaaS offering that can reduce your workload, just pay for it (unless it's a truly ridiculous amount). Every so often there's a post on HN where a someone lists their income and expenses and the comments are always full of things like "why are you paying $100/year for Notion when you can just use org-mode for free?" Don't listen to them. Your time is worth more than any reasonable subscription fee.

phren0logy 3y ago
I will also add - don't buy/subscribe to a tool that is a pile of building blocks that will allow you to build your own solution. Now you have taken on a new project. Just get something that works well enough out of the box.
lukan 3y ago
"Your time is worth more than any reasonable subscription fee. " Sure, but what do I do, if that service just closes tomorrow? Or they change the fee to "unreasonable" (after they gained control of the market). A SaaS would have to be way better than any offline tool, I could use 10 years from now in this shape. But in general yes, don't skimp and loose time, when there is a working alternative.
- axlee 3y ago
  > Sure, but what do I do, if that service just closes tomorrow? You're far more likely to die tomorrow than Notion to close abruptly tomorrow.
  - vimax 3y ago
    I have outlived most SaaS products that have ever been developed.
  - janalsncm 3y ago
    Is this true though? Doesn’t pass the sniff test since most people last a lot longer than most companies. I checked and the probability of death for an American in their 30s (median American is 37 years old) is under 0.2% in any year. I think there’s a far larger than 1 in 500 chance that Notion goes under or is acquired and cancelled.
    - gffrd 3y ago
      Parent means it figuratively: you're majoring in the minors if your reason for not relying on services / others is the _possibility_ that one day they go away.
    - jaredsohn 3y ago
      I read it as your company dying although if that was implied should probably use the same 'closed' term
  - newaccount74 3y ago
    The bliss of inexperience :) Services shut down all the time. I've been selling indie software for a bit more than a decade, and at least half a dozen services that I was using have either shut down, pivoted, or slowly became crappy enough that I had to move. Of course, that doesn't mean that you should build everything yourself, that's not practical. But the stuff that I have built myself doesn't suddenly stop working.
- dangus 3y ago
  Then you migrate to another tool. It’s not a big deal.
  - lukan 3y ago
    When the data is in an standartized format, that just works with another tool sure. But with many SaaS you are lucky if you even get your data out. And then importing it into omething else sadly is very much a big deal in many cases.
    - dangus 3y ago
      That’s why you’re picky about tool choice in the first place. Using Notion as an example, your entire workspace can be exported in standard formats. https://www.notion.so/help/export-your-content https://www.notion.so/help/export-your-content It’s not zero effort to migrate, but for a small business migration should be both rare and not so bad.
- cweagans 3y ago
  Solve today's problems today. Solve tomorrow's problems tomorrow. If Notion announces a shutdown at some point, you can export your content and import it somewhere else. The amount of time it takes to do that later won't be that big of a deal.

phren0logy 3y ago

I will also add - don't buy/subscribe to a tool that is a pile of building blocks that will allow you to build your own solution. Now you have taken on a new project. Just get something that works well enough out of the box.

lukan 3y ago

"Your time is worth more than any reasonable subscription fee. " Sure, but what do I do, if that service just closes tomorrow? Or they change the fee to "unreasonable" (after they gained control of the market). A SaaS would have to be way better than any offline tool, I could use 10 years from now in this shape. But in general yes, don't skimp and loose time, when there is a working alternative.

axlee 3y ago
> Sure, but what do I do, if that service just closes tomorrow? You're far more likely to die tomorrow than Notion to close abruptly tomorrow.
- vimax 3y ago
  I have outlived most SaaS products that have ever been developed.
- janalsncm 3y ago
  Is this true though? Doesn’t pass the sniff test since most people last a lot longer than most companies. I checked and the probability of death for an American in their 30s (median American is 37 years old) is under 0.2% in any year. I think there’s a far larger than 1 in 500 chance that Notion goes under or is acquired and cancelled.
  - gffrd 3y ago
    Parent means it figuratively: you're majoring in the minors if your reason for not relying on services / others is the _possibility_ that one day they go away.
  - jaredsohn 3y ago
    I read it as your company dying although if that was implied should probably use the same 'closed' term
- newaccount74 3y ago
  The bliss of inexperience :) Services shut down all the time. I've been selling indie software for a bit more than a decade, and at least half a dozen services that I was using have either shut down, pivoted, or slowly became crappy enough that I had to move. Of course, that doesn't mean that you should build everything yourself, that's not practical. But the stuff that I have built myself doesn't suddenly stop working.
dangus 3y ago
Then you migrate to another tool. It’s not a big deal.
- lukan 3y ago
  When the data is in an standartized format, that just works with another tool sure. But with many SaaS you are lucky if you even get your data out. And then importing it into omething else sadly is very much a big deal in many cases.
  - dangus 3y ago
    That’s why you’re picky about tool choice in the first place. Using Notion as an example, your entire workspace can be exported in standard formats. https://www.notion.so/help/export-your-content https://www.notion.so/help/export-your-content It’s not zero effort to migrate, but for a small business migration should be both rare and not so bad.
cweagans 3y ago
Solve today's problems today. Solve tomorrow's problems tomorrow. If Notion announces a shutdown at some point, you can export your content and import it somewhere else. The amount of time it takes to do that later won't be that big of a deal.