8 ms·

Poll: How long did it take you to be ramen profitable?

40 points by vaksel 18y ago

I know, I know....a repost, but I think a poll is a much better option for this sort of question

thepanister 18y ago
Why did not you leave an option for "never"? Anyway I am trying to look up what does "ramen" mean - though I found it's definetion but it did not make any sense to me when I combined it with the word "profitable". What I found is: ramen means "A thin white noodle served in this dish."?
- yan 18y ago
  ramen noodles are traditionally the cheapest possible meal a person can eat. "ramen profitable" means that the business is barely profitable to scrap by on the cheapest living amenities.
  - thepanister 18y ago
    Thanks for the explanation. I really appreciate it.
- vaksel 18y ago
  added it for you
  - thepanister 18y ago
    I don't really need it! I just found that this option is not available although it's realistic.
russell 18y ago
Never *2. That's why I'm a thousandaire instead of a millionaire.
dmpayton 18y ago
I just lost my job, so my answer is "Hopefully soon".
- thepanister 18y ago
  I read your blog. Maybe you should take a look at: http://news.ycombinator.com/jobs http://news.ycombinator.com/jobs Also consider taking a look at: http://www.startuply.com/ http://www.startuply.com/ which contains jobs at startups, and some of it at the bay area. Startuply is a YCombinator's startup. :) Good luck for you.
- hbien 18y ago
  I'm looking for a Python job in the Bay Area too, with no luck for the past month =/. Anyways, just wanted to let you know you're not alone.
- brianr 18y ago
  we're hiring -- send me your resume! email in my profile.
JeremyChase 18y ago
This is a great idea for a poll, but I think it is self selecting away from reality. As of 4:19 EST there are 12 votes for items where someone reached "ramen profitability", 3 for "Never", and 11 for "Hopefully soon(also never)". So that means 12/26, or 46% of respondents have reached some level of profitability. This seems high to me. I'm not sure whether to be annoyed or inspired as I'm still in the Never category, but will back in "Hopefully soon" before long.
- deleted 18y ago
  [deleted]
- JeremyChase 18y ago
  Just updating the numbers, as of 6:52pm EST 41/95 (43%) actually reached "ramen profitability"
- patio11 18y ago
  So that means 12/26, or 46% of respondents have reached some level of profitability. This seems high to me. Yet again I boggle at the notion of an environment in which 46% of businesses turning a profit seems unreasonably high.
physcab 18y ago
I'm a grad student. Ramen profitable to me is for kings and queens. I'm jealous of all of you.
Hates_ 18y ago
Just to clarify. Is this the number of days after launch? Or is there some magic I don't know of that is making people earn money they day they started up?
- vaksel 18y ago
  yeah, its the day you officially launch
FiReaNG3L 18y ago
http://esciencenews.com http://esciencenews.com was profitable the second I decided to turn on some ads on the very darkest corners of the site - it could have been in 1 month, but I decided to turn them on only 6 months after. http://biologynews.net http://biologynews.net was profitable after a year, but it was my first project and I didn't have much experience at the time (many years ago).
patio11 18y ago
I had a day job for the whole time so it was not exactly a pressing concern, but it took me about 16 months for the first seasonal spike leading to ramen profitable, a year after that until it was a consistent thing, and about 4ish months after that until I am more or less "day job profitable". (As in, "this could be my day job".) If you want to see the actual numbers, see left hand sidebar here: http://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats http://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats
jimmyjim 18y ago
Quite frankly, I just don't see how one could live mainly on Ramen -- the little content wouldn't do it for me (and I'm merely 110 lbs.). What am I not seeing?
pxlpshr 18y ago
It took us two months due to AppStore's pay cycle to have operating cash, but we were ramen profitable a few days after our first product hit the store. Our costs are ramen too. Now the objective is to stabilize sales, improve the products, find more revenue channels (working on a deal w/ a popular men's magazine), and get connected with big dev projects. The long looks good, but we've got a ways to go before it's serious revenue. We've bootstrapped the whole enchilada, and this is about the time when it would be nice to have $1-2m to work with and hire some full-time guys. I'm still doing freelance work (usually 1 project at time) so I can maintain a comfortable lifestyle. The extra coin definitely gets put into the company from time to time too.
rosshill 18y ago
not long :)
davidhelgason 18y ago
Four-and-a-half, but we were building awfully complex 3D game development technology without almost no funding (first revenue after four years, but founders couldn't take a wage for another half year). Doing incredibly well now, with 40 employees and growing (still no funding, but making one's own cash is much cooler :) d.
- wallflower 18y ago
  Unity3D!!

40 points by vaksel 18y ago

I know, I know....a repost, but I think a poll is a much better option for this sort of question

Why did not you leave an option for "never"? Anyway I am trying to look up what does "ramen" mean - though I found it's definetion but it did not make any sense to me when I combined it with the word "profitable". What I found is: ramen means "A thin white noodle served in this dish."?

yan 18y ago
ramen noodles are traditionally the cheapest possible meal a person can eat. "ramen profitable" means that the business is barely profitable to scrap by on the cheapest living amenities.
- thepanister 18y ago
  Thanks for the explanation. I really appreciate it.
vaksel 18y ago
added it for you
- thepanister 18y ago
  I don't really need it! I just found that this option is not available although it's realistic.

russell 18y ago

Never *2. That's why I'm a thousandaire instead of a millionaire.

dmpayton 18y ago

I just lost my job, so my answer is "Hopefully soon".

thepanister 18y ago
I read your blog. Maybe you should take a look at: http://news.ycombinator.com/jobs http://news.ycombinator.com/jobs Also consider taking a look at: http://www.startuply.com/ http://www.startuply.com/ which contains jobs at startups, and some of it at the bay area. Startuply is a YCombinator's startup. :) Good luck for you.
hbien 18y ago
I'm looking for a Python job in the Bay Area too, with no luck for the past month =/. Anyways, just wanted to let you know you're not alone.
brianr 18y ago
we're hiring -- send me your resume! email in my profile.

JeremyChase 18y ago

This is a great idea for a poll, but I think it is self selecting away from reality. As of 4:19 EST there are 12 votes for items where someone reached "ramen profitability", 3 for "Never", and 11 for "Hopefully soon(also never)". So that means 12/26, or 46% of respondents have reached some level of profitability. This seems high to me. I'm not sure whether to be annoyed or inspired as I'm still in the Never category, but will back in "Hopefully soon" before long.

deleted 18y ago
[deleted]
JeremyChase 18y ago
Just updating the numbers, as of 6:52pm EST 41/95 (43%) actually reached "ramen profitability"
patio11 18y ago
So that means 12/26, or 46% of respondents have reached some level of profitability. This seems high to me. Yet again I boggle at the notion of an environment in which 46% of businesses turning a profit seems unreasonably high.

physcab 18y ago

I'm a grad student. Ramen profitable to me is for kings and queens. I'm jealous of all of you.

Hates_ 18y ago

Just to clarify. Is this the number of days after launch? Or is there some magic I don't know of that is making people earn money they day they started up?

vaksel 18y ago
yeah, its the day you officially launch

FiReaNG3L 18y ago

http://esciencenews.com http://esciencenews.com was profitable the second I decided to turn on some ads on the very darkest corners of the site - it could have been in 1 month, but I decided to turn them on only 6 months after. http://biologynews.net http://biologynews.net was profitable after a year, but it was my first project and I didn't have much experience at the time (many years ago).

patio11 18y ago

I had a day job for the whole time so it was not exactly a pressing concern, but it took me about 16 months for the first seasonal spike leading to ramen profitable, a year after that until it was a consistent thing, and about 4ish months after that until I am more or less "day job profitable". (As in, "this could be my day job".) If you want to see the actual numbers, see left hand sidebar here: http://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats http://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats

jimmyjim 18y ago

Quite frankly, I just don't see how one could live mainly on Ramen -- the little content wouldn't do it for me (and I'm merely 110 lbs.). What am I not seeing?

pxlpshr 18y ago

It took us two months due to AppStore's pay cycle to have operating cash, but we were ramen profitable a few days after our first product hit the store. Our costs are ramen too. Now the objective is to stabilize sales, improve the products, find more revenue channels (working on a deal w/ a popular men's magazine), and get connected with big dev projects. The long looks good, but we've got a ways to go before it's serious revenue. We've bootstrapped the whole enchilada, and this is about the time when it would be nice to have $1-2m to work with and hire some full-time guys. I'm still doing freelance work (usually 1 project at time) so I can maintain a comfortable lifestyle. The extra coin definitely gets put into the company from time to time too.

rosshill 18y ago

not long :)

davidhelgason 18y ago

Four-and-a-half, but we were building awfully complex 3D game development technology without almost no funding (first revenue after four years, but founders couldn't take a wage for another half year). Doing incredibly well now, with 40 employees and growing (still no funding, but making one's own cash is much cooler :) d.

wallflower 18y ago
Unity3D!!