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There's a number of people who would like donate but not interested in consulting.. There were always people complaining "Add a donate address" Now "why you a

by homakov 13y ago

There's a number of people who would like donate but not interested in consulting.. There were always people complaining "Add a donate address" Now "why you added a donate address". Oh, Internet.

rdl 13y ago
Is there a way to guarantee you will spend donations on alcohol and not waste them on things like rent or food?
- gknoy 13y ago
  Send him an e-mail saying, "Hey, I sent you $100. I would deeply appreciate it if you spent it on your beverage of choice, or a nice dinner with a friend, rather than on necessities." It's no guarantee, of course. :)
- shortly 13y ago
  yes. donate to someone who makes $400/hour.
  - usaphp 13y ago
    Charging $400/hour does not mean he does not need extra money. His nature of business is a short term projects, it's not like a regular web developer who has to work 40 hours a week for many month to finish a project, he only does audits which don't last long because of that you see this "high" (I personally don't think it's high) hourly rate.
    - rdl 13y ago
      It's actually a good strategy to price high hourly but over-deliver (doing lots of free work behind the scenes, or speculative unpaid work, etc.) -- rather than the market-clearing rate of ~100-150/hr, at least when you're trying to build a brand. At $400, he's clearly a specialist, and will get more interesting work; at $100/hr, you could hire him and just treat him like another developer, have him do cookie-cutter assessments, etc. Personally, I think he'd make more money at $400-600/hr if he could also get some kind of manager to handle the interactions with clients; it doesn't seem to be what he enjoys, or is particularly good at. (I've had drinks with him before, so probably the most effective way to accomplish my goal is to buy him drinks when I'm in town.)
      - erichocean 13y ago
        Personally, I think he'd make more money at $400-600/hr if he could also get some kind of manager to handle the interactions with clients; it doesn't seem to be what he enjoys, or is particularly good at. Completely agree. I'm not doing security, but my hourly is similar, and it was a game changer for me to have someone in a manager-like role working with me. Client relations are a huge time suck, but are also absolutely necessary. If he can find someone (or maybe someone on HN should volunteer), it'd be more than worth it. BTW My manager takes a flat 15%. I'm much happier, clients are way happier, and my total income has increased as a result—not to mention another person is gainfully employed at something they're good at and enjoy. A win-win all the way around.
        jmnicolas 13y ago
        It seems your manager is more an agent than a manager.
        rdl 13y ago
        I meant manager in the sense of a band's manager. It's more than just introducing you to deals; it's handling the communications back and forth with the client on an ongoing basis; not merely the negotiation to set up the deal but the actual work-product communications as well.
        erichocean 13y ago
        Yup, that's exactly what I meant too.
akerl_ 13y ago
At least in my experience, I donate to groups that do good work but aren't getting paid for it. I wouldn't donate to people who are being paid (quite handsomely, in this case) for their labor. Especially when he's already clarified that GitHub paid him more than he thought his time was worth.
- homakov 13y ago
  95% of my security research is not paid. I fix gems, libraries, websites etc. Donated money go right there, through beers and coffee I need.
  - avenger123 13y ago
    This makes sense then for sure. You are giving people that you have helped an opportunity to pay you without having any kind of contract with them. Nothing wrong with that at all.
  - orblivion 13y ago
    Perhaps you could clarify that part in your future posts, to appease the Internet haters on both sides. "I do paid contract work. However I also spend lots of time fixing open source stuff for free. If you want to encourage me to keep doing the latter, here's how to donate."
    - akerl_ 13y ago
      Agreed. If it had said that, I'd not have been concerned by it in the first place.
- patcon 13y ago
  Some people actively try to think of money as a proxy for appreciation ;)
- justinsteele 13y ago
  Luckily, he is not forcing you to donate, so you can choose not to. :) He also commented on his site that he "is poor", so it could be that he simply hasn't landed enough gigs @ $400/hr to be in good financial shape yet.

by homakov 13y ago

There's a number of people who would like donate but not interested in consulting.. There were always people complaining "Add a donate address" Now "why you added a donate address". Oh, Internet.

rdl 13y ago

Is there a way to guarantee you will spend donations on alcohol and not waste them on things like rent or food?

gknoy 13y ago
Send him an e-mail saying, "Hey, I sent you $100. I would deeply appreciate it if you spent it on your beverage of choice, or a nice dinner with a friend, rather than on necessities." It's no guarantee, of course. :)
shortly 13y ago
yes. donate to someone who makes $400/hour.
- usaphp 13y ago
  Charging $400/hour does not mean he does not need extra money. His nature of business is a short term projects, it's not like a regular web developer who has to work 40 hours a week for many month to finish a project, he only does audits which don't last long because of that you see this "high" (I personally don't think it's high) hourly rate.
  - rdl 13y ago
    It's actually a good strategy to price high hourly but over-deliver (doing lots of free work behind the scenes, or speculative unpaid work, etc.) -- rather than the market-clearing rate of ~100-150/hr, at least when you're trying to build a brand. At $400, he's clearly a specialist, and will get more interesting work; at $100/hr, you could hire him and just treat him like another developer, have him do cookie-cutter assessments, etc. Personally, I think he'd make more money at $400-600/hr if he could also get some kind of manager to handle the interactions with clients; it doesn't seem to be what he enjoys, or is particularly good at. (I've had drinks with him before, so probably the most effective way to accomplish my goal is to buy him drinks when I'm in town.)
    - erichocean 13y ago
      Personally, I think he'd make more money at $400-600/hr if he could also get some kind of manager to handle the interactions with clients; it doesn't seem to be what he enjoys, or is particularly good at. Completely agree. I'm not doing security, but my hourly is similar, and it was a game changer for me to have someone in a manager-like role working with me. Client relations are a huge time suck, but are also absolutely necessary. If he can find someone (or maybe someone on HN should volunteer), it'd be more than worth it. BTW My manager takes a flat 15%. I'm much happier, clients are way happier, and my total income has increased as a result—not to mention another person is gainfully employed at something they're good at and enjoy. A win-win all the way around.
      - jmnicolas 13y ago
        It seems your manager is more an agent than a manager.
        rdl 13y ago
        I meant manager in the sense of a band's manager. It's more than just introducing you to deals; it's handling the communications back and forth with the client on an ongoing basis; not merely the negotiation to set up the deal but the actual work-product communications as well.
        erichocean 13y ago
        Yup, that's exactly what I meant too.

akerl_ 13y ago

At least in my experience, I donate to groups that do good work but aren't getting paid for it. I wouldn't donate to people who are being paid (quite handsomely, in this case) for their labor. Especially when he's already clarified that GitHub paid him more than he thought his time was worth.

homakov 13y ago
95% of my security research is not paid. I fix gems, libraries, websites etc. Donated money go right there, through beers and coffee I need.
- avenger123 13y ago
  This makes sense then for sure. You are giving people that you have helped an opportunity to pay you without having any kind of contract with them. Nothing wrong with that at all.
- orblivion 13y ago
  Perhaps you could clarify that part in your future posts, to appease the Internet haters on both sides. "I do paid contract work. However I also spend lots of time fixing open source stuff for free. If you want to encourage me to keep doing the latter, here's how to donate."
  - akerl_ 13y ago
    Agreed. If it had said that, I'd not have been concerned by it in the first place.
patcon 13y ago
Some people actively try to think of money as a proxy for appreciation ;)
justinsteele 13y ago
Luckily, he is not forcing you to donate, so you can choose not to. :) He also commented on his site that he "is poor", so it could be that he simply hasn't landed enough gigs @ $400/hr to be in good financial shape yet.