dragons

> Start a business that has the potential to generate a large amount of income quickly with low startup costs and be sold as equity for a high price after some time. Fail, and repeat for the next two years. Hopefully at some point you will get cash flow positive and will not be forced back into the rat race.

This is the part where you lose me. It reminds me of Sidney Harris' cartoon: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpallan/4633000725/

Now I'm actually trying to implement a version of what you suggest, myself. So I do believe it's possible. But how likely is it, really? Based on my experience, it is very, very hard. And I'm suspicious that it won't work. It seems far more likely that after a couple years, I'll have spent a bunch of my savings, and will just have to go back to full-time employment.

Also, FWIW, I really don't need a "high income" business at this point. Just enough to cover my yearly expenses, which amount to about $30-40K. More is always welcome of course, but I'd rather live on less and not have to go back to work as an employee. It didn't agree with me.

humbledrone, I doubt that's the choice most climbers are making. I'm also a frequent climber (mostly outdoors). If I could not climb, I would not be sedentary - I'd do something(s) else (I already do other activities, too). If I couldn't do anything other than take a stroll every day, I would do that, because I feel better when I move around. Most of the climbers I know are clearly this way - people who can't stand not to be active.

I am pretty convinced, myself, that I'd be better off walking for an hour on safe sidewalks every day instead of rock climbing. I think rock climbing, and other activities in which I partake, put me at higher risk for serious injury or death than a nice healthy walk. How much higher, I'm not sure.

But it's a free society (I live in the USA) and we can do what we want, so I climb, because I'm kind of addicted.

Given the direction that health insurance is taking, I do wonder if people who admit to participating in higher-risk sports will some day be penalized by higher premiums, as smokers are.

I like skiing, not teaching people how to ski. I _have_ debated trying to get an instructor job in order to get more time on the slopes. But I've never lived close enough to a ski area to make this feasible. And in truth, I'm in no position to teach anyone how to ski; my skills are at the intermediate level.

Recently I moved pretty close to a ski area. Next season, I do plan to look into work as a ski instructor, teaching raw beginners. It should be interesting to see how this pans out, or whether I can even get a job doing that.

I have tried to get a job at a rock climbing gym in order to get more time climbing. I applied, without mentioning my dislike of customer service.... But I was turned down. I'm suspicious it might be because of my age - not young enough - or because, as a long-time software developer, I have completely the wrong background for it. Hard to say. But there you go, even getting an entry level job requiring minimal skills and paying a low wage isn't so easy.

My interest in programming was pretty high when I got into it. After years of working in jobs with various levels of aggravation and stupidity, my interest has waned to the point where it's hardly a bearable way to make a living. So for me, doing something for money can turn it into a real chore. At some point you just get a visceral nasty feeling when even thinking about this thing that used to excite you.

At this point in my life, I'm going to be extra careful about what I do for a living. I don't want to lose my love of rock climbing, skiing, or travel, by performing contortions to try to make a living out of those things.

I do wonder if the "vast majority of people" are this way, though. I've read that a lot of people derive great satisfaction from the social interactions they have at work, and that their work gives them meaning; when removed from work via retirement they just can't think of anything else to do with themselves.

Other people have the happy coincidence that they love doing exactly what they can be paid for (e.g. software development). It would be super nice if I could just get paid to go skiing every day, but alas that is not the way the world works.

I checked out your twitter feed, and you appear to have 3 whole posts all of which sound like marketing blah. Your HN post is much more interesting, and gives me a reason to "follow" you and your app (I don't have an iDevice so ordinarily I'd completely disregard your app). I suggest you write a blog with fairly frequent posts updating your progress. You can put more detail in a blog. At least, update your twitter feed more often, and keep it real so there's a personality behind it, not some marketing robot.

BTW to the people complaining about the fact that the app is only available at itunes, keep in mind these guys are strapped for resources.

People have suggested rebranding... I guess another option is to port to android and launch it there with all problems solved. Don't know how realistic that would be given they're low on resources.

What are the steps one takes to get to this stage - to become an independent consultant?

From what I've heard, it doesn't sound easy. Companies (apparently) prefer dealing with large body shops, not individuals. To get work as an IC it seems like you need inside contacts? Or maybe you need special, in-demand skills?

My previous company doesn't hire contractors from inside the country, so those contacts are useless. I'm a good developer but not a rock star, and I don't have special skills (Java developer).

I'm asking because I'd really like to know. In truth, I want to develop a lifestyle business, doing part-time work building something I enjoy with plenty of time off for other things. But meantime it would be nice to get some income doing short-term jobs as an IC.

I'm a programmer, and I agree. Phone calls are my least favorite medium of communication. I have the impression this is fairly common. I'm also quite comfortable with email or IM and prefer those over using the phone, as well.

I agree that it's fatalistic. But it's the opposite of egotistical and selfish. People with healthy egos generally care a lot about whether they will their lose organs, or their lives. The women in question apparently don't. From the article: 'So what? How long are we going to live anyway?'.

And maybe their lives suck so much that this attitude is understandable.

The article is about employees who leave companies. Such people are not lazy, complacent, or comfortable; quite the opposite. They don't like wasting their time playing the games you describe in order to do their jobs. If they have the opportunity to leave for greener pastures, they will. More power to them.

You said he was a tech co-founder. You are another co-founder. So he's not the boss of you. You should have a frank conversation with him. It sounds to me like you let the problem drag on far too long, maybe not wanting to be confrontational? You have frontend skills and are "not allowed" to fix cosmetic changes requested by customers? It all sounds very strange.

I don't think you're correct, that's certainly not a "universal" thought, although I suppose there may be subcultures that believe this. I live in the US, and I don't know anyone who thinks this way (at least no one I've discussed it with). We think criminals had a bad upbringing, or that they have some kind of psychological problem (which may be due to physical brain problems).

> "He just looked like a normal person! But obviously he wasn't, because he robbed the store!"

I like this response; it sounds like the response I'd have given.

How about people with spouses or kids - don't they just want to eat their meals with their families? What about people who just prefer their own cooking? I can see this strategy backfiring for some, who might think "enough already, I don't want your food, I just want to go home."

Well, some people have a problem with that. Some people try to buy fair trade goods, and don't mind paying more for locally made items.

But it's getting harder and harder to find an item that's not made in China. A few years ago I tried to find a blood pressure monitor that was made anywhere but China. No luck. The only choice I had was not to buy one at all, and that wouldn't work for me. I've experienced this problem time and again.

I'd like to spend more time learning new things, and I get very little of that in my current 40+ hour week job. If I'm lucky, I learn some obscure tidbit at work about once a month. I study on my own time, but progress is slow.

It looks like developing web apps is a good solution, although not the only one. It leverages some of my existing skills. I find the work enjoyable, provided I'm not doing it to excess. And if I'm working for myself, and want to take time off to learn some new skill, I can just do it and not be worried that my manager is breathing down my neck for being "unproductive" for 4 hours.

If I can create multiple small streams of income, I will finally be able to cut down on the amount of time I spend working, and put more time into all the other things I enjoy.

I haven't had any luck yet, but I'm working on it.

That idea is not new; the science fiction novel "Ender's Game", by Orson Scott Card, came out in 1985. It sounds like a similar concept to me.

I think the proposal to solve real problems during video game play is interesting, in any case. The article quotes McGonigal's book as saying large groups of video game players could be involved in > "a whole-planetary mission... to raise global quality of life... and to sustain our earth for the next millennium and beyond."

The reviewer responds: > "Sounds dreadful, I know, but I wouldn't worry about it."

Does this idea sound so dreadful? I don't think so. Hm.

I find that it helps to read HN to keep me motivated. I doubt I'll ever make much money off of the applications I create. But it's encouraging to read about people who do.