Ask HN: What's Your Side Hustle?
Aside from your full time job, like a flexible second job that brings in money, but it is also typically something that you are passionate about, that you don't get to pursue in your main job.
63 comments
I have kids and live in a part of the world with zero family and friends, it rains a lot and there's a pandemic going on. I spent 99% of the last 6 months in exactly the same house. That's my Side Hustle.
Main job (40h/week in theory, 35h/week in practice): tech lead, senior software engineer.
My side hustle (40h/week in theory, 5h/week in practice): junior software engineer for another company.
I have around 8 years of professional experience... so while working as a junior in my side hustle I don’t need that much time to finish my tasks (hence the 5h/week). Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to write code like a junior. I usually quit after a year because companies expect progress and more associated responsibilities (i don’t need that in my side hustle, i have that already on my main job). Funny thing is: I make like 95K/year in my main job and 50K/year in my side hustle... but the proportions don’t hold when it comes to time spent in each role.
My side hustle (40h/week in theory, 5h/week in practice): junior software engineer for another company.
I have around 8 years of professional experience... so while working as a junior in my side hustle I don’t need that much time to finish my tasks (hence the 5h/week). Sometimes it’s a bit difficult to write code like a junior. I usually quit after a year because companies expect progress and more associated responsibilities (i don’t need that in my side hustle, i have that already on my main job). Funny thing is: I make like 95K/year in my main job and 50K/year in my side hustle... but the proportions don’t hold when it comes to time spent in each role.
How do you handle stuff like LinkedIn? How do they not know you have another job?
Hi, I am a developer with 5 years of experience and my skills are fairly junior level(I am not bright one) . Currently I am searching for similar remote position, how can I apply for one. I have tried applying online but most of applications are rejected due to skills.
Ps. I have bachelor degree in cs, can code in vanilla php, js and python. I can do regular frontend and wordpress like projects. I will accept lower pay due to reduced cost of living from relocation to hometown. Currently trying to build saas based invoicing app in side hustle, in planning stage.
Ps. I have bachelor degree in cs, can code in vanilla php, js and python. I can do regular frontend and wordpress like projects. I will accept lower pay due to reduced cost of living from relocation to hometown. Currently trying to build saas based invoicing app in side hustle, in planning stage.
You should get 4 junior jobs instead. Work 20h and make 200k
This reminds me of the guy that outsourced his own tasks to devs in lower income countries and got all the free time.
I imagine you needed to create a entire persona with linkedin presence and all to get the junior hired for remote work.
I imagine you needed to create a entire persona with linkedin presence and all to get the junior hired for remote work.
> I imagine you needed to create a entire persona with linkedin presence and all to get the junior hired for remote work.
Or you simply don't have any online presence whatsoever. At least not one that shows the real life you.
Or you simply don't have any online presence whatsoever. At least not one that shows the real life you.
This has got to be the most clever thing I’ve ever heard of. Are there ethical concerns here from the company where you’re a “junior” engineer?
I build boats.
I work in an office/workshop for my 9-5 and then I build dinghy, canoes, catamaran and so on. have sold some, been commissioned for some. depending on what it is and the materials needed can take a month or six fitting it in around work and family.
working on a 12ft runabout at present for a friend, keeps me amused for a month or so.
not HN related but I guess it's my side hustle
I work in an office/workshop for my 9-5 and then I build dinghy, canoes, catamaran and so on. have sold some, been commissioned for some. depending on what it is and the materials needed can take a month or six fitting it in around work and family.
working on a 12ft runabout at present for a friend, keeps me amused for a month or so.
not HN related but I guess it's my side hustle
Im curious how much it costs to build something like a 12 ft runabout? Both what you charge and material costs?
this one is $7,000aud in materials
-timber (blackbutt and stringy bark) takes up a lot of this, buying seasoned wood for the hull is a pain but quicker and more space efficient than doing it myself.
-brass fittings are inexpensive, comparitively
-caulking and epoxy is cheap
-nails/screws/bolts/dowels/etc are cheap
because this one is more about appearance, it takes longer. two different shades of wood and wanting to use clear coating on all of it. it will spend more of it's time viewable than in use.
if this wasn't for a friend, and needing a lot more finishing than most wood boats I have built, I guess my time would add $2-6k which isn't close to my hourly rate but allows me to build other peoples projects and cover tools/consumables/molds/beer
the heartbreaking part of this build for me is its requirement for outboard mounting. it really alters the lines of the boat.
because this one is more about appearance, it takes longer. two different shades of wood and wanting to use clear coating on all of it. it will spend more of it's time viewable than in use.
if this wasn't for a friend, and needing a lot more finishing than most wood boats I have built, I guess my time would add $2-6k which isn't close to my hourly rate but allows me to build other peoples projects and cover tools/consumables/molds/beer
the heartbreaking part of this build for me is its requirement for outboard mounting. it really alters the lines of the boat.
I'm currently running a job board without ads or any ways to make revenue. I see this as a way to learn things - adding one layer of complexity at a time to see how far I can push it and learn things.
I have noticed that I like to learn things by doing so that's the goal. Not exactly a monetary thing but rather investing in myself.
Right now, I'm looking at splitting the server to host at multiple locations so I can improve latency via Geo DNS.
https://www.arbeitnow.com
I have noticed that I like to learn things by doing so that's the goal. Not exactly a monetary thing but rather investing in myself.
Right now, I'm looking at splitting the server to host at multiple locations so I can improve latency via Geo DNS.
https://www.arbeitnow.com
Love the name, funny and clever.
Also, wish you good luck with the project.
At first glance, I wondered why you would make the text almost illegible very light grey on a white background... until I realized my (always-on) Dark Reader plugin fooled me.
Also, wish you good luck with the project.
At first glance, I wondered why you would make the text almost illegible very light grey on a white background... until I realized my (always-on) Dark Reader plugin fooled me.
Thanks a lot! Glad you figured it out :)
How are you getting job data?
There are some sources for this: for example - The Muse offers an API. Some of them are paid though.
Wouldn’t adding your domain to cloudflare help with reducing latency?
yeah it does, for CDN. But not the latency for server response.
well, a job board should be very cacheable. so most of the time the request doesn't need to go to the server.
I've been contracting part-time and developing a few bits.
https://www.videocode.review/ - After working from home for a while we noticed that it was taking longer to pull requests merged. One reason for this is comments were getting misunderstood etc. So I created a way to record a video for a pull request (as either the author or reviewer) to try and avoid some of that misunderstanding. It's GitHub only for now but I would like to get it working with GitLab as well at some point. It's just in beta now, if anyone wants to try it out please get in touch on here or via the contact page.
https://www.stopthat.email - Forward emails to an email address to unsubscribe. This has been going a bit longer and I've tried to automate it as much as possible in terms of finding the unsubscribe links and filling out web forms. It currently doesn't handle JS on web pages so I'm working on that next.
Both have been good fun to develop and have use different technologies, infrastructure and services. Next, I need to let go of my fear of launching and learn some marketing.
https://www.videocode.review/ - After working from home for a while we noticed that it was taking longer to pull requests merged. One reason for this is comments were getting misunderstood etc. So I created a way to record a video for a pull request (as either the author or reviewer) to try and avoid some of that misunderstanding. It's GitHub only for now but I would like to get it working with GitLab as well at some point. It's just in beta now, if anyone wants to try it out please get in touch on here or via the contact page.
https://www.stopthat.email - Forward emails to an email address to unsubscribe. This has been going a bit longer and I've tried to automate it as much as possible in terms of finding the unsubscribe links and filling out web forms. It currently doesn't handle JS on web pages so I'm working on that next.
Both have been good fun to develop and have use different technologies, infrastructure and services. Next, I need to let go of my fear of launching and learn some marketing.
Your email forwarding project is more proof that temporary email addresses are the way to go. I could never use a service without them.
I totally agree.
For example, the number of emails that don't have any form of unsubscribe link at all is shocking. Obviously the service doesn't get a true representation of all types of email but spam emails are a massive pain and a total waste of resource all round.
For example, the number of emails that don't have any form of unsubscribe link at all is shocking. Obviously the service doesn't get a true representation of all types of email but spam emails are a massive pain and a total waste of resource all round.
I quit my tech job in 2020 to learn new technologies (Vue, GraphQL, Rust, etc.) and build my own product. In order to support myself I'm currently making coding tutorials on YouTube.
I get 30-60$ a month RN with 5k subscribers.
It's not enough but I have some money saved up and can still mooch off my parents insurance so I have that going for me.
Here's a video I made recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWdySMo0EJc
I get 30-60$ a month RN with 5k subscribers.
It's not enough but I have some money saved up and can still mooch off my parents insurance so I have that going for me.
Here's a video I made recently: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWdySMo0EJc
I design and build guitar amps. It’s a relaxing combination of electronics, carpentry, metalworking, and music.
I’m a musician and have a few music related hustles:
https://themusiciansnotebook.com I make the best music paper notebooks you can find!
https://audioremarks.com Site for sharing audio clips and leaving timestamped commentary, eg, a music teacher leaving feedback for a student
https://themusiciansnotebook.com I make the best music paper notebooks you can find!
https://audioremarks.com Site for sharing audio clips and leaving timestamped commentary, eg, a music teacher leaving feedback for a student
I really like the audioremarks.com timestamped commentary. I'm also a musician and made a little PHP app to share demos with friends, I wish it had this functionality.
I have been a fine artist and illustrator for years, either doing commissioned work, or licensing existing work from my catalog, which at this point is fairly large. Commissioned work is infrequent, because I don't market it much and I charge real rates for my time, and Silicon Valley is actually a fairly milquetoast, cheapskate market for art unless someone is buying a very established name for an investment vehicle. licensing is more common.
With the advent of JIT print services (e.g. Society6, DeviantArt, Redbubble, etc), I also monetize any existing work where applicable.
It's not huge in terms of revenue (small margins), but it's very low friction to capitalize on.
With the advent of JIT print services (e.g. Society6, DeviantArt, Redbubble, etc), I also monetize any existing work where applicable.
It's not huge in terms of revenue (small margins), but it's very low friction to capitalize on.
I'm making a tool for exploring word etymologies.
I'm fascinated by the hidden connections in our language—like "galaxy" being connected to "galactose" because of the Milky Way.
I used NLP to convert written etymology paragraphs from wiktionary into a database of words and connections.
Also interesting are the Proto-Indo-European roots, like "h₂enh₁", which is a 10k-year-old reconstructed word meaning "breath", that has about 1k modern day descendants ranging from "animate" and "unanimous" to "anemone".
https://www.etymologyexplorer.com
I'm fascinated by the hidden connections in our language—like "galaxy" being connected to "galactose" because of the Milky Way.
I used NLP to convert written etymology paragraphs from wiktionary into a database of words and connections.
Also interesting are the Proto-Indo-European roots, like "h₂enh₁", which is a 10k-year-old reconstructed word meaning "breath", that has about 1k modern day descendants ranging from "animate" and "unanimous" to "anemone".
https://www.etymologyexplorer.com
Yes, this is the site that inspired me! I was frustrated that it was so hard to navigate to cognates (word cousins) or from roots to descendants. So mine is focused on navigating between words like that
I make home-printed zines and art about fandom, taboo (nsfw) subjects, and stories. Once upon a time I used to be a published comic artist (in addition to the dayjob) but left that path as it didn't speak to me on the same level of honesty as the works I do now. You don't notice how censored queer nsfw works are until you start making them.
(the homepage) https://www.kradeelav.com/
(the homepage) https://www.kradeelav.com/
Mine is being an enabler for the partner's main hustle as an artist which entails being the IT guy, office manager, purchasing, research intern, whatever a small business needs done today.
She does the artwork commissions, freelance as well as sells direct to consumers https://sumitgill.me/
She does the artwork commissions, freelance as well as sells direct to consumers https://sumitgill.me/
That is lovely. I could totally see some of the seamless repeats as wall or wrapping paper.
One is a Docker monitoring service, other is a REST API monitoring service. Anyone interested just by these titles?:)
yes, I'd be keen
My side hustle is iterating through side hustles.
My side hustle is reading HN comments about other people's side hustles.
Hmm, maybe this one. Nah. Hmm, maybe that one. I'll add it to the list.
Hmm, maybe this one. Nah. Hmm, maybe that one. I'll add it to the list.
I've started making knives. Started with basic stock removal and tiny forge. Stepping up to a heat treating oven next, and would love to eventually get a small forge press so I can experiment with making damascus.
I run a small network automation company. We write custom runbooks and provide a web platform for users to execute them from. I spent about 20 hours a week on this after my normal job.
I don't do this no. I have passions but I have no desire to make money from them. Writing code in my free time is very far from what I experience or want in life.
I have a few:
flipping collectibles and cars and sometimes collectible cars. woodworking/metalworking/furniture-building.
I use my data skills to bet on politics.
It’s been a very lucrative endeavor for the past 5 years or so.
It’s been a very lucrative endeavor for the past 5 years or so.
Betting on US politics seems like easy money to the dispassionate observer. Unfortunately, my government has banned online gambling, and none of the nearby casinos offers such bets.
Working on getting our first users for https://snapsure.app to help photographers know when the time is right to take their very best photos!
I tutor middle/high school kids in math and CS. I make $35 an hour which is pretty good considering I'm a freshman in college and some of the students are pretty close to my age so it can be fun.
I make courses on Udemy [0].
[0] https://www.udemy.com/user/lachlan-miller-4/
[0] https://www.udemy.com/user/lachlan-miller-4/
I am building a laptop stand for travelers: www.fiberstand.com
I share software engineering book reviews on my website and email newsletter. Not really a side hustle, but something fun that I enjoy.
I have a coupon site for developers https://www.gluee.com/
and a set of small tools for developers:
https://www.punycoder.com/ (a tool for Punycode to Text/Unicode and vice-versa conversion),
https://www.htmlwasher.com/ (a tool if you have some dirty HTML and need to clean it up),
https://www.htmlcorrector.com/ (a tool if you have some not so well-formed HTML and need to fix it),
https://www.htmlenc.com/ (a simple tool to HTML encode (escape) a text),
https://www.urlenc.com/ (a simple tool to URL encode (escape) a text),
https://www.gguid.com/ (a customizable GUID generator),
https://www.64baser.com/ (a Base64 and vice-versa encoder),
https://www.hexator.com/ (a Hex and vice-versa encoder),
https://www.cescaper.com/ (a C and C++ string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.csharpescaper.com/ (a C# string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.jsonescaper.com/ (a JSON string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.rustescaper.com/ (a Rust string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.pythonescaper.com/ (a Python string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.javascriptescaper.com/ (a JavaScript string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.javaescaper.com/ (a Java string escaper and unescaper) and
https://www.htmlinstant.com/ (a simple HTML editor).
All are written in .Net/C# and running on Azure, HtmlInstant has frontend in React, otherwise they are old ASP.NET MVC and Ajax :-)
https://www.punycoder.com/ (a tool for Punycode to Text/Unicode and vice-versa conversion),
https://www.htmlwasher.com/ (a tool if you have some dirty HTML and need to clean it up),
https://www.htmlcorrector.com/ (a tool if you have some not so well-formed HTML and need to fix it),
https://www.htmlenc.com/ (a simple tool to HTML encode (escape) a text),
https://www.urlenc.com/ (a simple tool to URL encode (escape) a text),
https://www.gguid.com/ (a customizable GUID generator),
https://www.64baser.com/ (a Base64 and vice-versa encoder),
https://www.hexator.com/ (a Hex and vice-versa encoder),
https://www.cescaper.com/ (a C and C++ string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.csharpescaper.com/ (a C# string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.jsonescaper.com/ (a JSON string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.rustescaper.com/ (a Rust string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.pythonescaper.com/ (a Python string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.javascriptescaper.com/ (a JavaScript string escaper and unescaper),
https://www.javaescaper.com/ (a Java string escaper and unescaper) and
https://www.htmlinstant.com/ (a simple HTML editor).
All are written in .Net/C# and running on Azure, HtmlInstant has frontend in React, otherwise they are old ASP.NET MVC and Ajax :-)
What is your strategy for having each tool hosted on an independent domain, as opposed to an umbrella "developertools" domain? SEO benefits?
Poker. I go on trips for a few days at a time and play low stakes.
People are really bad and I win an hourly comparable to a junior developer.
People are really bad and I win an hourly comparable to a junior developer.
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