Hacker News Reader

Comment by alberth | Hacker News Reader

My heart goes out to this guy ...

For those unaware, the blogger left a high-paying job at Google 4-years ago [1] to start his own business and over those last 4-years, unfortunately, hasn't really made any money/profit [2]

His blog is a treasure trove of insights and lessons learned along the way.

Highly recommend for others to read.

[1] https://mtlynch.io/why-i-quit-google/

[2] https://mtlynch.io/solo-developer-year-4/

View on HN

Thanks for linking!

I find it hard to feel bad for him. Big N jobs are cushy but there's so much operational headache. Not that owning your own business is much better in that regard, but at least you feel like you're accomplishing something.

Wait what. He worked for Google and is not able to build a website like this himself?

I did a lot of Python and C++ at Google. I'd be able to implement a nice ETL pipeline for the website, but Google didn't pay me for my design skills.

I think OP intentionally offloads some work to others, to focus on his managerial role of his company. Not like he can't do it himself (after some learning processes) to certain degree, but it takes time and his time is more precious than potential financial cost.

What does being a google dev teach you about marketing?

Well he did build a website like this, but thought (incorrectly) that a professional designer/marketer (which is not what a Google engineer specializes in) could build something better.

Why incorrectly? Worked out well considering the resulting revenue increase.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com