Thanks a lot, that was very insightful and exactly the kind of insight I was looking for.

I think for me as an outsider it's really easy to fall for that trap, where certainly point 3 in his article was a realization that I would look at it the same way, perhaps spend a bit of time in my evenings on it but never spend, say, 3 months of research on the off chance that they might pay and that I might be the first winner/best winner, compared to a good (hourly) pay.