It takes a lot of effort to keep multiple projects in the air. Even something that "runs itself" never really does. I've got Draft going while I work on Highrise, and Draft works very well on its own, but I still have to deal with support requests, downtime, upgrades, refunds, and more.
The guy wants to focus on his other projects. Patrick's never hidden the fact that selling Bingo Cards isn't as lucrative as his other projects. He's super honest and open about what goes down. https://www.bingocardcreator.com/stats Tons of good lessons he's learned that he's now applied to other business via consulting, Appointment Reminder, and now at Starfighter (http://www.kalzumeus.com/2015/03/09/announcing-starfighter/)
Look at 37signals. They decided they needed to focus on Basecamp to make it as good as they want. http://37signals.com/
We all should be shedding more and more stuff in our lives to focus on the bits we want to grow and see further through. Nothing at all wrong about that.
I find it interesting that his goals for 2015 seem to be focused on selling his courseware, etc. on optimization, etc.
This is where the Tim Ferris comment comes from...
He claims to have spent only a handful of hours on BCC last year. So spending less than say 20 hours on a project and having it generate ~30% of revenue, passively, seems like a pretty good deal.
Another poster mentioned focus, but that doesn't really seem to be the case here.
Of course all this is conjecture.
[1] http://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/12/22/kalzumeus-software-year-...
"Focus" is a very valid reason. Even assuming just one hour per week, that's 52 hours he can spend on something else. Plus having BCC around is a mental burden. Even while you're not working actively on it, you're thinking about it.
[1] http://www.kalzumeus.com/2015/05/01/talking-about-money/
I'm not sure the opportunity costs are that high... especially when you're 1. Only spending a handful of hours on it (his claim) and 2. Your whole schtick for your consulting services is how you deserve $$$$ because using your A/B optimization whatever skills you can improve conversion/traction by xxxx%!
He spent 9 years on BCC that resulted in ~30K (edited, misread as 60K) in ARR.
I think his ideas and insights are valid. I just find it odd the contrast between his curated HN celebrity image as an uber-hacker with his actual results.
Doesn't seem like his skills resulted in much success with BCC but it sure helps his consulting career...
Sorry I'm the awkward guy at the party that makes people feel uncomfortable :)
BCC seems to have been a learning playground that gave him a real business on which to sharpen the skills he's now known for, and which produced a bit of profit on top to boot. But a small competitive market is still a small competitive market. There's only so far optimization can take you in that scenario--if you have the skills, you're better off seeking a bigger pie to apply them to.
Not to say I don't find it strange in some ways too - I've had passive projects make more with less effort - but I don't talk about it, thus no profile.
You're the awkward guy at the party who likes to think he's making people uncomfortable with his comments but failing at it.
I too don't see the point of optimising a product you don't want to work with anymore, if there are more lucrative projects on the horizon.
Those skills are clearly that which people envy, even though it's not hacking.
"Yearly Revenue: $31,000"
Where did you get $60k from?
The main message is fairly basic. Spending money and effort on things like investment property is the way to accumulate wealth. He sprinkled in a healthy dose of self help woo and nonsense, but no more than life hacking, dieting, fitness or any other self help best seller type book.
Second (and far more importantly), Patio11 is about 12 rungs above any of that. His level of transparency and mystery-free writing is almost unheard of. This kind of "If you're so awesome why don't you.." criticism is such a pity. It can and does deter people from sharing (I know it would deter me).
You have the full story available to you. The history of this site/business. The stuff that it led to. The financials. The effort required. The eventual sell price. An underhanded comment implying self serving dishonesty is so unjustified and unfair, nevermind uncharitable. It's a cheap shot and it's depressing.
I would say, even at lesser levels of transparency we need to encourage such people rather than tearing them a new one.
To spend more time on Starfighter I'm guessing: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2015/03/09/announcing-starfighter/
> Reminds me of Tim Ferris and Rich Dad Poor Dad.... those guys make their money selling their brand, seminars, ebooks, etc. and not via the methods/techniques they preach.
What does that have to do with selling BCC?
Nothing at all. Just a general observation.
I just find it interesting that he couldn't apply the very skills he has (which he is certainly talented at - no doubt) to save his business.
I wish he would do a detailed writeup about why. He makes it sound like neglect (only spending a few hours on it last year) and opportunity cost (his booming consulting work), but I wonder if he tried to slow down / reverse the declining revenue and just failed or whatever.
I think the answer is perfectly simple - he's making much more money from Appointment Reminder, launching Starfighter will take up a great deal of his time, and he has just had a baby. Selling BCC now makes more sense than just letting it wind down through neglect. According to his last Year in Review, BCC accounted for only about 15% of his income. Selling up strikes me as a classic Patio11 optimisation.
http://www.kalzumeus.com/2014/12/22/kalzumeus-software-year-...
Imagine this scenario. I consult at $1000/h. On the weekend I need my lawn mowed which will take an hour. Should I do it myself, or pay someone $100 to do it? I guess you could make the argument that if I was consulting all weekend then I could pay someone else to do it. But the likely scenario is that I'm going to carve out an hour of personal time and do it myself.
If Bill Gates drops $1000 on the sidewalk it does make sense for him to pick it up (though whether or not he'd notice..). The 3 seconds it takes him to pick it up isn't actually costing him anything, even though his passive income/worth might be more than $1000/3-seconds.
Opportunity cost is only a cost if there is an opportunity foregone. And sometimes you might come out financially worse, but in a better position strategically, socially, or personally.
This is an actual situation that happens to me, by the way. I don't understand why people suggest this, it makes no sense. Bill Gates also ostensibly enjoys picking up his money more than not, so it's no trouble for him.
Just because Patrick can charge 30k a week, doesn't mean he necessarily had a client lined up to give him 30k that week. Also, when these numbers get thrown around, there is legwork that happens ahead time that isn't actually getting counted (at least not when you state 30k/week rate). It might be a month of discussion and emails and phone calls and proposals and then 30k for a week of "work". Also, sometimes those emails, and phone calls, and proposals get turned down and that time ends up being $0/hour.
Finally, HE DOES CONSULT ANYMORE! He's the CEO of a new startup, and going forward he likely wants to focus his energy on that, and not on BCC.
You don't have to do it yourself. You might decide that it's worth paying someone else $20/hr so that you can do something else with your time, whether that is working, spending time on a hobby, or just sitting in front of the tv relaxing. One of those 3 scenarios is better financially, the other 2 are worse off financially but may be better for your health or happiness.
FWIW, I also use the services of a cleaner every couple of weeks because I judge that a worthy expense.
I was trying to make the point that not every hour of every day is "worth" exactly the same financially. My very last sentence was key, and probably should have been more prominent.
> And sometimes you might come out financially worse, but in a better position strategically, socially, or personally.
The other 30% goes into time spent that would be problematic to bill for. Writing notes, updating documents, attending conferences, doing specs for the next projects etc.
Finally, even if you can keep your stack full of work, a few things are always true in consultancies:
1) Once you stop it takes some time to fire the machine back up. Patrick has said he hasn't been doing this work. Getting the consultancy started up again would most probably take more than the 3 weeks selling Bingo Card Creator did.
2) You are, of necessity, working on projects for other people. If you've got a burning desire to work on your own projects, you simply can't and keep the consultancy going.
3) Once you become your own boss, the idea of "down time" or "idle time" where you can devote resources to things you aren't interested in or aren't your focus (like Bingo Card Creator) becomes much less concrete. If you truly choose what hours you work and what you work on, why would you spend any of it on work you don't want to do or that is not driving forward your primary goals. Consulting gets in the way of that.
Is this really so difficult to understand?
I mean, it's Bingo Card Creator, that's not exactly a $10b market.
Why did he abandon BCC?
Reminds me of Tim Ferris and Rich Dad Poor Dad.... those guys make their money selling their brand, seminars, ebooks, etc. and not via the methods/techniques they preach.