HN has a few idiosyncrasies, but to me it's the last bastion of high-quality discussion on the internet with a shared front-page.<p>For years I've kept a tab open and refreshed a dozen times a day. But what I didn't expect is that this community would actively change the course of my life.<p>Over the years, I have amassed a graveyard of side projects, and in 2021 I launched a new one. The MVP had zero users, and my finger was hovering over the big red button once again...<p>I posted to Show HN just for kicks, and braced for the onslaught. But to my astonishment, the constructive and energizing feedback I received went on to power my indie dev journey over the past two and a half years [0]<p>And now... I just officially quit my day job to work on that passion project full-time! [1]<p>Historically I have not thought of myself as an entrepreneur. Nor a risk-taker. I have worked a stable mid-tier SWE job for nearly a decade, abiding all the stand-ups, bureaucracy, and revectoring.<p>I'm just a guy that likes to make things in my free time, and who never dared to believe one of those projects could grow into something real.<p>But after building on nights and weekends for the past 2.5 years and reaching 2,500 paid customers, I realized that even in the worst case, I would rather fail pursuing a dream than let a promising small business die on the vine and always wonder what might have been.<p>So although this jump to full-time is earlier than my personal financial modeling showed a robust chance of success for, it's time to set aside a few of the worries and risk mitigation tactics, and take a step into the unknown.<p>I never imagined my career taking this course, and without that early support and encouragement from this community... it simply would not have.<p>So I'd like to say a thank you to HN. Not just for being my favorite news source, or for being one of the only platforms not chalk full of formulaic engagement-optimized posts, but for helping me personally find the courage to leave the corporate world, set out on a new path, and chase a dream :)<p>[0] most recent Show HN: <a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36849502">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36849502</a><p>[1] <a href="https://x.com/_knolan/status/1724142406352646601?s=20" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://x.com/_knolan/status/1724142406352646601?s=20</a>
I didn't know what product this was. I didn't read the article. I don't know your username.<p>But somehow, in my heart of hearts, I knew it was the financial planning sandbox that I create a free account on everytime it is posted here.<p>I'm still not at a point in life to NEED it just yet. But yknow what ? Give me 5 years, a mortgage, a couple of kids to juggle and I'll likely come groveling to this tool as my savior.<p>It is rare for a tool i dont use to stay with me for as long as this one has. Good job. I strongly recommend it as a 'non-user'...hehe.
> after building on nights and weekends for the past 2.5 years and reaching 2,500 paid customers<p>Huge accomplishment! Hats off to you for pursuing what makes you feel fulfilled.
Hey, me too.<p>I've started reading HN around 2012, when I was more of a game designer than developer. Throughout the years, I've changed into developer stack, grew professionally, changed game dev for fullstack web development, grew to love functional programming and embraced a lot of things doing "the HN" way. I even switched from regional companies to working for american companies remotely — thanks to "Who's hiring threads"! And when I'm talking to my american colleagues now, we share a lot of the same culture — SICP, "considered harmful", "just a monoid of endofunctors", all of which I learned here. Now I'm working on my O1 visa application, and once again, I wouldn't be here if not for HN.<p>And for the point of comparison, there's been this other social app, which I won't name, that requires a tech company email to access. For a long time, while I didn't work for a recognised american company, I thought of it as an exclusive closed club and assumed that there should be much better content there. But once I finally got access to it, it turned out to be a complete anon cesspool of bragging about TC, cheating on interviews and other things from people who came to tech just for the money, without any glimpse of love for the craft.<p>After using that other app for a couple of weeks, I've deleted it never to log on again and now even more surprised to see how great a community HN turned out to be.
Excellent! Love to see these sorts of posts since this is also a goal of mine. (Though I'm in the situation of having quit first due to other reasons, I'd very much like to build a sustainable product vs returning to a W2 job.)<p>One specific question, and pardon my ignorance, having not dug into the product: are you beholden to a financial data provider (Plaid, etc.), or is all data self-entered? I've read a few times that upstream data providers (financial, weather, etc.) can really put a damper on indie products.
Awesome, I ended up purchasing your app, which is saying a lot because I hardly ever do stuff like that. It's been helpful in weighing out different financial decisions recently.
This is really exciting to hear! I've been paying for it for a few years now, and it's awesome to know that my little contribution has helped towards this!<p>I've been using the app to plan the end of my own full time employment, and seeing this makes me more determined than ever to see that through!
Having a sense of community is powerful.<p>It's why for many people: sports, colleagues, cults, religions, clubs and even gags can be so meaningful and important to people.<p>HN brings me personal joy every day.<p>The discourse, seeking for knowledge together, and general sense of support is what brings me back day-after-day.
I love Projection Lab, it's the perfect product that allows me to track many streams of income, expenses, investments, and tax over time.<p>With little effort, I was able to model my personal finance trajectory and build very a useful overview of my life in terms of financials.<p>Within the first 5 minutes of using it, I immediately paid for a premium account.<p>Thanks for your efforts!
Congrats!<p>I have HN to thank for exposing me to a ton of new tech/trends, but I think more importantly exposing me to smart, passionate people coming from very different perspectives, who I'd have never met otherwise. It's so valuable to know what's really out there and what's possible with a little time outside the comfort zone.
Congrats on your project!<p>I am also pursuing a dream of mine: standup comedy.<p>I believe strongly in the same thing: it's better to work on something you're passionate about and possibly fail than just continue doing non-engaging work for a monthly salary.
This is inspiring on its own! With my side projects I often find I get a rough prototype to the point where I can dogfood it in a few weeks, but then the problem is that it works well enough for me that I don't feel a strong need to improve it much further but it is still ugly enough with rough corners that it does not attract other users. How do you get past that?
Congrats!<p>I used to use Firefly III, this <i>looks</i> similar but more polished.<p>Am I correct, self-hosting is only possible with the $520 lifetime license?