Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[Andy Black]

Another good reason to always be working on something on the side. The contract job that I am is outsourcing our jobs to an India MSP. I can't specify the amount, but all responsibilities will be going to them. Oh my gah. This market has been insane. The company roughly has bout ~1,000 users, so our ticket volume is low. 600 at most a month. I'm sure I'll be the first one to go.

In a few years they'll get a new manager who's goal will be to bring it all back.

 

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[ZackerySprague]

In a few years they'll get a new manager who's goal will be to bring it all back.

I hope so! Their still trying to fill in the manager position at the time of this writing. They are tiering all issues between Levels 1, 2, and 3. It's based on some organization structure program, my old boss told us what it was. I forget now.

 

[Bounce Back]

In a few years they'll get a new manager who's goal will be to bring it all back.

Beyond true.

Phase 1: Company has on-shore IT team with decent quality level.

Phase 2: Upper management has hot-shot new guy/gal with something to prove who previously lowered costs for another organization by moving IT off-shore. Moves Company's IT off-shore, gets patted on the back and headhunted over to another company to lead the same initiative never having to live with the results of their decisions.

Phase 3: 1-3 years pass and quality has plummeted (OR costs of off-shore service rose so much to maintain same quality that it was no longer a savings). "We are going to synergistically improve quality by bringing our IT ops in house and centralize things ... agile agile agile... IT as a competitive advantage...etc."

Phase 4: Wait 3-5 more years and loop back from Phase 1.

 

[ZackerySprague]

The feedback I received was these options:

1. If the MSP notices that we have a low ticket volume, then my contract won't be extended.

OR

2. If there is high volume, then it would make sense to convert to full-time.

It was too early to know.

Life is like this, hahaha:

 

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[ZackerySprague]

The cool thing that happened the other day though is that my Uncle called me asking if I knew what SaaS businesses were and I said yes.

So he found a need within the Cleaning Industry where a lady named Debrah wanted to use his software that allowed them to create a tiered system for their cleaning crews to help save costs and pay the ones who work the most their proper commissions versus others who are not based on a 4-hour cleaning job. Much more detail than this.

They started their business 3-4 years ago and are now a $1million dollar business (he owns a cleaning business), but he saw that he had the perfect opportunity to create a fully-fledged Micro-SaaS app for the cleaning niche. He's already got the audience, he knows what the problem is, and has a technical mind (maybe).

He's been utilizing Chatgpt to create scripts, he was asking if I knew how to code in HTML or CSS. I told him I was a bit familiar, but I a learning how to code on Laracasts.com and directed him to it. Gave him some feedback on what tools and equipment the developers use at my contracted job for their application.

For now, he want's to build a basic MVP, get feedback from the cleaning companies, and build out the rest.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Why anything ADOBE sucks, and why any business they acquire ultimately will go to shit.

(Best viewed in laptop/desktop)

Adobe: The growing issue with “Free” trials UX

Learn how to improve your free trial user experience without falling into the traps of optimizing for conversions and upsells, resulting in a subpar UX.

growth.design

 

[Choate]

I can't believe some of you on here deliver websites for $2k.

Given the amount of money involved and time, any client who's negotiating on "partial" over a $2k is a shit client. How are you supposed to scale your business with clients like that?

And remember, shit clients have friends to refer to you, who are also shit clients. You are digging a hole working with people like that.

Good on you for shutting down the website for non-payment. I'd be bolder than that and say that leads have started generating from this website. For any passing day of overdue invoice, if you do decide to pay and want me to reinstate the website with leads, there is a non-payment penalty of $100 per day.

You are 100% correct. I started web dev back in 2018 and had my prices relatively low (under $2k) to start. Every so often I hear from a client from a few years ago wanting help on a new project. They are usually pretty easy, so I do it on the side when I have free time. But the potential for headache, like this one, and potential to be as demanding as a regular project means this is absolutely the last time I do it.

I have an LLC and an agency site to market to small businesses in my region. I need to start to refer all of my clients to this and drafting up a better contract and statement of work to share with them before starting any new projects.

 

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[Choate]

Why anything ADOBE sucks, and why any business they acquire ultimately will go to shit.

(Best viewed in laptop/desktop)

Adobe: The growing issue with “Free” trials UX

Learn how to improve your free trial user experience without falling into the traps of optimizing for conversions and upsells, resulting in a subpar UX.

growth.design

Ethical marketing vs. profit maximization. If a company can legally do this, I don't see what's stopping them - maybe the FTC/GDPR/whatever needs to step in and clamp down on free trials like this.

Step 1 - avoid free trials

Step 2 - avoid anything with a credit system, it's absurd how effective this is in manipulating human behavior; and often means you don't own something but rather license it

It really brings me back to the thread here on the forum about the guy looking for a refund on his Elementor Pro subscription and was denied. Hate to see it, but until there's better regulation (or some other solution?), everyone has to watch out for themselves when it comes to this sort of thing.

 

[Boogie]

E

Eli lilly growing fast at 700b market cap now.

If we move into AI utopian, Nvidia and other semiconductors manufacturers will be the new big tech.

If we move into big pharma dystopia, they will be the new big tech with trillion dollar companies.

I am not sure yet what will happen.

Nvidia is already way beyond that. It went from $112 in 9/22 to $722 today. It's a rocket ride. 6x your money in 17 months. Their stuff for AI is in most big provider offerings. Microsoft, Google, Amazon. Lots of pharma.

 

[Bounce Back]

The cool thing that happened the other day though is that my Uncle called me asking if I knew what SaaS businesses were and I said yes.

So he found a need within the Cleaning Industry where a lady named Debrah wanted to use his software that allowed them to create a tiered system for their cleaning crews to help save costs and pay the ones who work the most their proper commissions versus others who are not based on a 4-hour cleaning job. Much more detail than this.

They started their business 3-4 years ago and are now a $1million dollar business (he owns a cleaning business), but he saw that he had the perfect opportunity to create a fully-fledged Micro-SaaS app for the cleaning niche. He's already got the audience, he knows what the problem is, and has a technical mind (maybe).

He's been utilizing Chatgpt to create scripts, he was asking if I knew how to code in HTML or CSS. I told him I was a bit familiar, but I a learning how to code on Laracasts.com and directed him to it. Gave him some feedback on what tools and equipment the developers use at my contracted job for their application.

For now, he want's to build a basic MVP, get feedback from the cleaning companies, and build out the rest.

As a full stack engineer and ex-commercial cleaning business owner I am intrigued by what tiered can mean here.

Definitely an industry where software can help a ton - business owners in the space have so much logistical problems to solve.

I am working on a SAAS for the cleaning space too. Here is my thread: SAAS / APPS - EXECUTION - Cleaning SAAS Progress Thread

 

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[Kevin88660]

Nvidia is already way beyond that. It went from $112 in 9/22 to $722 today. It's a rocket ride. 6x your money in 17 months. Their stuff for AI is in most big provider offerings. Microsoft, Google, Amazon. Lots of pharma.


View attachment 54210

Ya right now Nvidia’s CEO in brown jacket is replacing elon musk fast as the new tech hype hero.

If this continues we will see hardwares companies taking over software companies and online platforms.

 

[Matt Sun]

Going back to the injuries/aging stuff...

I got back into yoga and holy shit, I forgot how crazy hard it can be.

I injured my knee last June and it's been bothering me since then so I've been avoiding any movements that involve the knee. It recently calmed down enough that I decided to start a knee strengthening/mobility/flexibility program to help me fully recover from it.

The first workout was so F*cking hard it was one of the hardest workouts I've ever done in my life. My entire body was shaking, I was drenched in sweat and had to pause every few seconds just to get through it. I wasn't even into the middle of it and I was so beat up I felt like crying while doing it lol.

I also started another program for strengthening/mobilizing the shoulders to recover from another injury. I was told I would recover within a week and it's been three weeks already - I bet I'd be recovered within a week if I was 20.

Check out this rehab guys:

I'm Hurt Now What Shop

I'm Hurt Now What Shop

imhurtnowwhat.com

1 month of kinesiologist didn't do even 1% for my ankle of what following their advice did. And I only used the free stuff, didn't even need the paid programs. They also helped with my shoulder. Both joints are back to normal now. I don't think you loose anything trying and there is huge upside potential. Hope it helps.

 

[Subsonic]

Yo Google Ads are insane.

I got 3 customers in the last 24 hours thanks to @MaximOntheRoad helping me out.
I think the last few website changes to improve loading times gave finally made the site viable.

Now I am scrambling to find time to fulfill everything.

 

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[Noyaux]

I found a short (freaking auto play got one right at least) of Jim Rohn spitting facts ala MJ de marco : "walk away from the 97%"

View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mX9TernX4xQ

(if I shouldn't post that stuff here tell me I'll not do it again)

 

[SnowLava]

Random incident : Met a guy from discord of my age (15) in a studying server. Talked a bit and found out that he used to sell programs to people and even was a part time programmer for a small company. I 100% knew he was inspired by MJ's books. I just guessed and asked about it, and I was right. That guy was shocked lmao.

 

[SDE]

In their recent email, Boring Cash Cow featured a pool and hot tub care company that generates $600k/year selling informational products (courses, guides, programs) related to pool and hot tub maintenance and also selling a range of cleaning solutions of their own.

This made me wonder if adapting a similar model, creating info products (free and paid), would work for the lawn care, gutter cleaning and other home care service providers in here, in the long term.

(I'm not affiliated to any of the external websites I linked above)

 

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[machinistguy]

In their recent email, Boring Cash Cow featured a pool and hot tub care company that generates $600k/year selling informational products (courses, guides, programs) related to pool and hot tub maintenance and also selling a range of cleaning solutions of their own.

This made me wonder if adapting a similar model, creating info products (free and paid), would work for the lawn care, gutter cleaning and other home care service providers in here, in the long term.

(I'm not affiliated to any of the external websites I linked above)

I'm excited at the idea of an information/R&D company like that in industry & science. Just a group of people testing out crazy theories that have potential to improve profit for established companies and selling the information.

"If you do this and that with this type of cutting tool on Aluminum 6061 you save 2.4 seconds per part, or $6,000/month." I'll invoice you $1,000, then heading straight to all your competitors!"

 

[ZackerySprague]

Got a signed copy on Unscripted , if you have the money. I would recommend the hardbacks. I will always be a disciple of MJ's books and will recommend them to others everywhere. He will make money from me, and he gives you a bookmark that links to GoalSumo.com.

I know my lack of consistent action on my part has not been the best, but back in 2019 living with my parents with my ex-girlfriend, 4 cats, 5 snakes, etc. I spent so much money on credit and didn't know how to pay it back. Got laid off, etc. I will save the sad story, but everything that I have read within TMF has come true.

Thank you MJ for your experience and your story, it has helped me navigate my life tremendously over the past years. If it wasn't for your books, I might have been in a much worse spot than I was 5 years ago. I didn't have anyone to look up to, to give me the guidance and answers I needed back then. No father, no mother who as experienced what I have was able to help me.

I am glad I was open to reading your book back in 2021. Thank you.

 

[MitchC]

I wish I had a large twitter following so I could shit on Shopifys UI designers and have someone listen

I want to fly to their offices and punch them in their stupid over paid wfh diversity hire heads

Why the F*ck are they making the back end of Shopify harder to use, more confusing, and take more clicks to do anything

These are tools millions of people use daily, they need to work and be usable, they don’t need to be pretty

Stop moving shit for the sake of it

Does my F*cking head in how retarded can you be to not think about how something might be used and your entire job is UI design

Thanks for coming to my ted talk

 

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[Andy Black]

Our 15 year old was on work experience for a couple of weeks, with me.

Week 1 he was building a few Google Ads campaigns and then went through my Google Sheets courses. He was quite chuffed with himself when his formulae joined two sentences together.

Week 2 we went into an agency in Dublin where I know the owner. They rent desks in Workspace offices right in the center of Dublin. Cue Daniel learning what it means to commute through traffic.




This week is school mid-term so I got him into the County Local Enterprise Office where I chatted with a business advisor about a business idea I had to train up local youngsters to help local businesses. I got interesting feedback and it was great to include Daniel in a meeting.

While we were there I asked the receptionist if we could get a tour of the local startup incubation center afterwards, which she loved doing.

And today I got him a tour of the Google offices in Dublin. All I did was post to LinkedIn asking how to arrange it and a few people were tagged. I DM'd those tagged and one generously helped out.



I publicly thanked Gavin here:

Andy Black on LinkedIn: Massive thanks to Gavin Eiffe for taking time out of his day to take… | 14 comments

Massive thanks to Gavin Eiffe for taking time out of his day to take Daniel (15) on a super informative tour of the Google offices in Dublin today. Daniel's… | 14 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

For me, one of the biggest benefits of having a business is using it as a vehicle to help and mentor my kids.

Oh, and a takeaway for you is to ASK.
People love to help, especially those getting started.

So you youngsters worried you're too young: lean into it. Plenty of people love to help the next generation get going.

 

[MTF]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypZu61OgITE


So I've been watching this dude's documentaries on various cities in the US and Canada and the terrible state they're in. And I don't get it. How do people still want to live there? How can people spend millions of dollars on a house in SF knowing the ruined, crime-ridden state the city is in?

The sheer amount of terrible stuff like that happening in the US that I see online makes me wonder if this is ever going to get better or if the US is simply going to descend into a terrible place to live with no serious law enforcement.

I've always wanted to spend more time in the US but right now it's one of the places where I would feel most unsafe everywhere in the world.

 

[Supa]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypZu61OgITE


So I've been watching this dude's documentaries on various cities in the US and Canada and the terrible state they're in. And I don't get it. How do people still want to live there? How can people spend millions of dollars on a house in SF knowing the ruined, crime-ridden state the city is in?

The sheer amount of terrible stuff like that happening in the US that I see online makes me wonder if this is ever going to get better or if the US is simply going to descend into a terrible place to live with no serious law enforcement.

I've always wanted to spend more time in the US but right now it's one of the places where I would feel most unsafe everywhere in the world.

There's a lot to like about the US, but also a lot to shake your head about, as someone living in a country in Europe.

Gun crimes, lack of general health care, or even things like not needing to have your freaking car checked every once in a while to make sure it's still save to drive (here in Germany you have to get it checked every 2 years). Or the black or white political system where there are basically just two sides and no in between.

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot great about the US. Always fascinated me. It's just that there are some things that I can't understand how that is possible in a country that does amazing things in other areas.

 

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[socaldude]

How do people still want to live there?

I think most people feel the same way. It’s just that they have no choice because they have a job, bills and family responsibilities.

How can people spend millions of dollars on a house in SF knowing the ruined, crime-ridden state the city is in?

A lot of people have good paying government jobs or work for big corporations. And believe it or not they are fans of the political leadership.

The sheer amount of terrible stuff like that happening in the US that I see online makes me wonder if this is ever going to get better or if the US is simply going to descend into a terrible place to live with no serious law enforcement.

A lot of things happening in America are completely intentional. It’s the Latin phrase “Ordo ab Chao”. Which mean order out of chaos. The idea is you walk into WalMart and everyone is speaking 5 different languages. Or constantly accuse someone of racism so you can blackmail them until infinity.

 

[socaldude]

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot great about the US. Always fascinated me.

Most people are not old enough, I’m not. But the politics and leadership has always been very wild in America.

It’s like the people who stole the election in the Chicago network and Pennsylvania. They meant it. They weren’t messing around. They think they have a moral duty to defend the system.

My facial expression is just like dang.

 

[MitchC]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypZu61OgITE


So I've been watching this dude's documentaries on various cities in the US and Canada and the terrible state they're in. And I don't get it. How do people still want to live there? How can people spend millions of dollars on a house in SF knowing the ruined, crime-ridden state the city is in?

The sheer amount of terrible stuff like that happening in the US that I see online makes me wonder if this is ever going to get better or if the US is simply going to descend into a terrible place to live with no serious law enforcement.

I've always wanted to spend more time in the US but right now it's one of the places where I would feel most unsafe everywhere in the world.

There's a place for low vibration spastics and that's these cities. They aren't for us. Anyone conscious with a brain and a purpose is being driven out of these cities to where they belong. Nice communities and nature.

Carnivore Aurelius © on Instagram: "Shoutout to everyone who’s become a completely different person over the last 5 years. The world is splitting into two. #1. People who are living in developed areas, dont care much about health, poisoned and alm

35K likes, 726 comments - carnivoreaurelius on February 13, 2024: "Shoutout to everyone who’s become a completely different person over the last 5 years. The world is splitting into two. #1. People w...".

www.instagram.com

 

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[Epynok]

Our 15 year old was on work experience for a couple of weeks, with me.

Week 1 he was building a few Google Ads campaigns and then went through my Google Sheets courses. He was quite chuffed with himself when his formulae joined two sentences together.

Week 2 we went into an agency in Dublin where I know the owner. They rent desks in Workspace offices right in the center of Dublin. Cue Daniel learning what it means to commute through traffic.

View attachment 54225


This week is school mid-term so I got him into the County Local Enterprise Office where I chatted with a business advisor about a business idea I had to train up local youngsters to help local businesses. I got interesting feedback and it was great to include Daniel in a meeting.

While we were there I asked the receptionist if we could get a tour of the local startup incubation center afterwards, which she loved doing.

And today I got him a tour of the Google offices in Dublin. All I did was post to LinkedIn asking how to arrange it and a few people were tagged. I DM'd those tagged and one generously helped out.

View attachment 54226

I publicly thanked Gavin here:

Andy Black on LinkedIn: Massive thanks to Gavin Eiffe for taking time out of his day to take… | 14 comments

Massive thanks to Gavin Eiffe for taking time out of his day to take Daniel (15) on a super informative tour of the Google offices in Dublin today. Daniel's… | 14 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

For me, one of the biggest benefits of having a business is using it as a vehicle to help and mentor my kids.

Oh, and a takeaway for you is to ask.
People love to help, especially those getting started.

Nice son!

 

[amp0193]

Why anything ADOBE sucks, and why any business they acquire ultimately will go to shit.

(Best viewed in laptop/desktop)

Cool site, love the ux fail analysis, reminds me of this great book.

Agreed, Adobe is the worst and I hate just about everything about them and their software.

Exception being: the Adobe generative fill feature (mentioned in the link) is so damn useful and I've yet to find anything else that can touch it (but am looking).

Primary use for me is getting way more use out of UGC by being able to alter image aspect ratios.

 

[amp0193]

So I've been watching this dude's documentaries on various cities in the US and Canada and the terrible state they're in. And I don't get it. How do people still want to live there?

Because most Americans still persist at having a USA-is-best-at-everything mindset, and can't grasp that other countries might actually be better at a lot of things. International travel is a real eye-opener (and was the impetus on my family's decision to uproot... a work in progress).

We do have awesome national parks though, so there's that. Also the world's greatest population of consumers, so great place to start a business.

The sheer amount of terrible stuff like that happening in the US that I see online makes me wonder if this is ever going to get better or if the US is simply going to descend into a terrible place to live

This Ray Dalio book makes a compelling case for why U.S. could continue to descend. I won't make any half-assed attempts at recreating any of those arguments here. Interesting read.

I've always wanted to spend more time in the US but right now it's one of the places where I would feel most unsafe everywhere in the world.

Nah, that's just blowing things way out of proportion. Mass shootings and the addicts in the street aside, still very unlikely to have anything happen to you here anymore than anywhere else. Generally very safe in any places that you would have a desire to visit.

 

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[loop101]

TIL there is a technology ("Speech Jamming") that can prevent people from talking. It repeats back to people what they are saying with a small delay that interrupts most people's ability to focus. This guy built one, went to a hotel lobby, and offered people $100 to read a paragraph from a book.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-SH18dtBlY

 

[Andy Black]

TIL there is a technology ("Speech Jamming") that can prevent people from talking. It repeats back to people what they are saying with a small delay that interrupts most people's ability to focus. This guy built one, went to a hotel lobby, and offered people $100 to read a paragraph from a book.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-SH18dtBlY

No need to invent anything. Kids can do that already. I can't concentrate when they repeat every word I say back to me, including "I'm an idiot and if I don't stop copying dad then I'm getting sent to my room."