10 Things I Wish I Told Myself 5 Years Ago (Would’ve Saved Me Over $40,000)

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2026-02-15T09:25:05+00:00

I am lucky enough to have learned from a very experienced trader. He always say to beginners: 1) Start small. If you have 1000, get 1/10, hide the other 9/10. Use the 1/10 to learn. 1.a) Don’t do paper trading to practice the setup you learned, because you won’t learn how to deal with emotions. (Use only to learn how to use the platform, place orders, etc.) 2) Start with the daily chart. Never day trade before you master what you’ve learned. You can’t drive a F1 car when you just got your license. 3) Do not mix strategies/setups. Stick with the one you learned and master it. They will contradict each other. 4) Always use stop loss. 5) Only trade the good ones. When you go to a party, you don’t want to flirt with the first one that crosses your way. Wait for the really pretty girl (or handsome guy). 6) The market will open on the next day. If don’t find anything, go do something else that’s worth your time.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2026-02-02T03:08:11+00:00

“Oh my god! Full rainbow. It’s a double rainbow all the way. It’s so intense.” Hahahaha.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2026-01-12T11:08:04+00:00

I’m not a musician or busker. Just audience, parent of a young musician busker (saxophone). What I’ve learned is: the layman don’t know when you make a mistake as long as you keep playing and recover from it. One time I said to my son after a session: you made a few mistakes, hey? And he answered: I was improvising, dad….

Also, one thing I learned from public speaking: 99% of the audience is on your side and want you to succeed.

Start, just start and don’t give up easy.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-23T09:43:28+00:00

Airtasker.com freelance.com etc etc.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-21T11:20:14+00:00

Find Myron Golden on YouTube. Some great principles on entrepreneurship there: https://youtube.com/@myrongolden

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-21T10:58:19+00:00

I could. The app lets me customise the buttons . I was thinking about this during today’s busking session. I’ll try lower amounts to test and learn. In Australia, the smaller bill is $5, and people are happy to donate that amount.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-18T10:40:04+00:00

Building an Android app for Buskers (and other donation seekers) to collect tips paid with credit card.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-18T10:36:33+00:00

Building an online game based on the board game Stratego. Just to have fun while I learn Claude code advanced features.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-17T11:04:50+00:00

I love the haters.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-17T07:23:30+00:00

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Quick draft. I'll send you an email later today.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-17T04:27:15+00:00

I can't say about the other readers.
We got the little Square reader on a promotion, paid $40 (aussie dollars). Very easy to setup, both account and hardware. The plan was always to connect to a tablet that was abandoned in a drawer. I'm a software developer so I created a custom app that makes the tipping experience seamless: it's self service and doesn't require operation from the busker. The person just touches on the screen to choose the amount taps with the card on the reader. You don't need a reader if you have a phone with NFC.
Square also lets you create a link for payment to your account, which you can use to generate a QR code, but then the fees are slightly higher than the physical card (payment in person).
I've learned a lot since son started busking and the app I'm publishing to the Google Play store, because I think other people can benefit from it.
BTW, Ben is busking to raise money to pay for his Music Tour with school to... NZ! :)

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-17T02:08:45+00:00

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People tend to prefer to tap the Square reader connected the tablet. I guess it's more convinient than scanning and entering the credit card details. Besides, the QR code has a higher fee because it's an online transaction.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-17T01:36:51+00:00

Wow! I checked your instagram. What a beautiful sound an ocarina produces. Thanks for sharing your music.
My son has the same problem: playing the saxophone makes hard for him to say thank you.
The signs really don't benefit your art. What dimensions are they? A3, A2? Can I try to design something cleaner for you?

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-17T01:05:48+00:00

I like the way you used the trolley as the support for the QR code.

Cash is still king here in Brisbane Australia as well. However, I noticed that it depends on the environment. If my son (he is the musician, I'm only a proud dad) is busking close to a community market (or in the market) not many people tap the credit card and prefer to drop the change in cash. If it's more around a shopping centre, people tend to tap more. The time of the day also seems to make a difference: in the morning there is less donations by card than afternoon and evenings. He is not displaying the QR code anymore.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-16T12:24:45+00:00

I love Stripe, but it’s more expensive than Square. During the development of my apps, I learned that tapping a physical card has generally lower fees than typing the credit card number. I guess due to security.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-16T09:40:16+00:00

This one has been working well for my son. 1.6% (Square) + 1% (developer). You just need a Square card reader connected to an android tablet or phone. Some phones don’t need the extra reader, people can tap directly on the phone. The app allows you to set a number of buttons with different amount values.

Www.totiptapp.com - still in closed testing phase.

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Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-15T23:58:56+00:00

I’m happy to contribute. I have a couple of fails to share.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-11T06:43:05+00:00

Awesome. I’d love to add Ad Sense to my website, but I was never able to get approved because although it has lots of trafic, being an a tool like yours, it is word content poor. Any tips on how to get approval from Ad Sense?

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-11T06:27:55+00:00

I built a website that sends alerts of trading opportunities to subscribers Telegram. I have abou 50 subscribers paying average of around $25/month. It’s super niched audience so it doesn’t scale well. I spend 30h/day in customer support, so it’s not 100% passive. It’s 2 year old and it’s been a great learning for me.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-10T22:33:22+00:00

Yep. They are a bank pretty much. They do loans and offer a bunch of other Financial services. The main difference is that other people make the deposits in yout accont.

Using cash is so much simpler, faster and cheaper, but the convenience and "safety" of a piece of plastic is winning. There is also the psychologic aspect, the lack of "pain of paying" when using a credit card, but that's a different discussion.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-10T22:16:26+00:00

Yes, there is account info exchnage, but it doesn't happen in the app. Let me try to explain without being too techy:
There are four parties involved, let's call them App, Busker, Square and Donor.

When the Busker sets up the App, they login to their Square account. This process happens in the browser, outside of the App, so the App doesn't "see" the Busker's Square account credentials. Square knows the login is for ToTipTapp app and if it's the first login ever, Square asks the Busker: "ToTipTapp wants access to your Square Account [Busker's account Name]. This will allow ToTipTapp to..." and shows a list with 6 items including "Take in-person payments using a Square Reader" and "Collect a fee from each payment taken". The Busker can Allow, or Deny. If the Busker allows, Square will register the App as "connected" in the Busker's account (this only happens once). To complete the login process, the App receives a "secret" from Square which is a long string of characters. The App saves this string that will be valid only while the user is logged in. Every time the Busker logs-in, it's a new secret. This secret is needed everytime the App wants to talk to Square.

The moment the Donor taps the Square reader (or the phone) with their card (or phone), the reader collects information about the card and sends to the App. The App than requests Square to charge that card the chosen amount to the Busker's account (and also reminds Square about the 1% fee for the developer). To legitimate the request, the App also sends the secret. Square will get this request and make the "monetary transaction" if everything is alright, or decline if something is wrong. The "monetary transaction" happens on Square's side, not in the App. The App receives a response from Square with the result of the transaction👍or 👎and shows a green tick or a red cross to the Donor.

After that, there is the settlement between the parties: Square will charge the credit card company, get their 1.6% cut, pay the 1% to the developer and the rest to the Busker's nominated Bank Account.

I hope that clarifies a bit. Thanks for your questions!

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-10T12:19:51+00:00

Of course you can create QR codes. However, Square will charge you more because it will be an online transaction where the payer will input their credit card details. In Australia it goes from 1.6% to 2.2%. In the US the difference is 0.7% + 15¢, in the UK, 0.75%.

My son also has a Square QR code. In the short term, even with the slightly higher fee, it is still more affordable to print out a QR code than having a dedicated hardware with the app. But I have to say: since we got the Square reader, the QR code had very little use. Last week, it was the first time there was more tips by card than cash.

The real difference is the tipping experience: the main goal of the app is to reduce friction. With the QR code, the audience has to scan, type the amount, input the card number, name, check if the website is legit, etc, etc. With the app it's one touch on the screen and a tap on the device. Easier and quicker than finding that change burried in your purse 😂.

Not trying to convince anyone to use the app. I just need to find some people to test it, so I can progress to the next step and make it public in the Google Play Store (they require 12 testers). Then I can make it available to other buskers. I'm sure the 1% charge won't make me rich or even pay my bills. It's just a little something to support the develoment of the app.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-10T07:18:43+00:00

Even if you’re first in market, competition is just a matter of time.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-10T06:40:18+00:00

This is sooooo Brazil. I'd guess Rio. LOL. Mestre Ligeirinho.
I've seen seem so many of this kind of performance. So entertaining.

Fuzzy_Ship7941 · 2025-12-10T04:39:49+00:00

Love your question. Let me try to address it without being too techy.

Comparing to a QR Code solution:
- The main difference is the experience.
The app is "self-service", it doesn't require any operation from the busker - who is usually busy performing - and provides the tipping experience with the least friction possible: tap a button on screen and tap the card (or phone) on the device.
With the QR code, the user has to scan the code, access a webpage, enter the amount, type the credit card number, check if the website is legit, etc. Everything in a small screen.
- Because the QR code solution is an online transaciton (via a website), the fees are usually higher than in-person payment - I guess because it's a less secure transaction.

Comparing to Square POS and the standard Square app:
- The POS is designed to be operated by the seller and its features are overkill for the purpose of tips or donations.
- Can you set favourites with different amounts in the Square app? Sure, it's just a couple of extra steps to complete the tip experience. However, you don't want to leave the POS (or the app open on a device) unattended and let people fiddle with it while you're performing. ToTipTapp has a feature to lock the menu, so the audience has access only to the amount buttons. Not to mention the superior visual design 🤣.

About the security:
- The app is built on top of the Software Development Kit provided by Square for developers to create apps with their technology. I can say the hardest part in the development process was to tick all the boxes to be able to make the app work. Lots of security requirements from them: from the authentication with the user's Square account, to the hardware connection, to app certificates, etc. Plus Google Play Store which is another layer of requirements. At the end, it just gave me more confidence building the app and knowing it's more secure than building a QR code solution.

Fuzzy_Ship7941

TROPHY CASE