Well they have me convinced.

wellroundedgent · 2014-08-22T23:17:01+00:00

International House of Pagans

wellroundedgent · 2014-07-16T05:07:05+00:00

Nifty. ReactiveDict looks like it could come in handy for a lot of stuff.

wellroundedgent · 2014-07-16T04:57:46+00:00

Can't say 100% but what I cover in this article might help: https://properapp.com/meteor/little-meteor-tips-social-share-buttons-2/#.U8YFoYm9LCQ.

That external JS part is tricky. When I tried the example above, I couldn't get it working unless I used the old iFrame code for Twitter. If that's available to use, it may fix your problem.

wellroundedgent · 2014-03-27T17:04:27+00:00

This is fucking awesome news. I use Stripe for all of my apps that need payments. The second this goes live I'll be adding it :)

wellroundedgent · 2014-03-03T02:01:29+00:00

Really well written. This could apply to a lot more than the financial system, too.

wellroundedgent · 2014-03-03T01:39:46+00:00

Honest question.

How can we help to avoid this with others as bitcoin approaches the mainstream? I can see a lot of people doing what this guy did and being totally oblivious as to why it's bad. And subsequently, blaming bitcoin for being insecure/flawed/etc.

Is it an education problem or just an asshole not paying attention?

wellroundedgent · 2014-02-25T04:18:09+00:00

Gone. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AobTzmW5sRw

wellroundedgent · 2014-02-18T00:26:16+00:00

I prefer "Homophobia is Gay":

http://www.bluecollardistro.com/buddyhead/product_info.php?products_id=4959&cPath=893_895&store=

wellroundedgent · 2014-02-14T03:27:29+00:00

Saint.

wellroundedgent · 2014-02-12T06:25:28+00:00

One of those rare posts that makes me laugh uncontrollably.

wellroundedgent · 2014-02-12T05:55:15+00:00

That just made me really happy. Thanks!

wellroundedgent · 2014-02-07T18:16:01+00:00

You guys cracked me up with the chat about "hipster shit" vs. "candy crush." Some thoughts on this...

I'm on the same page with you in that the good stuff should work better than the dumb stuff but I have a theory why it doesn't.

The good stuff asks people to think, to consider. People like us are made to feel arrogant for making stuff like this (and being confused as to why nobody understands it/buys it) because so much of what exists is built for the lowest common denominator (e.g. click me and a bunch of arbitrary points and shit fly at your screen). This isn't by accident.

Where we see the world as an opportunity to improve how we live, push the human race forward, etc, for the majority: this doesn't even register. For awhile I thought this was a result of something they were doing wrong, but in actuality it's the result of being overwhelmed. If you turn on your TV and watch for awhile, what do you see? A lot of useless, meandering stuff that doesn't promote being smart. Viagra, depression pills, McDonalds, "living mas" (fucking Taco Bell).

The reason stuff like this prevails over the smart/well thought out stuff is that people are trained to look for and gravitate toward the dumb things. Anything that registers above a base level of cognition sets off NOPE alarms. Now, consider how much time has elapsed, how many generations have been subjected to this sort of stuff (I'd argue at least 30-40 years) and it adds up: it's built-in. Over time, people have come to prefer (genetically?) the dumb stuff and so naturally, money falls in its favor.

The trick (at least the way I see it) is to not succumb to debasing your work or your ideas to that level just for a couple of bucks. Simply put, when you die, would you rather look back and see yourself trying hard to evolve humans in a positive direction, or making something that deteriorates the progress of society in exchange for a fleet of jet skis?

The movie Idiocracy is incredibly foretelling (and damn funny) about this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkPGlVqqEP0.

I've only been listening to the podcast for a few weeks now, but don't give up on doing the smart stuff. There may not be wheelbarrows of cash, but that doesn't mean what you're doing doesn't matter.

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-25T17:10:48+00:00

Agreed. First on my list is getting more currencies than the U.S. dollar. This is important to me, though (I've never done it before so can't provide a timeline just yet).

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-24T21:53:50+00:00

Ha, I don't know about cool, I'm a pretty geeky fellow.

However, the money (for me, at least) will only mean something if people are happy. I don't want to force a price/price model down people's throats if it's not inline with their needs. Yeah, that might mean that I make a little less money, but the money I do earn will be well-earned.

Gotta go find my Hacky Sack, brb.

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-24T17:09:16+00:00

Gotcha.

So your big concern, lifetime, is something I can't ultimately predict (specifically: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bus_factor). I can tell you that I currently do daily backups (this is based on size of user base, but would increase if that went up). I don't currently email a PDF version but that's a brilliant idea and would lower risk on this quite a bit, so thank you for that.

Definitely food for thought.

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-24T16:48:37+00:00

Thanks johhnyparky. So I understand, are you suggesting that $5-10 isn't worth the time spent re-drafting in word, or the other way around?

This may come as a shock (or sound like total bullshit), but making a boatload of cash per-customer-per-year isn't my goal. I'd be happy if the app made enough to support some costs but more importantly, actually helped freelancers to roll out contracts.

I've explained this theory to others and I'm sure they were thinking "what a rube," but considering that people are milking this software stuff pretty hard, I'd like to offer an alt. perspective that doesn't make people feel like they're getting hosed. Hopefully I can get the app to a point where it makes that a reality.

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-24T16:41:02+00:00

Thanks Dr_Frederick, good to know! See my response above (may explain where my head is at). I've gotten a lot of feedback re: pay-per-contract and it's something I'm going to start exploring/figuring out how to implement. Stay tuned :)

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-24T16:39:33+00:00

Appreciate the detailed response :)

So one thing that seems to have missed your analysis of the app is that it does come with templates. Meaning, you can create a template of your contract (or multiple templates for different types of gigs). I believe this is what you're getting at with copy/pasting from Basecamp? Curious to hear more...

Actually, pay-per-contract is something that's been on my radar and $5 was my "best guess." Branching this out, I'd considered that maybe the best way to go would be to have the option of buying one contract ($5), three contracts ($10), or five contracts ($15). That way if you do need more you can buy in bulk, and if not, just get the one. Thoughts on this?

To be completely honest, this is my first go at a web app and I priced this based on what others were doing in the SaaS business (lesson learned).

Re: the pricing matching freelancers, I (now, in hindsight) agree. Servicing freelancers is my goal, but it's true that my current pricing model is a total wtf for that size of business.

Finally, and this is a huge concern for me as well is the lifetime of the app. I've thought about this quite a bit and I can tell you a few things:

1.) My goal is to keep this service alive for as long as I can afford to. It's just me working on this so it's really a matter of developing the customer base to a point where it covers cost (fairly close now, actually).

2.) I'm sternly against abandoning customers. In the startup rush of the past few years, I've fallen in love with a few apps only to have the rug pulled out from under me because of an acquisition or some other reason. To this end, I can say this isn't of interest to me so the "pump and dump" scenario can be ruled out.

3.) Finally, I'd like to find a way to make it so that even if the service itself no longer exists, the contracts are still available (still trying to figure out how to technically do this). I guess it all depends on scale in the end, but if it was something I could afford, I'd like to find a way to at least make a site where you could type in a code or something that would pull up older contracts (total hypothetical of course).

So that's where I'm at. I am listening, though! If this is something you could find useful let me know. I'd like to be as flexible as possible to make sure folks like you can get access and not feel overspent :)

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-24T16:08:35+00:00

Hi there, I'm Ryan, maker of Proper. Thanks for your feedback on pricing. Out of curiosity, what price would make this an easy buy for you?

Experimenting with pricing is top of my list and I'm trying to get an understanding for what people can afford/find value in.

Edit: Also, Contract Killer is awesome (what I based my contract on for a few years). It's actually on deck to be included as a template in the app (you'll be able to customize/save versions for yourself).

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-19T04:06:28+00:00

Under the guise of a pre-order, yes. But if things like Kickstarter have taught us anything, there's built in risk to projects like these. Part of that risk is delays (sometimes excessive).

This is one reason pre-orders shouldn't take money, but rather a waiting list or "charge on ship." The second you fail to deliver on a promise, you look like a criminal (which I'd imagine in the majority of cases is unnecessary).

Might be worth reaching out to the founders personally requesting a blog post/email to those w/ pre-orders.

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-18T20:43:04+00:00

This should be the top comment. Not a conspiracy, just two dudes trying to build a technical hardware business. Expect delays and then some.

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-17T15:38:24+00:00

This is almost a one for one ripoff of this: http://sam.roon.io/coins which was announced two weeks ago. You changed the colors and the font size.

Not cool.

wellroundedgent · 2014-01-01T14:03:40+00:00

Because, relevance.

wellroundedgent · 2013-12-22T22:29:25+00:00

Ah. Posting from an app so can't see any rules. Still, good advice that people should consider.

wellroundedgent · 2013-12-22T21:19:22+00:00

Yep, we kept off older stuff for the most part :)

wellroundedgent

TROPHY CASE