Ask HN: What did you accomplish in 2010?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2045399

by Anon84 • 16 years ago

35 45 16 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Now that the year is coming to an end, it's the perfect time to make a balance of what was and plans for what we hope will be.

What were your successes this year?

What did you learn?

What do you hope to achieve next year?

AN447• 16 years ago

Finished graduate school

Landed a kick ass job at a boutique investment house in the City of London

Landed 3 Trustee positions

Fixed up my house which is an ongoing project for me

Returned 21% from my investment portfolio and cashed out immediately. Looking forward to starting 2011 from £0

I learnt that I had to keep a very loose structure throughout the year to achieve all these things as accidents were more frequent than I expected. Meticulous planning helped but it could not account for mishaps.

This year I hope to focus on the following areas

1) Improving my communication skills through toastmasters, blogging, writing industry reports/journals and offering my services as a public speaker

2) Taking more risks by playing poker, being more aggressive with my investments and approaching more women

3) Keeping my health in order by eating well, playing football 2x a week and running 3x per week

4) Networking alot more and penetrating specific areas in the City and specific groups/individuals. Starting of 2011 with drinks with several CEOs and a government minister.

aeden2• 16 years ago

I've successfully...

* launched DNSimple (https://dnsimple.com/) and got my first 100 customers.

* moved to somewhere less expensive yet still quite comfortable and started reducing my personal debt.

I've learned...

* a ton about building and running a business on a bootstrap budget.

* that really working 8 hours of billable time is exhausting and that working as a salaried worker is way easier than working hourly.

Next year I hope to...

* make DNSimple take off and generate 10x the revenue it generates now so I can reduce the amount of time I need to spend on contract work.

* pay off all of my personal credit card debt.

* enjoy every day and make the most of life.

Good luck to everyone in 2011 and remember to do what makes you happy and enjoy your lives while you can.

benologist3• 16 years ago

DNSimple looks really, really cool. But what about high volume people?

nailer2• 16 years ago

It's easy - I'm one of his customers! (I use his DNSimple for a second startup I'm developing). They have a REST API and it makes bulk registering really easy.

He already had a pre-done Rail client, I made a Python one at:

https://github.com/mikemaccana/dnsimple-python

maxklein• 16 years ago

I wrote a blog that got like a million hits. Made more than 50 hit iPhone apps (in the charts). Travelled to asia and africa. Started a masters degree and finished the first semester with the second best scores in the class (not done yet with the degree). Paid off my sisters debts. Became more courageous.

On the other hand, lost a lot of friends. Faced many of my limitations and discovered how lacking I was in many areas.

This year, I hope to focus on creating beautiful software. I'd also like to improve my general condition and health. And of course, I'll finish that degree.

Clarity1992• 16 years ago

By "lost a lot of friends" do you mean you fell out, they died, you just lost touch with them? If falling out, how?

I'm interested because one of my friends fell out with me this year sufficiently that he said "I don't want us to be friends any more". I was shocked and didn't know why. From what he told me it was the result of me making a few comments about his life in a flippant manner that I thought he was amused by, but actually he took it very very badly over the following few days and decided to not be friends any more. It's the only time I'd say I'd "lost" a friend.

If I worked in startups and business I think the chances of losing friends would explode though. It seems there's huge potential for making rational, business-motivated decisions that others perceive as immoral or backstabbing etc. Is that what happened to you?

matwood2• 16 years ago

I would wonder then if you were ever really friends. The people I call friends would tell me if I'm doing something that bothers them and then let me correct it (and vice versa).

rubyrescue• 16 years ago

Fired my only steady client due to personal problems with their business model,

Hired 6 developers and started a much more serious consulting company (with new clients),

Launched inboxSEO and got over 100 paying customers (when the trials run out),

Formed an Argentine SRL to pay those devs (like a US LLC but much harder to start)

steveklabnik4• 16 years ago

I learned a ton about startups, and wrapped up my involvement in the first one that was actually mine, rather than just being an employee.

I finally got over myself and released Hackety 1.0.

I've met tons of people, made a lot of new friends (through HN and non, in real life and outside of it), and improved myself a bunch.

I think next year will be better. I have three main goals:

* work for others at most two days out of every week, on average.

* Start taking better care of myself, via exercises and better eating.

* Write something every day.

* track my time every day, inspired by lionhearted

edw5192• 16 years ago

Oops, almost forgot...I met Steve Klabnik this year!

steveklabnik4• 16 years ago

Har har har. :)

We do need to get coffee again soon.

revorad3• 16 years ago

I want to meet Steve Klabnik just to say I met Steve Klabnik. That is one seriously cool surname.

haseman• 16 years ago

-Shattered my collar bone and had it screwed back together

-Turned 30

-Proposed to my girlfriend of 7 years

-Got a new job

-Wrote an app that was (briefly) #1 in the paid section of the Android Market

-Moved to New York

It's been a big year for me :-)

edw5192• 16 years ago

What were your successes this year?

I stopped all traveling and moved into a house 4 blocks from my mother's nursing home. She has severe dementia and I visit her every night. She never remembers yesterday or plans for tomorrow, but knows me well, and we have a great time together. Jeopardy, the Simpsons, and Family Guy are now our common pursuits.

What did you learn?

No matter how wonderful our memories or ambitious our plans, all we ever really have is today, so make the most of it.

What do you hope to achieve next year?

Launching a start-up that will change the world, watching the Steelers win the Super Bowl, and playing Jeopardy with Mom every night.

vidar• 16 years ago

Don't have an opinion on the Steelers but the other two are worthy goals. Good luck! (The way you are attending to your mom is admirable.)

fredoliveira• 16 years ago

I hate a "me too" comment as much as everyone else, but I'd like to second what vidar said. The way you described the situation with your mom touched me. I'm quite glad there's still people like you around.

jacobroufa• 16 years ago

A big part of me got over my past failures and just moved on. For me this is big and has allowed me to successfully take on new clients and explore the larger world of a freelance web dev. I learned that it's not about the perceived failure or success in anyone's perspective but my own. We're human beings; very flawed (at best) creatures and our communication breakdowns happen, but it's not about those breakdowns. Rather, what we do with them afterward.

Oh yeah, and I climbed a mountain this year. Next year I'm going to climb two.

metachris• 16 years ago

I've founded my first startup (mobile+multiplayer) in Vienna, Austria, got the first iterations out of the door, it got acquired and a month ago I've moved to the US (with my dog). Best year so far :-) I learned a lot about networks, TCP, scaling, nosql, ec2.

elechi• 16 years ago

If I may inquire, what did you startup produce?

nailer2• 16 years ago

- What were your successes this year?

Left a job which was nice, but not creating something. Launched http://imeveryone.com, got a couple of hundred thousand visitors in the first month, HN, TechCrunch, TechFluff coverage and a whole bunch of help from people who liked my idea.

- What did you learn?

MongoDB, Javascript programming and lots about PR.

- What do you hope to achieve next year?

Get more PR, specifically a major women's magazine. Fix my advertising system. Become revenue positive.

smcl2• 16 years ago

Quite a low-key year for me, and perhaps of little interest to the wider HN community, but it's nice for me to take stock of these things.

Lows:

- Was made redundant

- messed up with a few incredible girls through apathy or equally stupid things

Highs\Successes:

- immediately found better paying job

- started playing football again

- paid off overdraft and CC debts

- resolved to move away from the UK

Next year:

- turn 25 (this is an achievable goal)

- act more\quicker\at all on any software ideas I have

- save money and

- decide where I want to go (Canada, Aus, NZ, elsewhere in the EU) then just pack up do it

wallflower• 16 years ago

Started the year with rudimentary iPhone development experience, sacrificed free time, time with friends (s/going out/HN contributing), my love of Salsa dancing, potential girlfriend(s), got lucky - met the right people, found the right projects, now doing considerable contract iOS work, all without leaving my day job - I no longer fear layoffs. I want to write a find-the-1-beat iPhone app for Salsa dancers :)

I learned that my strength is into diving into something with accountability and public commitment as my flotation devices.

In 2011, I hope to build one or two quality iPhone apps in niches dear to me. And to talk to more women. And to practice Stoicism. And to socialize again. Life is too short for just Xcode.

For aspiring iOS developers, it takes about 100-150 hours of concerted focus - after that Objective-C/Cocoa starts becoming the solution, not the problem.

sarnold• 16 years ago

Sadly not much to write home about.

2011 is my year.

benologist3• 16 years ago

Most of Playtomic, which looks like it's going to end the year with an awesome 10 billion events for December.

ajdecon• 16 years ago

- What were your successes this year?

I finally worked up the courage to leave the PhD program that had been making me miserable for the past two years (of the three I'd been pursuing the degree), and look for something better. I joined a supercomputing-services company which is doing some really exciting work, and has a very startup-ish feel. And I've built a fun, happy life with my awesome girlfriend, who supported all of the above.

- What did you learn?

There is no reason to keep doing something that makes you feel horrible, and if the end result holds no appeal any more. There are a lot of exciting things to do out there, especially if you're willing to leave your comfort zone.

- What do you hope to achieve next year?

Build some awesome things at work, and learn more about high-performance computing. Get back into fencing. And enjoy life.

lancashire• 16 years ago

I saved up enough money to leave my job and build a niche software product. Fingers crossed, it will be launching early 2011.

It's terrifying, and I'm broke, but I have learned I am infinitely happier when I'm calling my own shots.

My hope for 2011 is to have a business which is profitable enough for me to carry on working for myself, and not look for another job.

Good luck everyone in 2011.

jakevoytko• 16 years ago

What were your successes this year?

I ran a marathon. I was overweight and out of shape in January. At the encouragement of a coworker, I ran 5 days a week from March to November, and successfully completed the Philly Marathon in 4h10m10s.

That same week, I landed an awesome job, and hopefully left the Military-Industrial Complex for good.

What did you learn?

A little work every day adds up to a hurricane. The value of getting nudged in the right direction, and by extension, the value of surrounding yourself with people who will nudge you in the right direction. And hitting the wall is about as painful as I remember appendicitis to be.

What do you hope to achieve next year?

I want to run two marathons. I want to run one of them in under 3h45m. I want to create something that lots of people use. I want to make a name for myself.

agentultra• 16 years ago

2010 wasn't that great of a year for me. To that end I hope to make 2011 much better, though I'm preparing for the worst. Can never be too careful.

smcl2• 16 years ago

This is what I love about this part of the year. Even if you've had a fairly crummy time of it in previous months (mine was so-so), you can't but help feeling optimistic at the opportunity to starting the new year afresh. Good luck in taking 2011 by the horns and getting what you want out of life!

abyssknight• 16 years ago

This year:

* Joined a leadership program to get out of a dead end position

* Co-coordinated the local DEFCON group

* Completed the first semester of my Master's degree program

* Broke into the infosec field through my first "rotation" for my new job

What I learned:

* Learned that I can communicate ideas through writing quite a bit better than I thought, and my presentation skills aren't half bad either

* Everyone could achieve so much more if they stopped reading job descriptions and got to work. This year I did so many things I was unqualified for, and it rocked.

* People's academic demeanor is often directly linked to their work performance. Cheaters cheat, liars lie, and procrastinators procrastinate. You never know when you're being watched, and I strongly believe school is one place you can't afford to screw up.

Next year:

* Stay in infosec, but learn a lot more

* Build something. Anything.

* Complete a few more semesters, and do my time while learning more.

* Patch, patch, and patch. I forget to patch too often. For this I am ashamed.

* Have a child. Scary, but awesome and probable.

hackernurse• 16 years ago

Good to write this down.

* Broke up with gf after 5 yrs.

* Met new girl, together for a month.

* Turned 30.

* Went back to school (nursing) and finished year one successfully.

* Still with one foot in web development and liking it, too.

* Went to huge festival for the first time in 10 years.

* Spent more time with good friends.

* Did a 5000km motorcycle trip to Spain.

* Surfed for the first time.

* Picked up CrossFit again, set some PRs.

* Dropped flour, wheat and sugar consumption almost completely.

* Dropped my entrepeneurial ventures. I'm not the type for it.

* I learned to follow my intuitions and to not take everyones advice for truth.

* In 2011, I hope to successfully finish my internship at a psycho-geriatric clinic. I've never been further away from the computer than that.

Wish me luck :) I wish you all the same.

revorad3• 16 years ago

What were your successes this year?

Moved in with my girlfriend. Asked her to marry me, she said yes! Went through a lot of drama with my family to accept her. Patience paid off, wedding next year woohoo!

Started my first startup, launched the first product. Progress has been slow, but I'm keeping at it.

Wrote my first book. Coming out in January.

What did you learn?

Patience can get you surprisingly far.

Working alone is hard and boring.

Startup porn is the single biggest time sink in my life and probably a lot of people's lives here. I need to get rid of it.

What do you hope to achieve next year?

In 2011, I hope to:

Get profitable.

Get some great people to work with me on my startup.

Make a really good quality product that people love and use.

daralthus• 16 years ago

Learned:

Learned node.js as as3. Made a flashgame and a webapp to paypal dev challange, then got a consulting job.

Successes:

All of these plus finally getting healthier again. (knock, knock)

Plans:

Move, find new friends, make some money from my new android phone, finish a novell, start a business and iterate as much of my ideas I can.

generelativity• 16 years ago

* continued exponential growth in income * released an iPhone game * began my first start-up, learned how green we are in our first pitch to potential investors, fired a partner * got better at math * got really into machine learning

next year i'll launch the start-up!

mailarchis• 16 years ago

What were your successes this year?

For someone coming from tech background, is introvert and has never sold anything in life before, I took up the responsibility of handling sales and marketing for our start up, did cold calling and sales meetings and signed up our first two customers.

What did you learn?

Like everything, you need to persevere and stay patient to succeed in selling. However there is still a lot I need to learn to do sales better. I often find myself looking back at the sales meeting and cold calls that fail thinking i should have handled it a bit differently

What do you hope to achieve next year?

I hope to do better in sales and get our startup from customer 1 to customer 100 hopefully

matwood2• 16 years ago

Overall I don't feel I did enough this year. I had high hopes of getting a startup off the ground with a friend/co-founder. After a bunch of lies and general not good things we no longer speak. It really put a damper on the year.

Day Job:

Wrote a payroll system for my employer that does exactly what they need and saves them millions annually in software fees. This was actually a pretty fun project dealing with individual state/country laws and other legal issues that needed to be codified.

Learned a lot about Ruby while modifying ECHI converter open source code to work in my employers environment. Again, this saved a ton of money in licensing fees.

Personal Projects:

Learned obj-c and a lot about iPhone development. I made ~$500 from a small utility app. The rush of someone paying money directly for something that I created is addicting.

Other:

Deadlifted 510lbs at a bodyweight of 191 lbs.

Hiked 5 14ers.

This coming year I will get my startup off the ground even if I have to do it completely solo. I'd also like to hike another 5-6 14ers. Finally, I will hit my long term strength goal of 500/400/300 deadlift/squat/bench. I would have hit it last year, but twisted my ankle playing basketball and that kept me from making my squat :)

mathgladiator• 16 years ago

What were your successes this year? Went from not exercising at all to walking 10 miles. Wrote a super cool data extraction service.

What did you learn? Life is short, do something you like.

What do you hope to achieve next year? The impossible.

allwein• 16 years ago

Here are some of the goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the year that I achieved:

* I self-taught myself iOS programming and got my first app on the App Store.

* I made five figures from my app store sales for the year.

* Started a successful freelancing business on the side.

* This included doing my first contract iOS app.

* Did not come off of unemployment until I found a job I really wanted instead of taking any old job that came along.

* Got a full time job doing iOS hacking.

* Read a book a week.

* Downsized my stuff by getting rid of at least one thing a week, and keeping parity when getting new stuff. (One thing in, one thing out)

What I have planned for the next year is to buy a house, lose 50 pounds, and up my app store take to six figures.

SupremumLimit• 16 years ago

I think my main success is that I finally managed to halt my downward spiral of unhappiness. Sold the house and moved to a different city to start a company (it's bringing in a tiny amount but it's a start!), met a great girl, went for two snowboarding trips and finally learned how to do a 360. Learned a whole lot about running a business and everything that entails.

Next year, the most important thing for me is to continue learning how to be happy. Business wise I'd like to find a profitable niche for a software product and grow the revenues.

Good luck in 2011 to everyone!

semanticist• 16 years ago

I quit a job that I hate and was killing me.

One week before I was facing unemployment I got a new job working as employee #1 on a startup, using technology I've been wanting to use for ages, on an interesting problem, for more money, and working from home.

I start my new job next week.

I learned that if you hate your job, it really is possible to do something about it.

Next year is going to be mental - so much to learn and do - but I can't see any way it'll not be better - and leave me a better person - than this year.

Ask HN: What did you accomplish in 2010?

Related Stories