mdolon

monji.com

This is incredibly cool - almost feels uncanny valley territory. Really well done!

This is one of the most impressive demos I've seen in a while. Really nice job!

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This is incredible work for one person. Keen to try it out but like the website might be getting hugged.

Great advice! The other thing I'd add is to get at least 4-5 YC alum to review your application in a Google doc and do practice interviews with them if you make it to the next round. Also, if you have friends who've done YC before, get them to recommend you!

I LOVE this. I pitched something similar (albeit far less intelligent) to my last employer only to get scoffed at, so it makes me really happy to see someone actually make and productize it. Wishing you success!

The demo videos with different block types are super interesting. Assuming there are plans to add image blocks or other rich/dynamic media? Could see that being very powerful as new models are made accessible.

This was one of the coolest demos I've seen in a while. You should share that number around more prominently (and get more bandwidth, starting to get errors!), it does a fantastic job of explaining what you do.

This is brilliant and beautifully designed. Kudos!

The recent progress is truly something else. My friends who are in tech and/or are founders have been talking about this a lot -- it feels palpable, as if there's something in the air.

I don't feel dread but I do feel slight unease. I also feel excitement because I am still optimistic about the future, and feel that if we are lucky, we may get to witness something special.

EDIT: To all of those arguing GPT or ChatGPT answers are not great, try using it to write some code before you make any judgement.

Github Copilot writes 50% of the code I write now, perhaps more. I'd say that's actual work.

This was my biggest “a-ha” realization around crypto, that the distribution model is utterly and irreparably broken for the most popular currencies. Whenever I bring this up with BTC/crypto maximalists their counterpoint is that fiat is also unevenly distributed and that it’s not a novel problem. The disconnect is truly puzzling.

Their website has been taken down (marked private): https://www.alameda-research.com/

https://mdolon.com/

Hasn't been updated in ages, need to get back into writing. This is a good reminder to do so!

Congrats on the launch, this looks great! I've been looking for something like this for sharing metrics internally. Will give it a try.

How long did you take to 'rebuild your savings'?

It depends on the pay, current expenses, etc. For me, it would take 1-2 years on average (US tech job paying base close to $200k).

Is there a target amount you computed? And how does it translate across living expenses, because I'm not living in Silicon Valley nor America.

This varies based on expenses and needs but generally, I would suggest at least 12 months of runway (for me this would be about $50-60k with some buffer, given that I support my family financially). This may take considerably longer for you if you're not in America.

Is the prospect of not retiring in your 60s a possibility for you?

I am optimizing for financial security much sooner than 60. While I have an IRA account, it's not something I focus on or think about (or even actively invest into outside of when I have a tech job). I have a very high risk tolerance though, so take that with a grain of salt.

The question I always ask myself in these situations is: what am I optimizing for? Based on what you've shared, it sounds like you'd like to optimize for starting a family in the next 2 years. If that is true, you probably already know the answer to the question in your title.

One other thing: taking a break is not the same as giving up. I've tried and failed at multiple startups, taking jobs in between to rebuild my savings. There is always opportunity cost and risk involved in all that we do, you just have to learn to be comfortable with whatever decision you make.

Ah yes, Digg! Definitely spent a lot of time on there hunting for tech news.

What were the other sites HN users would hang out at back then? Slashdot? Google groups and listservs? Was HN really the first true "community" for this audience?

This must be an art project, right? Legitimately still perplexed.

This is incredible, nice work!

I quit my full time job as a Software Engineer in 2019 without a solid plan. I had some money saved up and knew I wanted to work on a startup, and had a laundry list of ideas I wanted to explore. But none were built or had any traction.

I've tried working on side projects and startups while fully employed in the past and never made any serious progress. It was always too easy for things to drag on for months. For my personality type, I needed the pressure and continuous blocks of focus time to make any meaningful progress.

During 2020 I went through a few ideas and eventually landed on one that has since found some traction. I found a cofounder, went through YC and am now finding our place in a competitive market.

All-in-all, it was a great decision, and one I would do again in a heartbeat.

Hi Ryan. I've helped a few friends break into tech now and while I'm far from an expert, I do have opinions on how to approach it. If you're interested, drop me a line at my email (username at gmail) and we can chat sometime. It may or may not be new info for you but happy to pass along any insights I may have. Cheers.

I wrote this pre-pandemic, back in January of 2020. I was able to snag a bike at a used bike sale a few weeks after writing it. Congrats on your new bikes!

I really was clueless at the time and figured it would take at least $400-500 to get a decent starter bike. Thankfully I wound up coming across a used bicycle sale in Brooklyn shortly after and picked up an old Giant for $150. Have probably done a couple of thousand miles on it since!

I wrote a blog post complaining about this early last year: http://mdolon.com/essays/amazon-has-ruined-search-and-google...

The Amazon affiliate program is definitely contributing to this problem.

This is such a cool idea, congrats on the launch! As a Bangladeshi immigrant with much of my extended family overseas, I think we (mostly my parents) could find value in a service like this. Good luck!

That was me! I came across the Reddit post yesterday too and figured it would make for a fun weekend project. I'm not sure when I'll get the opportunity to build it though so if you're interested in the domain, shoot me an email.

Seconded, would love to send this to a friend to try out.