I'm doing solo dev, building and shipping several products, trying markets etc. I have some passive income here and there, but looking to up it a bit. I'll also visit SF for a while late June, so I can meet up to do in-person vibe check, discuss stuff and build my network
just wondering how are you guys earning on the side, I'm willing to go on the lower end of pay as I'm looking for fully remote async contract (b2b), low-intensity work (or at least not full 40h weeks). have 13y of exp as a generalist swe, started as a gamedev then expanded into devops, ai/ml, trading
HN, but where you are contacted (for instance, monthly Seeking Freelancer post), not the other way around. Pretty much every source where the kind of jobs you're talking about are posted are a race to the bottom.
I feel this. The market for remote gigs can feel like a race to the bottom if you're just looking on standard platforms.
My experience from running a subscription-based design agency taught me one thing: the best, highest-paying "gigs" rarely come from applying. They come from "showing your work."
Instead of spending time searching for low-intensity work, maybe spend that time writing one high-quality article about a complex problem you solved in A/ML, or building a tiny open-source tool for a DevOps pain point you have.
When you put value out into the world first, the right kind of "gigs" (which are really partnerships) tend to find you. It's a slower but much more rewarding path. Good luck with the search and your time in SF!
Why don’t you have an email address in your profile?
You are exactly the kind of person I would be interested in collaborating with / partnering / mentoring / hiring.
Charles@turnsys.com
Any real conversation won’t happen in public :)
Good advice in this thread. Show your work.
I doubt there is a singular answer other than to hussle. Try Upwork; Reddit; who's hiring; jobs sites with part time roles or "fractional" as they call it; exemployers and excolleagues; blogging; linked in; etc.
I guess I could've phrased it better: by lower end of pay I mean a smaller hourly rate compared to my previous, more intense jobs, not that I want to compete with people writing bad code
Existing clients.
There is no easy button for good part time work.
Because why wouldn’t a business prefer someone who does what they need as a primary commitment?
From your client’s perspective, your schedule is their risk. So trust matters and a more committed contractor looks lower risk than a “hobbyist” who might abandon contracting for regular employment.
If you want clients you need extreme luck or the hard work of sales. Good luck.
bali
What do you think of as “the lower end of pay”?
Fully remote, fully async, low intensity work is a global market, right? I’d be careful about taking the lower end of global pay.