

Working While You're Asleep - bennesvig
http://www.cstthegate.com/davetrott/2013/03/working-while-youre-asleep/

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crntaylor
This is the distinction between scalable and non-scalable. I first read of it
in one of Nassim Taleb's books (where he advises people to pick a non-scalable
career, since the outcomes are more certain and the risks lower) but I'm sure
it's been written about many other times. Ben Casnocha talks about it a bit
[0].

Startups aim to be scalable. But you should note that you don't have to _start
out_ scalable. Doing so might be seen as a premature optimization. You could
hand-service your first dozen customers, and worry about scaling only when you
start counting your customers in hundreds rather than tens.

[0] [http://casnocha.com/2009/03/scalable-vs-non-scalable-
careers...](http://casnocha.com/2009/03/scalable-vs-non-scalable-careers.html)

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graeme
At low levels, it's possible to enter scaleable businesses with relatively low
risk.

I started writing e-books for an affiliate. Took ~2 weeks to make the first
couple books. Early sales justified continuing. Then mid-run sales justified
continuing on a longer term scale.

I ran out of books to write, so I didn't scale that high - but I produced some
recurring revenue with very little risk. At each point I knew my efforts would
pay off at a certain level.

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scrumper
Is it an attempt to imbue each line with a sense of profundity?

Or is it a simple matter of confusing sentences for paragraphs?

Maybe it's just a broken Enter key.

I'm not sure.

All I know is that the sound advice contained with this article ends up coming
across like one of those homely Facebook chain stories about a plucky underdog
overcoming adversity through character.

~~~
gosu
I'm surprised that you powered through it.

I wouldn't trust anything from a person who expresses themselves via malformed
haiku.

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matterhorn
This was a big fad with air traffic controllers a few years ago.

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eru
Do you have any more details?

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dhstylez
Reference to air traffic controllers falling asleep at work.
[http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011/04/Another-
air...](http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011/04/Another-air-traffic-
controller-falls-asleep/45843484/1)

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mattmaroon
This would be more aptly titled "Make Money While You're Asleep" rather than
"Working".

~~~
to3m
That would be too many words without a paragraph break, I think.

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nodata
The book cover on the right appears to show a man being hanged.

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bennesvig
It's a man standing in a corner.

~~~
nodata
The line indicating the corner leads to his neck like a noose.

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EarthLaunch
Service versus product.

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Scriptor
How so? A haircut is a service as is teaching others how to cut hair. The only
products mentioned were the hair products he created, but that only came
later.

~~~
ryusage
That's actually a really interesting point. In software, selling as a product
usually means the customer pays once and never buys that product again.
Selling as a service means something recurring like a subscription.

I think it's easy for software people to forget those aren't the only models.

