
Congratulations Patrick - JacobAldridge
If previous blog posts and memory serve me, today is a milestone day for patio11 (aka Patrick McKenzie) - his last day as a Japanese salaryman before stepping full time into his 'MicroISV on a Shoestring'.<p>There are others in the HN community that have been there before, or built much larger businesses, or taken the plunge without first having built a successful side project. But since patio11 is a valuable member on this site, and a contributor I greatly admire, I felt it was worth noting and creating a space for others who might also want to pass on their best wishes.<p>So Congrats Patrick. I wish you every success. If the adage 'Give and ye shall Receive' were ever to hold true, then you will be the recipient of much happiness.<p>(And if you don't know patio11, I recommend his blog http://www.kalzumeus.com/)
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jacquesm
Of all the start-ups on HN, yours is the one that I easily admire the most. No
funding, no bullshit, just endless iteration on perfecting a simple thing and
minting that.

It's the epitome of entrepreneurship, far more so than some 'feature' that
gets funded and a quick exit.

If you ever decide to do this on a larger scale I don't doubt that you'll be
very successful, it's the attitude and the time put in that matter, not so
much the product.

It's one of the very few business I've seen where luck has been completely (or
at least, almost completely) eradicated and the whole thing is turned in to a
science.

The next big question is: Can you scale it ?

I think you can, please keep us informed of your new adventures!

~~~
tpz
re: "The next big question is: Can you scale it ?"

I would like to suggest a potentially more interesting question (or set of
questions) :

_Should_ he scale it? If so, why? Why would so many HNers assume the next step
to be scaling it? Might he not instead tend to his business like a garden, to
ensure that it continues to be healthy, and use his remaining time to enjoy
semi-retirement?

I think a lot of HNers could do with considering the above kinds of questions
a bit more often. Why are you _really_ doing your start-ups? What are you
_really_ looking to get out of them? Is it just to hear the 'ding!' of the
cash register more frequently? I hope you're looking for more/different than
that.

~~~
jacquesm
Because having just one stream of income, no matter how reliable it seems is a
huge risk. Before you know it you can be back in the treadmill again.

~~~
tpz
I may have accidentally implied the semi-retirement angle more strongly than
my point regarding tending to the first business as if a garden instead of
trying to scale it, which was more what I wanted to focus on. Apologies if
that wasn't as clear as it could be.

Perhaps I should also have mentioned that he is diversifying, where
diversifying is certainly distinct from scaling the first business up.

As far as his first business goes, I still think it is worthwhile questioning
the common automatic assumption that the next goal should be to scale it.

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patio11
You are all incredibly kind. I would say more, but today is my last day and
after I get to work there are four issues in Trac with my name on them.

~~~
patio11
Done! In a mere twelve hours. I can feel myself already getting soft.

~~~
stakent
Now is The Moment for you.

Congrats.

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AndrewWarner
This means his Mixergy interview should be coming up soon too. We agreed to
wait till after the big change.

~~~
chaosprophet
Now that is something I'm greatly looking forward to.

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davidw
What I'm curious about: patio11 seems to have developed some formidable
experience in the non-bullshit aspects of "SEO" (running actual A/B tests and
iterating as a result). The odds are good that that's actually worth more, on
a consulting basis, than selling bingo cards. Maybe he'll add some products?
Best of luck in any case!

~~~
die_sekte
I think he wrote that he has amassed a big amount of experience, enough to
write a book, but that he would rather spend his time writing actual software.

~~~
theBobMcCormick
I wish he would write a book. I'd buy it in an instant!

~~~
rmc
You can read his blog, or see all the comments he makes on HN. That's what
I've been doing, and it's quite insightful

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rstocker99
I imagine I'm like a lot of HN readers that mostly lurk but have quietly
gotten a lot of value out of Patrick's comments and blog posts. In fact just
last week I ended up implemented his omnibox idea and automating the
cancelation process for our site because of these two posts:
[http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-
busin...](http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/03/20/running-a-software-business-
on-5-hours-a-week/) [http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/02/09/dashboard-design-for-
met...](http://www.kalzumeus.com/2010/02/09/dashboard-design-for-metrics-
savvy-software-companies/)

Both ideas have saved a lot of time and effort already and I'm kicking myself
for not doing them sooner. I expect to save more time and make more money by
following up on a few of his other posts that I have I bookmarked.

So a huge thank-you for all of the information that you've shared. It's
extremely valuable and very much appreciated. Congratulations on going
fulltime. I'll be quietly cheering you on.

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edw519
In this article:

[http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/01/what-
mak...](http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/01/what-makes-a-
great-teacher/7841/)

I remember reading this about a teacher using Patrick's product in his class:

 _Next, Mr. Taylor announces it’s time for Multiplication Bingo. As Mr. Taylor
reads off a problem ("20 divided by 5"), the kids scour their boards, chips in
hand, looking for 4's. One girl is literally shaking with excitement. Another
has her hands clasped in a prayer position. I find myself wanting to play. You
know you're in a good classroom if you have to stop yourself from raising your
hand._

I have written tons of code for many users, but I don't think I've ever had a
user "shaking with excitement" to use my software. That is my new goal. Thank
you, Patrick. Keep 'em shaking!

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solutionyogi
Congratulations to Patrick! I sincerely wish him all the luck in his new
endeavor. I have been following Patrick's progress from beginning when he
started posting at Business of Software forums. I always thought that 'Bingo
Cards' is a stupid product to work on. But hey, not only he proved me
wrong(and I am happy to be proved wrong), he is able to quit his day job by
selling this product. He is a prolific writer and is always offering valuable
advice. [I have bookmarked his comments page which I check daily.
<http://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=patio11> ]

~~~
spitfire
That's funny. The first time I heard of bingo card creators I thought it was a
great idea. That and other niche hobbies like knitting, aviation, models, etc
have huge untapped potential.

and they're probably much simpler* to succeed in than yet another social
widget. They also appeal to my "God-those-narcicistic-valley-kids"
personality.

* Simple, but not easy.

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shafqat
Patrick - congrats. You represent all that is good about this community!

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ngsayjoe
First of all congrats Patrick. It's amazing to know you since your days at
BoS. Unbelievable that within these few years, you have achieve tremendously
not only with your BCC, but also your stardom in our web entrepreneur
community. You're now a moderator @ Seobook and BoS, and a big celebrity here
at Hackernews. All due to your unrelenting giving to the community by
contributing useful posts!

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phiberoptik
The guy picked out and dominated a specific niche most people never would have
touched - on 5 hours a week.

Even if he gets REALLY crazy and doubles his hours each week, I can only
imagine the success that is waiting for him.

Congrats on the move, I tip my hat to a true professional and successful
warrior of the game.

K

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paraschopra
Congratulations Patrick. Excited to see what your next venture turns out to
be.

For those who aren't aware, Patrick is incredibly helpful off-HN also. As in,
if you email him, he always gets back to you, no matter how busy he is.

Thanks for being so awesome :)

~~~
patio11
_As in, if you email him, he always gets back to you, no matter how busy he
is._

Please note that this is my aspiration but not my SLA. If you want an SLA, I'm
happy to entertain offers for consulting engagements, or in the alternative
you can pretend you're preparing for class tomorrow and can't download the
Internet to your printer.

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gridspy
Congratulations Patrick. I hope you enjoy your new-found freedom. Remember not
to work _too_ hard ;)

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kilian
Congratulations, remember full time is just 40 hours (think of all the free
time!) and Go Kick Ass! :)

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gommm
Congrats Patrick... I've followed your posts since the Business of Software
days and you've been an inspiration to me.

I haven't had your courage though, I quit my job in Japan before working on my
own projects... Too many hours of overtime killed me afterwards for side
projects...

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jbellis
Damn, I didn't realize how prolific his writing was. Kudos! And, anyone have a
best-of list?

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megamark16
Good luck Patrick, you're an inspiration to the rest of us bootstrappers
trying to serve two masters (our day jobs and our startups). I've learned a
ton from you and look forward to learning even more as you jump in full time!

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johnyzee
Good luck, been following you since Business of Software and the launch of
uISV on a Shoestring. I have always been curious about what you could do if
you put your dedication and talent to work in a larger market.

By the way, I've made the same jump a couple of times, although only for a
couple of months each time to get something off the ground. My biggest problem
has always been lack of social and professional stimulation from the workplace
once you go solo. If you got any pointers on how to deal with that I am all
ears.

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Concours
Congrats Patrick, well done and keep up the good work. You are a source of
inspirtion for many here (including myself).

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steveplace
Considering it's 730 JST at the time of this writing, he's probably sleeping
in as he's no longer a Japanese salaryman.

Congratulations!

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ErrantX
Seconded; fingers crossed the new projects will mean even more great
posts/insights for us to drool over :)

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rokhayakebe
This is funny. I now just wanted to find something interesting on HN. I
decided to check Patrick's comment feed. Here I am finding something
interesting about him. Congratulations, man.

Cheers

Edit: I actually have it on my list to read every single post he has written.

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fookyong
congrats Patrick! - will hopefully meet you at the Tokyo HN meetup next week.

~~~
teejae
Where is the Tokyo HN meetup going to be?

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glen
Congrats! Thanks for your valuable posts. Indeed, remember to take care of
yourself now that you can work anytime you want -- tho your last job sounds
like it was quite demanding.

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Osiris
Good luck. I look forward to reading more of your insights into conversion
optimization. That's certainly one area where I lack knowledge and experience.

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brianmckenzie
Way to go, Patrick! Not just because you have the same last name as me, but
also because I love reading your posts here and your blog. Best of luck!

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enjoyaol
Good luck Patrick, I really appreciate your blog and your explanations you
share on it.. Hope everything goes smooth & well for you new life :)

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gcheong
Omedetou gozaimasu!

~~~
ncarlson
日本語を喋れるんだ！

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brianobush
頑張って。

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w1ntermute
Are you staying in Japan, or moving back home? If you're staying, how did you
pull that off (visa-wise) without a "regular" job?

~~~
fookyong
there are two possibilities:

1) it's possible to self-sponsor as long as you can show a certain amount of
income from part time work or, in Patrick's case, internet earnings.

2) your visa is not tied to your employer. you can get a 3 year visa, quit
your job, then continue to work freelance for 3 years as long as you do all
your tax etc correctly. then hopefully by the time you have to renew your visa
you'll have a corporate entity set up with enough paid-in capital to sponsor
your visa for you. or you do (1).

~~~
someone_else
How does self-sponsoring work? Are there any other requirements besides having
enough income from _somewhere_? Can anyone do it?

~~~
khafra
Most countries are more than happy to offer indefinite residency to people who
can prove they're independently wealthy.

~~~
someone_else
Yeah sounds good but is this reality or just your own personal guesstimate?

Also, what does it mean to be independently wealthy?

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neiled
Congratulations, I've been quite excited about this, show's how much people
value you and your posts. Enjoy!

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teejae
Congrats Patrick. Good to get out of a Japanese company :). Am in Tokyo
myself, and would love to meet you!

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abstractbill
Awesome, good luck Patrick - can't wait to see how things work out for you.

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vishaldpatel
Here here!

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evancureton
hey how are you doing

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hockeybias
beST OF LUCK!

