

Ask HN: How to turn $1,000 into $10,000 in a relatively short period of time? - jmonegro

I want to hear your ideas. Short as in less than 6 months, which I think is appropriate.
======
0x47
Buy a lawn mower and an old truck for under a grand. Go around your
neighborhood and offer to mow lawns for $50 1 time per month or more. Stop
once you have 33 customers. Mow lawns everyday for 6 months.

50x33=1650x6=9,900. minimum. Hire help at $25 a lawn to scale.

~~~
squidbot
Don't forget to factor in the cost of fuel for the truck and the lawn mower,
as well as maintenance and any government fees. Otherwise, I like your plan.

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mcherm
Gambling. Amounts of this magnitude can be easily obtained in widely available
gambling houses, and it is 100% legal.

Of course, the downside is that the method is note completely reliable. To
maximize your odds of success avoid games of skill or games with numerous
independent probabilities. For instance, stopping by a Las Vegas casino and
putting down all $1000 on 3 numbers on a roulette wheel would pay out 11:1
(thus achieving your objective with $1000 left over) and has a 8.82% chance of
success.

Of course, it has a 91.2% chance of FAILURE... but I am guessing nearly all
other options would be worse.

~~~
stiggz
Go to the casino, bet it all on black (50/50 for $2000), then bet it all on
red (25% for $4000), then bet on 1st 3rd 1-12 (8.33%), you'll end up with
$2000 to play sic-bo with. Good luck!

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aymeric
Buy cocaine and sell it to kids at the college's gates.

~~~
garply
I almost down-voted this because it's illegal and I thought it was a sarcastic
remark, but then I thought about it some more and, aside from working at a job
or doing consulting, it sounds like one of the few realistic ways to do what
you want to do. The downside risk is obviously pretty huge though - I wouldn't
recommend it.

~~~
finnomenon
how does one downvote?

~~~
Concours
Only adults can downvote!

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schn
Use the first $1000 to live while you find a decent job, then work for 6
months.

~~~
jmonegro
_on the side_ , I will add.

~~~
schn
Then you'll need something nice and risky if you want that kind of ROI.

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ljf
If there was a magical way of doing this don't you think everyone would???

Plus even if you did have a great idea for a start up (which I am guessing you
don't) most fail.

Anyway, what are your skills? We can't give you much advice without that info
- otherwise yes, the illegal is the only way to go... but seriously, what can
you do? What could you normally earn in the open market? What are your costs?
Do you want to have earnt 10k, or have 10k cash in hand? Can you live on next
to nothing? Or will you need to earn 20 or 30k in that time?

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jeffepp
Put the money into a brokerage account (I would do optionshouse.com) and
purchase Call options for a biotech company with impending FDA approval.

THIS IS WHAT I WOULD DO:

Consider ARNA Jan 11 calls (4 strike). Currently at ~1.55 The stock will need
to be around 15-16 for you to earn 10x.

The FDA decision should be around October 22, 2010

If they are denied you lose all. If they are approved, you have a chance to be
pretty close to 10 bagger

 __Everyone DO YOUR DD before investing __

~~~
mistermann
> If they are denied you lose all.

I can vouch for this from a personal (similar) experience:
[http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SSS.V&t=3m](http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=SSS.V&t=3m)

You don't even need FDA rejection to lose your shirt, in this case it was an
unprecedented (compared to prior trials) improvement of patients in the
placebo control group.

Sometimes in investing it seems that anything that can go wrong, will go
wrong.

~~~
jeffepp
This is certainly true. There are many, many risks. Without getting into too
much detail:

\- delay (past Jan 11 expiration) \- denial \- partial approval

All possible outcomes that would wipe out the $1,000.

I would still consider this option superior to gambling or any illegal
activities -- but that is a personal choice.

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damoncali
Two dumb, easy ways:

1\. Go to Vegas, make some big bets. You'll probably lose it all, but you
might not.

2\. Lever up and bet on stock options. You'll probably lose it all, but you
might not.

And one smart way:

3\. Go find a client who needs a website built. Charge him $9000 to do it, and
finish within 6 months.

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revorad
Bet big on the world cup - <http://smarkets.com/sport/football/world-cup-2010>

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nopassrecover
Could try finding consult/contract work.

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meterplech
why do random versions of how to turn $x into $y in z time seem to be the most
common Ask HN of late?

~~~
Psyonic
Because people want something for nothing. It's annoying though. If there was
an easy and reliable way to get 10,000 from 1,000, we'd do it over and over
and all be millionaires.

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MisterWebz
Drug dealing.

