Ask HN: Personal finance blog as monetizable pet project?

2 points by deanmoriarty ↗ HN
I am a FAANG tech worker bee (experience as software engineer, tech lead and engineering manager) who is growing significantly tired of the corporate rat race, and the fact that I have really no control over pretty much anything I do all day at work, I am at the whims of corporate politics that make every effort I spend objectively pointless, if it wasn't for the fact that it pays my salary. As such, I am looking to start some sort of pet project to satisfy my craving for ownership.

I think over the years I gained a unique perspective when it comes to personal finance, financial independence and passive investments, working in tech, tech compensations, startups and equity, and similar topics (a few snippets of this "wisdom" are available in my other comment down below). I routinely get calls from friends/acquaintances/ex coworkers asking for advice regarding one of these topics.

I am trying to understand if it would be worth starting a blog that covers these subjects. The goal would be to eventually monetize this in some way (ads, affiliate, consultations, …) just so that I could consider it worth my time.

Do you think this could be a viable strategy, or am I embarking on a sad journey that after thousands of hours spent creating content would leave me with nothing valuable to show for? A brutally honest answer would be highly appreciated, since I haven't started yet.

Thanks

2 comments

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References from above (they didn't fit in the original comment)

Personal finance

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31968739

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27110625

Financial independence and investments

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31477963

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30387395

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28791747

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27158110

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26698271

Working in tech

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30235803

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29941417

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29928141

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22095891

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19444016

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30913548

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30303106

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19628583

Tech compensations

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29712724

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27524302

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27524348

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27278017

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25275763

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21643916

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16812648

Startups and equity

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30238169

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28798566

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26101853

Brutally honest answer? You won't know until you try.

If you are looking for guaranteed returns and a definite ROI then stick with your 9-5.

Furthermore, your immediate way of thinking about monetizing shows that you have been corrupted by your FAANG experience.

If the only reason you want to launch a pet project is to make money then stop before you start.