[sdiy] Re: making 2 or 3 dollars an hour on synth building?

[Paul Schreiber]

>> 2. how does anyone make a real living doing it?
>
> I don't think anyone does, actually. Remember Paul Schreiber, who is 
> probably the most successful "SDIY gone semipro" person on this list,  has 
> a full-time "day job." I don't know about Cynthia, John Blacet,  etc., but 
> I'm guessing they probably have day jobs too. I recall Paul  saying his 
> profit one year was something like $17,000. Or maybe that  was his loss 
> that he was writing off on his taxes. I can't remember.  Anyway, either 
> way, that ain't a living wage.

a) $17,000 is the after-tax profit I made last year. And, about 40% of that 
was from CEM/SSM IC sales. I suspect this year will be closer to $10,000.

b) Cynthia and John Blacet do this "full time" as does Peter at Plan B. 
Roger at .com has another company (Arrick Robotics) that provides most per 
cent revenue. Bruce at Modcan is mystery :) This is a hobby for me, although 
as hobbies go it's pretty elaborate.

c) there was a 14 month period in 2003-2004 where I was laid off from Maxim 
Semiconductor, and MOTM was my only source of income for my family (wife was 
in nursing school, 2 teenage kids, cat and dog). At the end of the 14 month 
period, I had *lost* $54,000. If that is any indication of me going 'full 
time' (snicker).

d) the best years for MOTM (by far) were 1999 and 2000 when I had much less 
competition (cough) and the.com boom (not that one, the other one) was going 
full tilt. I think I hit over $200K in *sales* both years. Again, lots of 
that (over 25%) were the CEM IC sales.

Paul S.
/wrote $3,200 of checks today for parts bills....sigh........