[sdiy] Discrete OTA

Wed Apr 2 20:17:28 CEST 2014

Thanks for all the input guys! I have a lot to think about. I will keep you posted on how this further develops... 

@Olivier: you're right about the stress..... though "healthy" levels with enough recovery time in between aren't so bad. In the uni I was in a special situation with a supervisor completely blocking all my roads to achieving a good end results, while having personal conflicts on a weekly basis. I don't believe synth designing is going to be that stressful :).

Best,

Rutger

On 2 apr 2014, at 19:03, Olivier Gillet wrote:

>> I disagree with your points. I believe being able to do what you love does
>> not necessarily require doing it as a job.
> 
> There are reasons why it would be worth doing it as a job. You might
> want to spend more time on it. You might need to invest on equipment,
> software or custom parts that are necessary to achieve your vision.
> You might realize that you can make your project better by using a
> more expensive process, and then try to absorb this cost by making 5,
> 10, 100 copies of it. Or, as it was the case for me, you might find
> out that there is a public immediately wanting to use/build/play what
> you have designed - and this could be an incentive for you to try to
> release your project.
> 
> People have different preferences regarding this: once you have a
> synth voice working on a veroboard, are you happy with the result and
> do you want to move to something else? Or do you feel the compulsive
> need to build a user interface for it, an enclosure, plod through a
> complete MIDI implementation, presets, editors, documentation? Do you
> like building hacks, projects, or products? Do you build stuff just to
> prove that you can make it work, or to use it... for yourself, you and
> your friends, or the musicians you admire? Depending on where you are
> on this spectrum, it'll be a good or a bad thing to turn your passion
> for synths into a job.
> 
> It's way easier to have another source of income while you get started
> and still don't know if there's a market for what you are doing. But
> it would be quite sad to lock yourself into believing that turning
> what you do into a business is a silly idea. Don't artificially set a
> limit to the amount of success or impact your designs could have.
> 
>> I also disagree that there is little chance element to this business. Many
>> industry giants from the 70s and 80s I talk to speak about their past with
>> regret. Recently I've read that Ian Fritz wanted to quit. Many others are
>> struggling. I would say the fact you can say you are happy with your
>> business means you have been lucky, and your statement is loaded with
>> survivor bias. In specific, that you are doing well does not mean most
>> people will do well, or even some, or that the OP will do well.
> 
> The chance factor is still less important than in very crowded markets
> with low barrier to entry like apps or plugins.
> 
> The synth & module markets are not "winner take all" markets. The
> choice to use such or such brand of instrument is not just a matter of
> price or performance - there are aesthetics and image aspects ("I want
> to be seen playing this brand"). Music is diverse and constantly
> changing. There are so many niches waiting to be filled...
> 
>> I think this needs to be coupled with the fact that he is running away from
>> stress. A new synth business means running into even more stress.
> 
> Any intellectually challenging job with responsibilities will cause stress.
> 
> Olivier
> 
> On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 3:00 PM, cheater00 . <cheater00 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi Oliver,
>> 
>> I disagree with your points. I believe being able to do what you love does
>> not necessarily require doing it as a job. To use your analogy you can have
>> a fruitful relationship with someone without moving together, getting
>> married, or starting a family. However here your analogy breaks down because
>> in a relationship those are optional whereas at work you HAVE to make money
>> or you die in a ditch.
>> 
>> I also disagree that there is little chance element to this business. Many
>> industry giants from the 70s and 80s I talk to speak about their past with
>> regret. Recently I've read that Ian Fritz wanted to quit. Many others are
>> struggling. I would say the fact you can say you are happy with your
>> business means you have been lucky, and your statement is loaded with
>> survivor bias. In specific, that you are doing well does not mean most
>> people will do well, or even some, or that the OP will do well.
>> 
>> I think this needs to be coupled with the fact that he is running away from
>> stress. A new synth business means running into even more stress.
>> 
>> D.
>> 
>> On 2 Apr 2014 14:37, "Olivier Gillet" <ol.gillet at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> If you get into making synths for a living you'll start hating it.
>>> 
>>> As someone who has been making synths & kits for a living for a few
>>> years, I can say that this is not true.
>>> 
>>> There are things that I am much less enthusiastic about as the
>>> business grew - mostly, providing step by step assistance to DIY
>>> builders who became less and less experienced as the user base grew ;
>>> and designing in the "DIY kit" format - but I am still super excited
>>> about it. I actually started new hobbies because I needed a break from
>>> my "work" activities, but it doesn't mean that I am getting tired of
>>> synths.
>>> 
>>> The negative aspects cheater00 highlighted are not specific to the
>>> synth business - you'll experience them (or not) whatever business
>>> you'll run. This is a warning against entrepreneurship and doing the
>>> things you love in life - this has nothing to do with synths. The
>>> overall argument actually sounds quite silly to me, it's like the
>>> people saying "don't marry this girl you love, don't let the hardships
>>> of marital life ruin this wonderful love". Sometimes you just have to
>>> make shit happen.
>>> 
>>> There are a couple of things peculiar to the synth business, though:
>>> * It doesn't have the growth potential of a software startup
>>> (http://www.paulgraham.com/growth.html). This won't make you a
>>> Zuckerberg. On the plus side, the chance factor is much less important
>>> than if you were trying to launch an iPhone app (or if you were
>>> entering any crowded mass-market); and you won't have to scratch your
>>> head about a business model.
>>> * It is very unlikely you'll be able to do that as an employee. The
>>> job market is just a handful of open positions a year. You'll have to
>>> design under your name, or be visible enough to do consulting for
>>> bigger companies - entrepreneurship is the way to go. This is not for
>>> everyone - but an academic background surely helps (setting your own
>>> goals, managing your time & budget, steering projects over 2-3 year
>>> long cycles, accepting setbacks that can last for quarters or
>>> semesters, sometimes being accountable to the people whose money
>>> you're "wasting"...).
>>> * It will not pay as much as a job in which the same skills (embedded
>>> systems, electronics design, signal processing...) would be put to use
>>> for other industrial and commercial applications. The reward will be
>>> in the happiness you get from doing your job and/or from not doing
>>> another job in which your skills would be put to uses incompatible
>>> with your values.
>>> 
>>> Regarding switching to this (or to any other) career:
>>> http://sivers.org/tarzan
>>> 
>>> Best,
>>> Olivier
>>> 
>>> On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 11:30 AM, cheater00 . <cheater00 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> If you get into making synths for a living you'll start hating it.
>>>> It's simple as that. Your fear of being copied/ripped off is a fairly
>>>> strong sign of things to come if you go down this route for any sort
>>>> of financial support, even if not primary. Simply don't do it for
>>>> money and all will be well. You will have fun and you will be able to
>>>> do when you want, at the pace you want. If you start depending on it
>>>> for money, very negative aspects come into play: anxiety, fear,
>>>> disappointment, hatred, envy, ...
>>>> 
>>>> Do you really want to turn something you love doing into something you
>>>> will ultimately hate? It will only make you a worse person. There
>>>> isn't a lot of money to be made in synthesizers. Find a mass market to
>>>> make money on. Nothing related to making music is a mass market.
>>>> 
>>>> D.
>>>> 
>>>> On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 10:51 AM, Neil Johnson <neil.johnson71 at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>> Roman Sowa wrote:
>>>>>> no way of protecting anything. Neil has already spelled out the
>>>>>> options.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Some more thoughts from Paul S on MW:
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=1192107&highlight=#1192107
>>>>> 
>>>>> http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=662394&highlight=#662394
>>>>> 
>>>>> Neil
>>>>> --
>>>>> http://www.njohnson.co.uk
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