I bet this uses their undocumented API that allows uploads of media. If you use a traffic sniffer / HTTP Debugger like Charles, and use the Instagram app on your mobile device, you'll see that the native app is also using it's own API to upload media.
> The enormous popularity of the self-destructing-message app Snapchat has helped its developer, Snap Inc., grow to more than 1,500 employees.
Ok, even at a conservative average salary of $70,000 / employee, it works out to $ 105 Million in salary / pay alone (per year), for these 1,500. That's not counting cost of office space, travel, marketing expenses etc.
So, my question. What is SnapChat's business model? How do they make money???
No, the consulting is not a 'day job'. Remember, I work 100% from home, in fact my clients are in other states. Currently the one client I cut it back to is in New York. I may not talk to the clients for weeks at a time. Generally we only communicate via email, and very rarely no one is waiting for an immediate response. I might work from midnight to 7 am and then not work for 2 days (and only because that's when I felt like working). Last year was an anomaly, I decided that renting a condo in Tahoe was a waste of money, so I needed money for a down payment and costs associated with buying a house. When I was working full time on my game, I didn't make any money and therefore it really killed my eligibility for a home loan. So last year I ramped up the consulting to not only make a 30% down payment, but to build up $150k (after tax in the bank) for when I go back into full development mode again. Since I have a good, flexible client right now, if things keep going I'll pay off the house end of this year, so if it drags out a little longer it seems like a good trade off. With a paid off house I can live on $1500 a month in Wyoming. With money in the bank, and what I learned last attempt, I'll be able to launch the product and never have to worry about money.
I understand the point though, most consultants are really contractors that are embarrassed to admit it. They have to show up at the client site every day and put in face time. That's not what I do.
Why do all these Entrepreneurial articles and stories promote quitting and going 'All in'.
If you develop the discipline and commitment and have the 'applied faith' that your product or startup idea will succeed (based on the parameters you set for success) then you should be able to do it nights and weekends.
Even Matt Mullenweg, WordPress co-founder didn't straight up 'Quit' and work on wordpress full time. He was still working at CNet to pay the bills, and bootstrapped Wordpress with 10,000 $ that he saved from his day job and worked on it nights and weekends.
"I quit my day job and started my own company and make a good living" stories are very very few. The media only focussed on these success stories and not the other 99% that fail and have to go back to a day job, with a mountain of debt.
Probably because most people are incapable of documenting that their work occurred off-hours and without company resources. And even if they are, their employer can still tie them up in litigation if the company ever takes off.
Working contract jobs to support your startup aspirations can make sense, but working as an FTE is pretty risky.
Right. And the equal (if not more) amount of hours spent chasing leads, marketing (blogs, advertizing etc) accounting, to get the steady stream of work.
If you read their individual stories, you will find that 8 or 9 out of 10 started as a side-project.
Also not all are 200K. But like OP says, if you have a $140K job and not having to work your ass off like the $200K jobs expect you to, then you can make the extra $60K in a well thought out and executed side-project.
