Yes! I'll make sure subscribers with subscription until the final issue stay active at least for few more months. Drop me an email cheng.soon at hackermonthly dot com and I'll reactivate your account to download the back issues.
As other comments have pointed out, not having the subscribers list is my non-negotiable terms if someone wants to take over. In fact, after I refunded everyone, I'll reset my server and remove all my DB backups so I won't even have a copy of it.
I know it doesn't make business sense for someone to buy a business without any customers. That's why I never explore the option of selling it.
I'm thinking of "open sourcing" Hacker Monthly. The process of making it, the InDesign template I use (and optimized throughout the years), the resources etc. That way, anyone can start their own "Best of HN" magazine or really, any "Best of" magazine.
This is one of the reasons I didn't put Hacker Monthly up for sale when I've decided to shut it down.
Our subscribers (a little over 10k) trusted us enough to provide us their contact information (and mailing address for print delivery). Turning them over to 3rd party (even after due diligence) just didn't seem right.
This is one of the reasons I didn't put Hacker Monthly up for sale when I've decided to shut it down.
Our subscribers (a little over 10k) trusted us enough to provide us their contact information (and mailing address for print delivery). Turning them over to 3rd party (even after due diligence) just didn't seem right.
I'm not sure there's a specific reason. 5 years is a long time (for internet years). I guess I just wanted to shut it down before it wither and die. I also wanted to explore other options (e.g work on new, different things).
Thanks. Certainly more than I expected. And I definitely wouldn't expect people to subscribe to a service that's shutting down soon. (also didn't expect this to get on front page)
I won't be selling the site. I'll probably leave the site up (for as long as I can). There just won't be any new issue. People can still go to the site and buy digital/print copies.
Well, HM readership has been increasing from month to month in the past few years. But I agree with you on the content shared on HackerNews. There are still a lot of top notch articles shared here, but the focus (votes by the community, in general) seemed to shift news-centric article, from more educational articles, which is the bread and butter of HM.
I know Australia is an expensive country (and moving is out of the picture), But if you're able to cut down your spending by 50%, you'll be able to save enough money to quit your job soon. Apart from that, spend some time doing steady consulting to start building an alternate income stream. Once your consulting income can support your entire family, quiting is a no-brainer :)
This is great, Jacques! If I'm within your 1000KM radius, I would send an offer in a heartbeat. Though I don't think there's any project I have that would interest you, but would be really awesome to learn house building.