One of the discussions I would really like to hear would be opinions on the future of remote working. How different companies are moving towards it and what are possible opportunities for indian developers.

Thank you everyone for joining today’s zoom call 🙌 Here are the things we discussed on " How do you kick off and plan a side project/indie product ? " 1. How do you record ideas ? 2. How do you choose which idea to ship ? 3. How do you scope the product ? 4. How do you take time out to build products you have a day job/client work occupying your day? 5. How do you go about showing it to the world ? Will share the recording when it’s ready. Feel free to join #makers channel to ask more questions or post updates 🚧

Btw, for anyone who was curious about the graphics on TAAI, they’re free and open source. You can see them here: https://undraw.co/

Does anyone has a contact at Postman? or has idea regarding it's work? I have an offer from them but not sure what to do!

Notes

1. How do you record ideas ?

Use trello or pen/paper

2. How do you choose which idea to ship ?

Try to find what is your unfair advantage. What is the idea that you are willing to work on even when nobody pays you

3. How do you scope the product ?

Decide features so that you have something deployed to get some feedback Choosing the language affects the time taken to ship No code tools can help

4. How do you take time out to build products you have a day job/client work occupying your day?

Be wary of context switching. A single block of 3hrs a day is better than 30mins every day Try to book a calendar invite to work on your projects

5. How do you go about showing it to the world ?

Find out where your early adopters hangout ? Checkout the resources curated at https://trello.com/b/2ksI9cSg/idea-funnel

Do you guys know of a way of generating an image from text?

Does anyone have a checklist of what needs to be done when you move out of India for work 🤔 I moved in March 2019 (no income after moving in the same financial year) so last year taxes happen in India, this year taxes happen in Germany. I know that bank accounts need to be converted (to NRO/NRI accounts) but I haven't done so yet, I am not sure if I should do that ASAP. Is there a checklist that I can follow 😅

So, I'm working on updating my resume. Would someone know of a good template I can use?

@straight-continent-34777 cvmkr.com

MacBook just died, and apple guys are saying its better to get a new one than to replace parts, which one should I get. My work is mostly cross platform mobile development

What Macbook is it @gray-scientist-12794? If it is a 2012 model in which you could remove everything, you maybe able to fix it yourself. If it is later than 2012, then everything is soldered in. So difficult to make fixes.

How does a macbook die? 😛

Thanks to my nature of work, I'm on linux. So, its a Dell at home and a Thinkpad for the workload...

there were folks here who are/were working at gitlab no

Hi ... Quick one ... Which bank is giving best conversion rates for incoming USD to current account ?

@powerful-state-7137 I have accounts with both Kotak & ICICI and have been able to negotiate better rates with ICICI. I think they have something like 17 - 20p / USD and Kotak was around 40p Depends on a lot of factors (how much is incoming, your relationship with them, etc) but considering ICICI does a lot of Inward remittances, they seem to provide better rates.

Plus they have a web interface which you can settle your remittances yourself instead of having to email your contact at the bank which is super convenient.

@loud-glass-33663 Thanks .. pinged my icici relationship manager.

Just a quick follow up question, why not use 3rd party services for payment? The likes of transferwise, PayPal, etc? I've never had any remittances problem following that approach.

The idea is to lose least, and be compliant. my 2 hours of research shows this : one can use a bank which has RDA ( Rupee drawing agreement ) contract with a Exchange House ( i guess ofx/xoom/transferwise would be one ) to remit up to 15 lac per business transcation.

getting INR in accout in any other way is not export of services ...

the payment for such service has been received by the supplier ofservice in convertible foreign exchange;

so either convince sender to send USD .. in which case good rates of xoom/transferwise are out . and US bank will charge a wire xfer fee , and indian bank will take it's cut on conversion

or (validate and ) use my 2 hour of resarch above 😄

So yes bank clearly says

Inward remittance (under rupee drawing arrangement),

... what other banks do this ?

hdfc seems to have one https://transferwise.com/documents/HDFC%20issuance%20of%20an%20advice.pdf

Wire transfer is one of the best ways to receive payments. As USD to INR conversion happens at the receiving bank, it is easy to get FIRC (Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate). Receiving payments in INR from third-party services can also classify as export of services as long as one can get FIRC. PayPal makes it easier to get FIRC https://www.paypal.com/in/webapps/mpp/firc-certificate Transferwise also has an option https://transferwise.com/help/15/paying-for-your-transfer/2655509/whats-a-foreign-inward-remittance-certificate-firc-and-how-can-i-request-one Getting FIRC in case of Upwork is tricky. As the receiving bank has to request Standard Chartered (Upwork local fund transfer handled by SC in India). It includes both email and written request. I have not tried but convincing my bank to do it is a task in itself. FIRC is only required when requested by GST/govt officer. Has anyone used the wire transfer option in Upwork?

Yes, I always use wire transfer and do not worry too much honestly till <20 Lakhs and as it exceeds I add to my Private Ltd company account post 20L limit

That's what my CA said to do and honestly you should not worry till <20l

as that's too less for anyone to care OR start an investigation in - just keep basic sanity checks etc