Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Why is nearing completion so demotivating?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 171 posts

Re: Ask HN: Why is nearing completion so demotivating?

#101

Post by wheels »

mikekchar wrote: post #22

When your project is finished, the dream is dead and the reality is born. The death of a dream is like the death of a friend. It's probably been with you for a long time -- longer even than the length of the project. A dream is the manifestation of what's possible. When it is over, the possible diminishes very quickly and you are left with what actually is. Will people respond well to your project -- in the dream sta…

It's interesting -- I wholeheartedly agree with the phenomenon, but I'd frame it completely differently.

There's a scary cliff there, but I feel like launching is when a project first becomes real. It's the actual start. It's when you're judged. It's usually when you learn that your assumptions were completely wrong. It means you have to start dealing with actual problems, not imagined problems.

That's usually less fun, but I think it is more exciting (in large part because it's the dive into the unknown).

Re: Ask HN: Why is nearing completion so demotivating?

#102

Post by bigiain »

blackflame7000 wrote: post #99
bigiain wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure, and I know it's mostly scaremongering, but "4% of zero, or 'up to 20 million euros'" is up to 20 million euros. A better motivator, in my opinion, is that disclosing up front what data you're going to capture, and what you're going to do with it, and obtaining consent for that from users - is "the right thing to do". Unless your business model is "fucking over the users", those are not scary things to do, and w…

Hey "fucking over the users" Strategy has been doing Comcast wonders for decades.

Yep - and I have zero fucks to give about how much grief the GDPR is going to cause Comcast. Or Facebook. Or Google. Or Equifax.

Re: Ask HN: Why is nearing completion so demotivating?

#106

Post by apsurd »

ablanco wrote: post #85
btilly wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want other people to use it, it does apply. You don't know what you don't know until you have user feedback. No matter how much is right about your vision, you need that. This is WHY the idea of having an MVP and iterating has won so thoroughly.

Don't get me wrong, if you are to measure success by the money you raise, then I completely agree with you. I meant thinking of an app as a mean of expression rather than a cow to squeeze money from. If you want to make something more in the arts department, getting people to tell you what they think early on might be a horrible and non constructive idea.

This is underappreciated. Art and expression is a value in and of itself. I don't think it's a cop out to think this way. However, creating something is in fact complicated and retreating to "I'm just making art" is an easy justification to fool yourself into being ok with failing if what you're trying to do is build a profitable business.

But it remains: art and expression is valuable.

Yes I can probably make more money optimizing advertising attribution. But, honestly, I think there's some art in all of us. It's ok to explore it.

Re: Ask HN: Why is nearing completion so demotivating?

#107

Post by arionhardison »

rajacombinator wrote: post #79
mikekchar wrote: post #22

When your project is finished, the dream is dead and the reality is born. The death of a dream is like the death of a friend. It's probably been with you for a long time -- longer even than the length of the project. A dream is the manifestation of what's possible. When it is over, the possible diminishes very quickly and you are left with what actually is. Will people respond well to your project -- in the dream sta…

Nice/interesting comment although “death of a friend” seems a bit harsh. (Although in some cases it may be worse than the death of a friend!) Not sure if this is what OP is experiencing or just some 90/10 etc rule about the last parts being the hardest parts. Starting a greenfield project you can make massive progress quickly. Polishing it is slow.

That is not harsh art all. If you have ever really poured everything you have into something for hours and hours a day and months on end only to be rejectd over and over again. "Death of a friend" is totally accurate IMO. Day and night you spend your time nurturing and growing this thing in hopes of it becoming more... When/If your project fails - TBH - its more like the death of a child.

Re: Ask HN: Why is nearing completion so demotivating?

#108

Post by ai_ia »

mikekchar wrote: post #22

When your project is finished, the dream is dead and the reality is born. The death of a dream is like the death of a friend. It's probably been with you for a long time -- longer even than the length of the project. A dream is the manifestation of what's possible. When it is over, the possible diminishes very quickly and you are left with what actually is. Will people respond well to your project -- in the dream sta…

Being in the same stage as the OP, I highly second this comment. I have been working on something for last 19 months. It is nearly complete, but still finding it difficult to wrap up somehow. Your comment has given me some insight and some closure.

Thanks a lot !

Re: Ask HN: Why is nearing completion so demotivating?

#109

Post by pravj »

Happens to me every time.

My last side project was a data-driven sport (Cricket) analytics blog (https://hackpravj.com/blog/inside-cricket). Worked on it for 8 months (every Sunday), now when it's done I don't like the way I wrapped it up.

People appreciated it, I learned multiple new things but it didn't go as per the dream (the initial motivation that helped me start it).

Post reply on HN