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Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

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Re: Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

#161

Post by mustacheemperor »

ineptech wrote: post #104
shallot_router wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's an awesome website. Some highlights: >Here is a small sampling of our Services offerings: >GUID duplication >Lamp stacking >Despondency injection >We're hiring! If you're a best-in-breed, 10x, full-stack rock star, we want to talk to you about joining our "posse". Here's what we're looking for: >Senior Java Developer - Develop 15-20 Senior Javas per day Maybe you should try to monetize fake companies instead.…

Thank you! I had a ton of fun with that, so there are a lot of cute details to find. (For example, check out where the social media "share" buttons on the blog posts go)

I'll second you've got a potential second career in comedy writing, my coworkers and I are currently nearly in tears reading this. Thanks for the Friday laughs.

Re: Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

#162

Post by timbowhite »

https://vidgen.io

It's a web app that generates summary videos of online articles/content.

I launched it in February and it hasn't made a dime. I was charging ~$3 per generated video, but since it's had zero traction, the videos can now be downloaded for free.

The main feature it's lacking is a way to customize the generated videos. Once I get this implemented I will try promoting it again.

Spent about 3 months building it and over $2k in hosting + licensing.

Re: Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

#163

Post by wonderwonder »

I made a clone of etsy focused on a specific industry. Vendors could open their own store, upload products take payments etc. I got 7 vendors signed up and site earned total sales of just under $18 Of which my cut was 64 cents before I shut down. A lot of fun to build though :)

Re: Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

#164

Post by hluska »

ineptech wrote: post #89

I made Word Nazi, which is essentially just a dirty version of Taboo (in the same way that Cards Against Humanity is a dirty version of Apples to Apples) in app form. Lessons learned: * I should've paid someone to do some decent graphics, turns out "minimalist aesthetic" is not the same as "no effort put in to design" * Making it a free demo, with the full game available as an in-app-purchase, sounds like a good deal…

That is an amazing website. I particularly enjoyed your blog, especially the sharing buttons! :)

Re: Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

#165

Post by zackify »

timbowhite wrote: post #162

https://vidgen.io It's a web app that generates summary videos of online articles/content. I launched it in February and it hasn't made a dime. I was charging ~$3 per generated video, but since it's had zero traction, the videos can now be downloaded for free. The main feature it's lacking is a way to customize the generated videos. Once I get this implemented I will try promoting it again. Spent about 3 months build…

Would be nice if you could put a url in without https in front. Otherwise, this is a really cool idea. It makes sense that most people wouldn't find it worth $3 though.

I'm trying it out now :)

Re: Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

#166

Post by sjs382 »

https://privateforms.com has made some revenue and had about 10 or 15 customers at one point, but I've definitely not recouped my time investment into it.

I haven't iterated or done anything in an attempt to respark interest.

It still works and I have a few customers still (including myself). I really just had a hard time marketing to those that I thought would be my customers (mostly journalists and lawyers).

Re: Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

#168

Post by daveguy »

westoncb wrote: post #139

I've maxed out a couple credit cards and spent all my severance pay etc. trying to finish building this '3D abstract visual debugger,' which I'm calling Lucidity [video]: http://symbolflux.com/projects/avd I started working on it in 2014 and it's been on my mind ever since. I applied to YC with it a long time ago (was not accepted, and I can see so much wrong with the application I sent now...) I was laid off in Nove…

You should consider integrating this visualization in a few third party applications with a significant database component.

I'm thinking web frameworks (like WordPress) and CRMs (like SalesForce). Easy to comprehend visualization of business data is a lot more valuable than visualization of internal program data structures. If you can populate structures from 3rd party sources then you could have a valuable product.

I can see how a business would be interested in visualization of contact growth or website structure.

Re: Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

#169

Post by ineptech »

mustacheemperor wrote: post #161
ineptech wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you! I had a ton of fun with that, so there are a lot of cute details to find. (For example, check out where the social media "share" buttons on the blog posts go)

I'll second you've got a potential second career in comedy writing, my coworkers and I are currently nearly in tears reading this. Thanks for the Friday laughs.

Thank you so much! I guess I should've posted it somewhere sooner...

Re: Ask HN: What's a side project you built to make money that hasn't?

#170

Post by calafrax »

jmcgough wrote: post #159
calafrax wrote: post #19

I have done a handful of side projects that have lost money and lots of side projects with time spent on something that has not be productized. I don't really thing you should do a side project with the anticipation of making money. My focus on side projects is doing R&D and building skills or tools that will pay off in my paid work. From that perspective I don't really consider anything I have done to be a "loss." I…

Would one need to create an LLC or something to claim R&D credits?

Talk to a lawyer or accountant about that.
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