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Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

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Re: Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

#21

Post by MattyMc »

newbie578 wrote: post #17

I got a question for everyone reading. How to even decide what side project to work on? Should I keep all ideas in a spreadsheet and then choose one, or make a grading system for ideas?

If your goal is to generate money, an analytical approach (like a spreadsheet) makes sense.

I choose my side projects more emotionally; generally based on things I'm excited about, think will be fun to make, or involve things I'm curious to learn. Happy to share more if interested.

Re: Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

#22

Post by iLoveOncall »

newbie578 wrote: post #17

I got a question for everyone reading. How to even decide what side project to work on? Should I keep all ideas in a spreadsheet and then choose one, or make a grading system for ideas?

Make a side project that helps you determine the best way to choose which side project to work on.

Once you figured that out, make a side project, using the method you discovered, that helps you choose which side project to work on.

Then start working on that side project.

Re: Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

#24

Post by kilbuz »

dsiegel2275 wrote: post #20
exceltrading wrote: post #13

I sell an excel add-in that integrates with some popular trading software. It makes life easier for traders. It has a couple thousand users paying around $10 a month. That's about as specific as I want to get. It required a little domain specific knowledge to create, and a recognized name among trading forums to initially market. Otherwise it's super simple and I'm continually surprised that there are no real competi…

That is the exact niche type of side project that I dream about. Though, with "a couple thousand users paying around $10 a month" that is hardly a side project anymore, given the annual revenue north of $200K.

Pin money in the Bay unfortunately!

Re: Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

#25

Post by mathgeek »

tiffanyh wrote: post #19
MattyMc wrote: post #14

I staked $15k, bought season tickets for my favourite baseball team, wrote an electron app to auto-price and market those tickets under face value. We ended up going to 6-7 games for free, sat in MUCH better seats than we ever could have afforded to, and had access to playoff tickets at face value. Further, my friends had access to great seats at reasonable prices and I avoided having to buy from resale sites (who I…

This sounds more like an algorithm to maximize your benefit from the $15k you spent. As opposed to a "money making business". (Still very cool though).

Curious: at what volume would you consider an individual buying products in bulk and then reselling them individually to be a side business?

Re: Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

#26

Post by dazc »

newbie578 wrote: post #17

I got a question for everyone reading. How to even decide what side project to work on? Should I keep all ideas in a spreadsheet and then choose one, or make a grading system for ideas?

It's likely going to be a long road to profitability so pick something you're going to stay interested in whether it makes money or not.

Re: Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

#27

Post by jbman223 »

In high school I made a site to help students view their AP scores early. It ballooned in popularity over the past 8 years. At it’s peak in 2020 and 2021 it was getting over 1.5 million students in 2 hours on the day of release. It was quite profitable for a side project I started in high school. Sadly I was never able to turn it into anything more than an early scores site on the day of score release, but now all AP scores come out at the same time and the site is fading away to being forgotten.

Re: Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

#28

Post by jdthedisciple »

ryannevius wrote: post #12

Over a weekend during the height of the pandemic, I made a digital school material website that has a "donate" button on it. Totally unexpectedly, it was making $1k/mo via donations. The original hope was to just pay for the hosting costs.

How did you make people aware of your site?

Re: Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

#29

Post by gottebp »

After my grandfather got Parkinson’s disease circa 2005, I developed hand tremor cancelling software for the mouse [1].

It has gone through a lot of development since then; it is my best work as a developer.

It suffers from the common flaw us engineers have of hyperfocus on the product while not caring about marketing enough. It makes enough.

I have a hard time talking about it in everyday life for some reason. It feels like a conversation that is hard for others to participate in.

Do other founders feel this way? I wish I understood it better.

[1] https://steadymouse.com

Re: Ask HN: Side projects that are making money, but you'd not talk about them?

#30

Post by jdthedisciple »

exceltrading wrote: post #13

I sell an excel add-in that integrates with some popular trading software. It makes life easier for traders. It has a couple thousand users paying around $10 a month. That's about as specific as I want to get. It required a little domain specific knowledge to create, and a recognized name among trading forums to initially market. Otherwise it's super simple and I'm continually surprised that there are no real competi…

So you're a SaaS basically?
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