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Ask HN: Advice for turning my side project into a real business

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Re: Ask HN: Advice for turning my side project into a real business

#32

Post by dnndev »

hermitcrab wrote: post #31

>a real gap in the market Is there a market in the gap though? Often the reason there is a gap is because it isn't a viable market, not because nobody thought of it. https://successfulsoftware.net/2017/02/03/choosing-a-market-...

Things are not always what they seem. I’ve started multiple companies that appear to be not viable but once you’ve made something and shown value, all of a sudden everybody wants it.

I mean good gosh just think about Uber, WhatsApp, YouTube - like anyone would ever want that at one time. The world is a big place. Most undervalued lesson early in life.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for turning my side project into a real business

#33

Post by hermitcrab »

helph67 wrote: post #2

Perhaps consider making a deal with a company willing to market your idea, paying you a share of total sales? Would be a good idea to ensure you have lawyer with suitable experience.

Do you know anyone that has done that successfully? I can't think of any anyone and I know lots of people making a living from small software businesses.

No company (worth working with) is going to be interested in marketing something making $600/mo when there are loads of successful products that they could be an affiliate/reseller/agent etc for.

Also talking to an attorney is likely to eat up months of that $600/mo revenue.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for turning my side project into a real business

#34

Post by hermitcrab »

dnndev wrote: post #32
hermitcrab wrote: post #31

>a real gap in the market Is there a market in the gap though? Often the reason there is a gap is because it isn't a viable market, not because nobody thought of it. https://successfulsoftware.net/2017/02/03/choosing-a-market-...

Things are not always what they seem. I’ve started multiple companies that appear to be not viable but once you’ve made something and shown value, all of a sudden everybody wants it. I mean good gosh just think about Uber, WhatsApp, YouTube - like anyone would ever want that at one time. The world is a big place. Most undervalued lesson early in life.

There definitely are lucrative and unexploited niches. But, in my experience, the majority of unexploited niches are unexploited for a reason.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for turning my side project into a real business

#36

Post by bberenberg »

Unless this has a huge market upside you're not looking for an angel investor and no one will give you a loan at your current scale. My suggestion would be to find someone who complements your skillset, and have them work for equity so you both own a cashflowing asset over time.

Another comment mentions that this is a guitar learning app and there not being clear competitive differentiation. Assuming this is true, find someone who is an excellent 0-1 mobile app marketer, give them 40% of the company with a 4 year vest, and work on it as a team.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for turning my side project into a real business

#37

Post by drewcoo »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #19

I was you about a decade ago... I can't stress enough that if you don't have serious money in the bank or rich friends, you need to keep your day job and bootstrap. One approach I've seen work well even though it may be slow and frustrating - use the proceeds from your day job to hire a developer to do the work. You create the work plan, let someone else fill in the gaps. You focus on marketing / customer interaction…

Maybe find a new day job and keep that one if you're headed toward burnout.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for turning my side project into a real business

#38

Post by CodeWriter23 »

Questions I suggest you ask yourself:

What can you do to increase that $600 to $1200 with your available resources (including vacation time) while holding your nose and continuing the day job?

What is the minimum monthly nut to get your family on the ramen plan? Of course you all ain’t gonna eat ramen but get lean and mean.

How many of the aforementioned doublings of revenue do you need to execute before you’ve hit “ramen family” minimum amount? Don’t forget to pay your taxes too.

How much of that $1M/yr do you want to split with investor(s)? With $600/mo currently, the investor is taking all the risk, so how’d you like to give them $800-$900k per year?

Re: Ask HN: Advice for turning my side project into a real business

#39

Post by otoburb »

You're right to be conscious of and cautious about runway given you have a family to sustain.

If you're not a single parent, what does your partner think about the circumstances, and what would they be willing to do to help? Having the support of those closest to you will be a motivating factor (emotionally, aspirationally, possibly financially too).

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