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Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

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Re: Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

#191

Post by niftylettuce »

tixocloud wrote: post #185
niftylettuce wrote: post #2

Here's a brief list! * Wakeup.io - Simple Phone Wake-up Calls @ https://wakeup.io and it is fully automated and runs itself with actually really good profits. It was built in 2-3 days. * GetProve, Simple Phone Verification @ https://getprove.com and it is fully automated and runs itself with again, really good profits. It was built in a week or so. * Teelaunch, Kickstarter/Indiegogo Fulfillment Service (exited/sold)…

Congrats and wow, it's amazing how many of these micro-services you've launched. Did you do any customer interviews or did you just build these projects out of love and just released them?

I just built them because I wanted them for myself. The biggest motivator that makes me build something is when I see something that I know I could do better.

Re: Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

#192

Post by golergka »

dalacv wrote: post #57

I made a course on Udemy on how to make complete web applications without writing code using APEX. Link and free coupons: https://www.udemy.com/create-web-apps-with-apex-5/?couponCod... Expenses: $100 for a nice microphone (not necessary) but didn't want to record a bunch and have it be garbage $100 for Screenflow (to do video editing). 20 hours time (split across a couple of weekends Profit: I've made $1405 on it so…

How much time did it take you to create the course and how much to promote it?

Re: Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

#193

Post by tixocloud »

niftylettuce wrote: post #191
tixocloud wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Congrats and wow, it's amazing how many of these micro-services you've launched. Did you do any customer interviews or did you just build these projects out of love and just released them?

I just built them because I wanted them for myself. The biggest motivator that makes me build something is when I see something that I know I could do better.

I feel the same way and yet I get trapped trying to do so many customer interviews in the past.

Re: Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

#194

Post by tmat »

hugs wrote: post #173
tmat wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was just really slow. No real bugs, just insanely slow and difficult to use because of it.

Where were you testing from? (Which country?) The user experience can be great or horrible depending on how fast your connection is and how far away from the data center you are.

US, Vermont - 50mbps comcast cable

Re: Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

#195

Post by shanecleveland »

tempestn wrote: post #43

I created searchtempest.com as a hobby project in 2006, starting with zero web knowledge, although a bit of programming experience from electrical engineering. Within about a year and a half it was earning enough to pay my (very modest) rent. By 2009 I quit my day job to focus on it full time. Added autotempest.com around the same time and now have several employees working on the two. (The first hired around 2010 ii…

Nice. I've jumped on searchtempest a few times to avoid flipping through results on CL and to get results from multiple regions at once. It works!

Re: Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

#197

Post by checkavailable »

I'm surprised very few people here (no one?) is selling physical stuff. I have a profitable side project selling stuff online. I found a manufacturer through Alibaba, set up a website and now most of the work is dealing with shipping items.

Re: Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

#198

Post by hipjiveguy »

altitudinous wrote: post #95

I have several apps on the iOS app store. I make between $4000AUD - $9000AUD per month. I quit my job 3 years ago to do it, so I guess it isn't really a side project any more. That said, it is a lonely way to make money and I am over it. My career was computers, and I'm pleased I've done the apps, I can achieve anything technical so it isn't a challenge any more and am looking at something more physical, hands on. Wh…

So how many apps would this be?

Re: Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

#199

Post by taphangum »

xcubic wrote: post #196
taphangum wrote: post #112

Don't have it anymore (sold it in 2013) but http://myapptemplates.com . Took it from $0 to $3,000 a month in about 1 year

Why sell?

Stupidity. Did it to raise money for the 'big idea'. Went nowhere. Next time, I'll hold.

Re: Ask HN: Do you have a profitable side project? How long did it take to achieve?

#200

Post by parterburn »

I built a journal-over-email app that has been a profitable side business since day one. Defining "profitable" is necessary, I think - in this case it's covering it's own costs + more. This isn't my full-time gig, so I'm not counting any sort of hourly rate for my own time. The MVP is something I built over a long weekend, and I occasionally work on it while my wife and I watch TV/movies (so the time investment hasn't been too drastic, and the alternative is $0/hr).

The app is called Dabble Me (https://dabble.me) and you can read about the inspiration and costs to run here: https://medium.com/startup-lesson-learned/increase-your-happ...

Today (18mos since launch) it's generating around $500/mo in passive income. I played around with a few different pricing models. The first was a "donate whatever you can" for a few pro options (did not generate what I expected), the next was a pretty lenient freemium model (lacked the upgrades), and what seems to be working best is a very stringent freemium model.

A big part of Dabble Me and my passion for the project arises from this being a "scratch your own itch" build. I want this service to exist more than anyone else...so I built it and charged others to use it. That seems to be a theme that has a higher success rate than others.

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