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If your goal is to do what you love, sure. If your goal is to do what you love and maybe get lucky enough to have it turn into a business, maybe... sure, still might work, but might not. If your goal is to start a business, this is terrible advice.
If your goal is to do what you love, sure. If your goal is to do what you love and maybe get lucky enough to have it turn into a business, maybe... sure, still might work, but might not. If your goal is to start a business, this is terrible advice.
I guess I'd add "... but don't release it". If it's just to build up a portfolio, you can usually make the source code available and maybe a demo.
I do like the idea of "programmer portfolios", however.
Build businesses, not apps. But hey, whatever floats your boat is right.
Don't set off to build a business for the sake of building a business, build something for the sake of building it and then see how it goes.
If you're building an app purely for fun, you can expect users to create an account before they start using your software.
If you're building a business, you may need to allow people to try your software without creating an account at all. The alternative is a super-high bounce rate. This could arguably be called a UI issue, but it's also marketing.
If you don't think about stuff like this from the start, chances are you're going to need more than a trivial rewrite if your idea starts to take off. If you're intent on bootstrapping in your spare time, that can be a killer.
It's scratching those little itches that often times leads to a business, while many times, the business first product 2nd leads to pivot, after pivot, after pivot.
I think both work, and the answer lies in the middle. Scratch your itch, and then see if it can become something bigger. I think Balsamiq is a great example of this.
It's fast It's fun It's the ultimate resume Sure, if you're trying to land a job, the build apps not businesses approach can work (and is possibly better than the opposite approach, cost/benefit-wise). If you're trying to become your own boss, you need to consider the alternative.
It's fast It's fun It's the ultimate resume Sure, if you're trying to land a job, the build apps not businesses approach can work (and is possibly better than the opposite approach, cost/benefit-wise). If you're trying to become your own boss, you need to consider the alternative.
They're not necessarily mutually exclusive. One of the nice things about working as a freelancer/contractor is that you are used to managing your time and possibly working on several projects for different clients anyway. If you choose to spend some of your time developing side projects as well, whether for professional development or simply personal satisfaction, no-one's going to stop you... Just keep the expectations realistic about whether a project is being done as a serious business proposition and therefore justifies the time to develop it properly in that light, or a fun side-project that shouldn't be allowed to become a time sink!
How many projects are only a couple of hours in length? I started down this road, and ended up with a list of "learning experiences"; nothing that I'd inflict upon anyone else. I guess I'd add "... but don't release it". If it's just to build up a portfolio, you can usually make the source code available and maybe a demo. I do like the idea of "programmer portfolios", however.