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Build apps not businesses.

sahillavingia.com

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Re: Build apps not businesses.

#61

Post by lenart »

drndown2007 wrote: post #42

This seems to be comparing apples and oranges. If your goal is fun, build an app. If your goal is money and freedom, build a business. Sure one _might_ morf into the other, but if you have a goal, work towards it, don't just hope to stumble into it.

Great point drndown2007!

From the article itself I couldn't agree more on "The ultimate resume". A passionate developer with a lot of cool tiny projects (as his playground) can get plenty of job offerings - as long as the ideas show potential and are executed well. Also, as Sahil mentioned, one of the projects can start small but grow into a big successful business.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#62

Post by tristan_juricek »

locopati wrote: post #22
smokey221 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh yes, damn learning. That pesky little utterly useless thing. Heck burning for eternity in the fires of the underworld is preferable to having learning "inflicted" upon oneself.

I think he's saying that the result of his learning experience, while valuable to him, is not something that you or anyone else would find usable or enjoyable.

Yep. And "releasing" something worth a damn typically means making sure it's documented properly, hosted somewhere nicely, etc.

Plus there's that other part where the first two times I implement something it looks like utter trash, and then the third, hey, that's alright.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#63

Post by [deleted] »

rick888 wrote: post #28
JonnieCache wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I envy people who love their jobs. It seems like a simpler, more satisfying life. It's just never been that way for me. We don't have some mental deficiency, absent in you, that stops us from hating our jobs. We have simply found jobs that we don't hate. Just like you. Just because you are self-employed, doesn't mean that you don't have a job. And if you don't have a controlling share in your company any more, you a…

It's not just this. I could have the best job in the world and because I'm not working for myself, I'm not going to be happy.

[deleted]

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#64

Post by tlrobinson »

JonnieCache wrote: post #29
rick888 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just this. I could have the best job in the world and because I'm not working for myself, I'm not going to be happy.

>I could have the best job in the world and because I'm not working for myself, I'm not going to be happy. This statement is not internally consistent. If it is the "best job in the world," then by definition you would be happy to do it. It reminds me of people who say things like "I like my chips to be TOO salty!" No you don't. It also sounds like a self-imposed rule put in place for reasons of contrarianism, which…

I think it was obvious from the context that by "job" he meant "job where I work for someone else". All he was saying was he won't be happy working for someone other than himself.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#67

Post by MicahWedemeyer »

ido wrote: post #57
DTrejo wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

weird aversion we [...] have to charging money for things I have exactly this problem right now. I think my biggest block right now is that try charging money for it before you give it away is not an effortless thing to do. One has to invest money and time to set up a payment gateway, and then one has the responsibility to respond to customers and maintain the app. What would you suggest I do in a situation like this…

One has to invest money and time to set up a payment gateway, and then one has the responsibility to respond to customers and maintain the app. Setting up a paypal account takes minutes and will be enough in such an early stage.

Beware lock-in, though. If you're doing 1-time payments it's not so bad, but subscriptions are basically impossible to migrate from one platform to another.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#68

Post by MicahWedemeyer »

DTrejo wrote: post #53
jdietrich wrote: post #34

DHH doesn't lambast side projects, doing things for fun or even giving things away - Rails is the obvious proof of that. DHH lambasts the weird aversion we software guys have to charging money for things. Absolutely build apps for the fun of it, feel free to scratch your own itch, but if you build a useful product, try charging money for it before you give it away for nothing. If nobody wants to pay for it then you c…

weird aversion we [...] have to charging money for things I have exactly this problem right now. I think my biggest block right now is that try charging money for it before you give it away is not an effortless thing to do. One has to invest money and time to set up a payment gateway, and then one has the responsibility to respond to customers and maintain the app. What would you suggest I do in a situation like this…

The payment gateway stuff is a real pain, I'll give you that.

For the rest, your responsibilities don't really change. Either you're going to respond to your users (customers) and maintain the app, or you're not. That has nothing to do with money.

If you aren't planning on supporting an app, you should probably make that clear in the first place. Remember: Your users are investing their time in you, and to them that's worth at least as much as their money.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#69

Post by Tycho »

Ironically, that's a good business idea for someone: 'MonetizeMe.com'

It would be a company that specialises in taking a working web-app and setting up the payment gateway and other details necessary for making it a commercial endeavour. In return they get a slice of the profit or something. While the original developer doesn't need to endure the headaches of commerce to reap the benefits.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#70

Post by queensnake »

tomdeal wrote: post #60
DTrejo wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Getting people to actually pay you for something is hard and fraught with uncertainty and danger. Just to be more explicit about these dangers and uncertainties: - It takes time to set up a payment system, and it's not nearly as fun as building the app in the first place - When you start charging, you take on responsibility for the app, and supporting users - If no one buys it, you've wasted the time and money you pu…

someone should build an app which simplifies payment. Create an account, choose the payment option you like and here is the code you have to include in your app, byebye.

I think PayPal is like that. For the price of an extra middle man.
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