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My Second Year as a Solo Developer

mtlynch.io

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Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#151

Post by enraged_camel »

patio11 wrote: post #140
cs02rm0 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could probably talk to business owners with problems, launch an (appropriately priced; hundreds to thousands of dollars per year) product against those problems, build contingent on getting 10 commits to buy I don't doubt that you're absolutely right, but this bit strikes me as hard . I've struggled to find one business owner with a problem they perceive, let alone 10 with commitments to buying a solution for the…

Is the problem that you can’t identify owners, that you can’t successfully get in touch with business owners, that you can’t convince them to talk to you, that you can’t get signal from those conversations, or that you are accurately getting the signal “Actually literally nothing could be better about my life.” Draw the funnel diagram, with numbers if necessary. Having talked to many devs who believe similar, I think…

The problem is usually at the start of the funnel. Most solo developers, especially those who have just quit their cushy FAANG jobs, are not positioned to personally know a lot of business owners (especially not outside of tech, where all the low-hanging fruit exist). So simply saying "go meet many business owners" doesn't help, unless you can also explain the how.

To give a counter-example, I did consulting for a decade before going off to do my thing, so I have a lot of personal contacts and I'm familiar with a lot of problems, both general and specific, that businesses struggle with, and turning those into products has been relatively straight-forward. But most solo devs don't have this background, so they need more specific and actionable advice to build their funnel.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#152

Post by kohanz »

nautilus12 wrote: post #25

Bye bye any hopes of raising a family.

A lot of the "expense" of children is entirely discretionary. Yes, they do cost extra money to raise, but depending on where you live and your lifestyle, it doesn't have to be nearly the financial burden that some create an illusion of being a necessity. As a father of 3, when I look at most of the expenses related to my kids, the biggest ones are absolutely discretionary. Children are not born with expectations of a standard of living; that's something you define for them as your dependents. The idea that people with low-to-no income are unable to start families is provably false with examples all around us.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#153

Post by chowes »

patio11 wrote: post #140
cs02rm0 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could probably talk to business owners with problems, launch an (appropriately priced; hundreds to thousands of dollars per year) product against those problems, build contingent on getting 10 commits to buy I don't doubt that you're absolutely right, but this bit strikes me as hard . I've struggled to find one business owner with a problem they perceive, let alone 10 with commitments to buying a solution for the…

Is the problem that you can’t identify owners, that you can’t successfully get in touch with business owners, that you can’t convince them to talk to you, that you can’t get signal from those conversations, or that you are accurately getting the signal “Actually literally nothing could be better about my life.” Draw the funnel diagram, with numbers if necessary. Having talked to many devs who believe similar, I think…

Not the OP, but what I have struggled with here is the feeling of being a "solution looking for a problem". It's a step before where you're at. It's not that I can't identify owners, it's that I can't identify _problems_.

I am lacking the domain experience to even have the first conversation, and it feels like paying people to ask "so tell me everything that is wrong with your business" is the wrong way to do it.

I know PG mentions "solve problems you have yourself", but I am not a business owner. I'm a software engineer.

That video you linked earlier - Designing the Ideal Bootstrapped Business - was incredible and feels like the right move once you have that idea. But what about finding that idea?

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#154

Post by jb775 »

MiracleUser wrote: post #149
cs02rm0 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could probably talk to business owners with problems, launch an (appropriately priced; hundreds to thousands of dollars per year) product against those problems, build contingent on getting 10 commits to buy I don't doubt that you're absolutely right, but this bit strikes me as hard . I've struggled to find one business owner with a problem they perceive, let alone 10 with commitments to buying a solution for the…

Yeah, this is why I have been working as a data analyst. I've taken on as many vendor management responsibilities as I can and help out with COGS and revenue attribution analysis for finance. I have been collecting ideas while making steady wage, and eventually I'll pull the trigger on something I have a backlog of like 200+ viable new product / feature ideas that help solve some business problem or improve the effic…

Willing to discuss any of your ideas? I feel like everyone has hoarded ideas (including myself) that are never acted upon because we keep telling ourselves "eventually I'll pull the trigger" (including myself)

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#155

Post by poulsbohemian »

amelius wrote: post #129
cs02rm0 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could probably talk to business owners with problems, launch an (appropriately priced; hundreds to thousands of dollars per year) product against those problems, build contingent on getting 10 commits to buy I don't doubt that you're absolutely right, but this bit strikes me as hard . I've struggled to find one business owner with a problem they perceive, let alone 10 with commitments to buying a solution for the…

> Ironically, it strikes me that there's a gap here for a business to solve; connecting entrepreneurial devs with business owners aware of problems. This. Why hasn't this gap been filled yet?

>> Ironically, it strikes me that there's a gap here for a business to solve; connecting entrepreneurial devs with business owners aware of problems.

>This. Why hasn't this gap been filled yet?

It's called Upwork.

No seriously, hear me out. When a business owner has a problem they perceive could be solved with technology, they create a job or they go on job posting sites seeking either an employee or a contractor to try and solve their problem.

Where they get it wrong is that they frequently have unrealistic expectations about what it will cost and how long it will take. They have no idea what skills they should look for and who to trust.

Is there a market mismatch here? Absolutely, but you'll have to find a way above the fray of recruiting sites as that's really the state of the market.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#156

Post by segmondy »

I admire your being able to quit and start your own biz. I admire you staying the course, but I feel very sad at your progress. You seem to be more of a builder than a business man.

Everyone one of your project makes me yawn, I'm sure many have said it. With that said, you need to find some good ideas. Forget originality since you're not doing great on that, just find something making money and clone it. Or find a co-founder that can sell and come up with good ideas.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#157

Post by mtlynch »

bilekas wrote: post #6

How did you cut down so drastically on expenses in the second year, +50%, or was there a large investment in the first year, sorry I havent read last years update yet! Also, I'm just coming accross your Zestful service and can't believe that is exactly what i am looking for and actually started to write, but I have other stuff to do so no point re-inventing the wheel! Consider me a new client sir! PS: Congratulations…

>How did you cut down so drastically on expenses in the second year, +50%, or was there a large investment in the first year, sorry I havent read last years update yet!

Mainly, I outsourced less.

This was less about cutting costs as much as it was about building faster. My first year, I hired developers to do a lot of work with me, but I realized after a few months of doing it that contractors actually slowed me down overall. Early in a product, there are so many course corrections and pivots, but contractors make it difficult to follow those because you need to give them enough to do because they're not going to just sit on unpaid standby for you, but you also don't want to just keep interrupting them and throwing away their work.

>Also, I'm just coming accross your Zestful service and can't believe that is exactly what i am looking for and actually started to write, but I have other stuff to do so no point re-inventing the wheel!

>Consider me a new client sir!

Fantastic! If you have any questions or run into any issues, shoot me an email at michael@zestfuldata.com.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#158

Post by eugenekolo »

gwbas1c wrote: post #150
patio11 wrote: post #79

Two cents offered because this post really strikes a chord with me, and I also spent some time chasing down rabbit holes early in my software business: These products do not appear obviously commercializable and multiple years invested into them without materially improving the businesses does not decrease my confidence in that snap judgment. You could probably talk to business owners with problems, launch an (approp…

Looks like this guy is trying to run a lifestyle business, and his investments pay enough interest that he can coast for a long, long time. To be quite honest: He's spending all day playing . That's a position I envy quite a bit.

How many years of work do you have in the tech industry? It seems in the current market (not even assuming SF salaries), and without kids/other dependents, it's fairly easy to reach that point. Just curious, because a lot of people have this mentality that they need to work forever and ever, but it often is just a mindset.

You can easily amass 500k-1M and just coast on 40k/year in expenses for a long time. If it's something you want... a lot of people want kids, or to live in high cost areas, or to accumulate wealth to pass on, or have dependents such as elderly parents, or enjoy money a lot.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#159

Post by cambalache »

reflectiv wrote: post #74
theli0nheart wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Sorry to say but this proves that for someone who actually has to work for a living ie earn money, corporate life is absolutely the correct choice. Not really. This just proves that corporate life isn't the most profitable option for the OP. You just can't make sweeping statements like this based on a single anecdote. I'll offer this to other "corporate" folk out there. I was self-employed since late 2010 until I r…

I'll offer a counter example in that the startup I joined failed miserably and I ended up losing out on a LOT of income. I am now working for a decent 6-figure income and EXTREMELY happy with the stability and 40-50 hour work weeks...in comparison to the ABSOLUTE GRIND I went through trying to help that startup get off the ground - this is a godsend. Your scenario is VERY UNLIKELY IMO.

Stability until you get canned.

Re: My Second Year as a Solo Developer

#160

Post by jrumbut »

cs02rm0 wrote: post #120
patio11 wrote: post #79

Two cents offered because this post really strikes a chord with me, and I also spent some time chasing down rabbit holes early in my software business: These products do not appear obviously commercializable and multiple years invested into them without materially improving the businesses does not decrease my confidence in that snap judgment. You could probably talk to business owners with problems, launch an (approp…

You could probably talk to business owners with problems, launch an (appropriately priced; hundreds to thousands of dollars per year) product against those problems, build contingent on getting 10 commits to buy I don't doubt that you're absolutely right, but this bit strikes me as hard . I've struggled to find one business owner with a problem they perceive, let alone 10 with commitments to buying a solution for the…

I don't think anyone on Upwork or whatever other job board would complain if they were out there asking for custom work and you showed up with a ready-made product.

Beyond that, every business owner kvetching on Twitter. Problems are everywhere!

Certainly can be very hard to get 10 business owners with the same problem to all line up and pay thousands for your software, but problems are easy to come by.

Edit: filtering for problems solvable by any particular solo developer's skillset in less than 2 years is another challenge.

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