In my experience a better question would have been.
"Have you worked hard on something that DID pay off???"
Most of the things that we work hard on never pay off except in terms of learned lessons.
Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
11–20 of 22 posts
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
#12Sure. Ten of the Twelve SaaS products that I have built over the years didn’t get any traction and died away. That’s only counting ones I spent at least a month or so head down building and marketing. And that’s fine. Because the other two pay the bills. That’s the cool thing about software businesses. You only need to get it all right once. People like to call this “survivorship bias” and other silly things in order…
> That’s the cool thing about software businesses. You only need to get it all right once. People like to call this “survivorship bias” and other silly things in order to convince themselves that it’s pointless to try. But all it really means is that you get to keep trying until it works.
I cannot upvote this enough. Optionality. And if you refine your approach each time, you will converge at something that works.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
#13Quite frequently in enterprise software I've built something that has either been replaced soon after or a 3rd party has been brought in with a product or our product has been discontinued. Usually this is nothing to do with the technical side of the project and is down to finances/support arrangements/strategy. I still got the same experience building it whether it was successful or not and I still got paid so not too bad. Conversely some things I've built/worked on have still been in use 20 years later...
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
#14As the lone IT guy, I built a new database to upgrade/replace the production system, it would have saved hundreds of hours of labor, but couldn't get buy in from management. I had conversion scripts that worked, a reasonable plan for recovery if it didn't work. I tried a few other projects, but eventually settled in to just showing up and waiting for things to break. It broke my spirit.
There are a lot of risks to a rewrite of software. Doubly so when created in a silo. It pays to see it from the perspective of the company.
Additionally, you either worked on your own time to do so or you worked during company time. If you did this on your time, you should take that as a lesson to use your time for yourself, including looking for a new job if the situation isn't rectified. If you worked on this during working hours, then you may have wasted your employer's time and money. Be wary of doing that type of thing.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
#15I lived off my savings for 3 years and put 120% of my income in the company, nailed $7m deal (and other big ones were to come) when my partner scammed and screwed everything and everyone. needles to say he got sued for not nearly enough. the deal dropped and "luckily" we didn't get the money yet, otherwise I'd be in bigger trouble.
Where does it stand now?
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
#16In my experience a better question would have been. "Have you worked hard on something that DID pay off???" Most of the things that we work hard on never pay off except in terms of learned lessons.
We hear these stories all the time. The inverse is more interesting to be honest, as I feel a lot of people think working hard = success.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
#17As the lone IT guy, I built a new database to upgrade/replace the production system, it would have saved hundreds of hours of labor, but couldn't get buy in from management. I had conversion scripts that worked, a reasonable plan for recovery if it didn't work. I tried a few other projects, but eventually settled in to just showing up and waiting for things to break. It broke my spirit.
There are a lot of risks to a rewrite of software. Doubly so when created in a silo. It pays to see it from the perspective of the company. Additionally, you either worked on your own time to do so or you worked during company time. If you did this on your time, you should take that as a lesson to use your time for yourself, including looking for a new job if the situation isn't rectified. If you worked on this durin…
I did it on company time. The thing is, he wouldn't even look at it. He was so afraid of making a decision that any process change wasn't going to happen.
Unsurprisingly, the person who didn't want to change anything eventually ended up leaving.
Things are very weird in small companies.
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
#18Sure. Ten of the Twelve SaaS products that I have built over the years didn’t get any traction and died away. That’s only counting ones I spent at least a month or so head down building and marketing. And that’s fine. Because the other two pay the bills. That’s the cool thing about software businesses. You only need to get it all right once. People like to call this “survivorship bias” and other silly things in order…
> That’s the cool thing about software businesses. You only need to get it all right once. People like to call this “survivorship bias” and other silly things in order to convince themselves that it’s pointless to try. But all it really means is that you get to keep trying until it works. I cannot upvote this enough. Optionality. And if you refine your approach each time, you will converge at something that works.
I’m also convinced if you take a year off and do 6 or so projects in ernest and they all fail you are still up. It’s valuable experience! Probably a developers rite of passage to try this. I haven’t yet though tried in a big way but have launched small things before
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
#19My masters degree was a waste of time.
Why?
Re: Ask HN: Have you ever worked hard on something that did not pay off?
#20I spent 12 years playing football as a kid almost daily and didn‘t make one $, does that count?