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There's a popular post up today - "The unreasonable effectiveness of just showing up everyday" - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27833064
Some commenters have point out that this very well could be just an example of survivorship bias.
Did you put in 15+ hours a week for several years on a project that never went anywhere? Please add a comment about it - we'd love to hear about your experience.
Now I am back at my parents place far away from any city working on my own projects in the productivity space, a space I'm intimately familiar with. Theres a few tools I'm missing from my daily arsenal that I am building now.
I was too greedy in my goals and while we got funded and it was fun, ultimately it turned into nothing. I was of the "first to market / build a unicorn" mindset which as someone who doesn't come from money or connections, is pretty much impossible.
I am now trying to build a lifestyle company with a suite of tools in the productivity space, trying to hit $10k/mo MRR which doesn't scare me and I know is doable, as I've done it before (but unfortunately sold my stake to use that money on the venture I mentioned that failed). Bad move but hindsight is 20/20 I guess. I am focusing on building tools that solve my own problems.
So I'm 28 now, have under $1k in total net worth, but I am not going to stop until I am free from working a salaried job. 2 of my projects made money (sold them, dumb move, too bright-eyed and greedy), 11 of them didn't see a dime. I have never been more depressed in my life but I refuse to believe I can't hit at least a couple grand a month as I've done before, which is all I need to live my life. If only I realized this sooner. The reason I will keep doing this even if I don't succeed is because the regret of having not tried as hard as I can will haunt me every second of every day if I concede and hop on a salary. I don't want to spend the rest of my life on "what if?", and a life of sitting behind a glass wall consuming fine things does nothing for me. I don't want to be at the orchestra, or a restaurant, or a show. I want to be on stage, or be the chef, or be the conductor and for that you need time and money.
I know quite a few people with graveyard projects like this. Feel free to ask me anything, I'm an open book.
It wasn't a total failure though, as the learning I gained from each project compounded into a sort of "platform", and led me to build an MVP of https://OnlineOrNot.com in 7 days - profitable within the first couple of months, slowly but steadily growing MRR.
I've spent the last decade doing this. Building up my savings, draining them on an idea. I put in 40+ per week for a couple years on my last startup in the real estate space. Poached some top level VP's from the biggest firm in our country, but we ran through our capital too quickly due to too many pivots and licensing costs, I could only do no salary for so long, tough when your rent is $2.5k/mo. Now I am back at my…
It wasn't for 5 years more like 3 and wasn't consistently 15+ hours/week but definitely got up there when the passion was burning bright.
I've failed to implement a winning conversion plan (need to iterate my pricing, just never got around to it) and do marketing.
I've since moved on to another side project, but my passion certainly calls me back to Pushback from time to time.
The truth is that many don't have the stomach for "sticking with it," doing whatever is necessary to keep going in the down phases (I highly recommend the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling and see if it resonates).
You only truly "fail" when you quit. If you can make the necessary sacrifices to struggle through the dark days, your chances of succeeding increase greatly. I'd argue "survivorship bias" is just an excuse made by people who give up (I know that will sting some of you, but really marinate on it).
I've spent the last decade doing this. Building up my savings, draining them on an idea. I put in 40+ per week for a couple years on my last startup in the real estate space. Poached some top level VP's from the biggest firm in our country, but we ran through our capital too quickly due to too many pivots and licensing costs, I could only do no salary for so long, tough when your rent is $2.5k/mo. Now I am back at my…
I've spent the last decade doing this. Building up my savings, draining them on an idea. I put in 40+ per week for a couple years on my last startup in the real estate space. Poached some top level VP's from the biggest firm in our country, but we ran through our capital too quickly due to too many pivots and licensing costs, I could only do no salary for so long, tough when your rent is $2.5k/mo. Now I am back at my…
Admirable. Keep pushing -- I admire the grit and grind. I believe in you.
I was paid during that time, and the language is still heavily used internally, but it never got picked up by the outside world and Kotlin arriving on the scene killed any chance it had.
Was fun though.
Multiple times. The perspective I've adopted is to look at what you learned in the process of each failure and how that improved your ability to do a better job on the next venture. The truth is that many don't have the stomach for "sticking with it," doing whatever is necessary to keep going in the down phases (I highly recommend the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling and see if it resonates). You only truly "fail" when y…
100% this - my project is in a highly competitive space (think hundreds of SaaS alternatives). The only ones that "fail" are the ones that come in copying competitors, expecting overnight success, and get upset when the money doesn't come pouring in.