I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it • Hacker News Board

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#21

Post by 101008 » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:15 PM UTC

btbuildem wrote: post #19

_se wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No one wants to talk to an AI for customer support.

Eh... I think there's a balance to be struck. You could leverage AI to handle the initial messages (90% of which are tire kickers or scammers) and funnel worthy exchanges to continue the conversation manually.

Once people notice AI is responding they will skip it and will request to talk to a human. AI will look the same as FAQs or Chatbots, people don't want to interact with them, they want a human being that is able to understand their problem exactly as it is.

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#22

Post by rockbruno » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:17 PM UTC

This is a perfect example of how attaching money to a hobby is guaranteed to ruin it. Dealing with customers is a gigantic pain in the ass, it doesn't matter if it's a large product or some niche esoteric project.

I have the exact same issue regarding support with a simple app I have on the App Store, I can perfectly relate. Despite being a really simple app and extremely cheap, every once in a while I have to wake up to angry e-mails from disgruntled users.

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#23

Post by tmaly » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:19 PM UTC

Is it me or are there a lot more posts on HN where people are just complaining in the title?

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#24

Post by dtx1 » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:19 PM UTC

shadowgovt wrote: post #4

Possibly the primary reason that software engineers don't just go into business for themselves is that running a business is a very different problem domain with different challenges and rewards. I have never envied any CEO, VP, or manager I've worked for their job. The hardest part of my day is crafting novel SQL queries or tricking C++ into compiling code that will work on all my target hardware in spite of an unkn…

I think certain personality types just have a really different view about risk than we do. I once talked to our CEO about it and he was like "I'd risk it all again, I like to play!". There are people who LIKE to take those kinds of risks, I'm certainly not one of them. But one must also not forget the upside: get really, really rich from the work of others.

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#25

Post by a13o » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:22 PM UTC

The wording in the fraud cancellation emails gave me a good laugh.

"My payment provider said you used a stolen credit card. Why did you do that? I've revoked your access."

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#26

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:23 PM UTC

_se wrote: post #10

sklarsa wrote: post #5

I love the ending of this story, which isn't obvious from just looking at the title. The author identified key pain points around customer support, automated them, and went back to enjoying life. This is the kind of thing that gets me excited about the possibilities of technology and AI as a force multiplier, especially when working on side projects, "lifestyle" businesses, or even startups as a single founder.

No one wants to talk to an AI for customer support.

[deleted]

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#27

Post by unethical_ban » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:23 PM UTC

_se wrote: post #10

sklarsa wrote: post #5

I love the ending of this story, which isn't obvious from just looking at the title. The author identified key pain points around customer support, automated them, and went back to enjoying life. This is the kind of thing that gets me excited about the possibilities of technology and AI as a force multiplier, especially when working on side projects, "lifestyle" businesses, or even startups as a single founder.

No one wants to talk to an AI for customer support.

Broadly, I agree. And I am furious with Progressive insurance for requiring a smart phone/mobile app to file roadside assistance claims, and my inability to get someone real on a call.

But,

In this particular story, the people were asking questions that were answered in the instructions.

No one wants to waste their time answering stupid questions, particularly if they are a solo small shop who gets entitled people asking questions around the clock.

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#28

Post by rockbruno » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:24 PM UTC

fasteo wrote: post #14

Over the years I have had some good (to me) ideas for side projects, but I have always hesitated to build them rationalizing that the potential market was way too small (a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of developers). If anything, this post shows how wide - or deep - any internet niche is. Silly me.

Well, this is interesting because what you described is the best way to start a project. Trying to build something too broad from the get-go is very likely to fail, starting small/specific and expanding from there usually works considerably better. If you research famous large companies you'll find that almost all of them did precisely this.

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#29

Post by parpfish » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:25 PM UTC

_se wrote: post #10

sklarsa wrote: post #5

I love the ending of this story, which isn't obvious from just looking at the title. The author identified key pain points around customer support, automated them, and went back to enjoying life. This is the kind of thing that gets me excited about the possibilities of technology and AI as a force multiplier, especially when working on side projects, "lifestyle" businesses, or even startups as a single founder.

No one wants to talk to an AI for customer support.

i've gone back and forth on this over the last few months.

I started out thinking that we've all been conditioned by bad customer support chatbots whose only purpose is to look up facts from the FAQ and then tell you to call the real customer support line to actually handle your problem. the problem was that the chatbots weren't granted hee ability and authority to actually do things. wouldn't it be great if you could aks a bot to cancel your account or change your billing info and it would actually do it?

but then i realized... anything with a clearly defined process or workflow like that would be even better if it were just a form on an account settings page. why bother with a chatbot?

customer support lines run by humans exist for two reasons: - increase friction for things you don't want your user to do (like cancel their account without first hearing a bunch of sales pitches) - handle unanticipated problems that don't fit into the happy-path you've set up on the settings page

My worry is that business dudes will get excited about making chatbots that can do the former and they'll never trust an AI to be able to handle the later. So I'm now of the opinion that having AI customer support will only be used to make things worse.

Re: I've built my first successful side project, and I hate it

#30

Post by conradfr » Wed, Aug 21, 2024, 2:25 PM UTC

_se wrote: post #10

sklarsa wrote: post #5

I love the ending of this story, which isn't obvious from just looking at the title. The author identified key pain points around customer support, automated them, and went back to enjoying life. This is the kind of thing that gets me excited about the possibilities of technology and AI as a force multiplier, especially when working on side projects, "lifestyle" businesses, or even startups as a single founder.

No one wants to talk to an AI for customer support.

No one needs to know it's one ;)