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I launched 17 side projects. Result? I'm rich in expired domains

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Re: I launched 17 side projects. Result? I'm rich in expired domains

#51

Post by parpfish »

bugjoey wrote: post #41

I'm a person just like you, I have dozens of side-projects around. The difference is that I've never went "far" enough to buy domains for any of those. But I have a decent half-baked AI based investment portfolio manager, one month of hard work (nights/weekends) dreaming of selling it for a bank. Projects of such complexity are impossible for people stuck in the ordinary life (job/family). PS: I'm not complaining - I…

sounds like you just discovered a product niche: build an AI to do all your family stuff

Re: I launched 17 side projects. Result? I'm rich in expired domains

#53

Post by niklasbabel »

tldr: looking for a partner

i know how to start. i know how to ship. i don’t know how to pick what’s worth staying with.

and i still don’t know what my next thing is.

i’ve shipped real SaaS apps.

– https://truereviews.co // OAuth-based verified customer reviews.

– https://refersend.com // Referral tracking via email for non-digital industries.

– https://postpov.com AI-powered content machine for professionals with AI content simulation.

if you’re also in that “smart but tired” phase, DM me or reply. maybe we can get out of it together.

here’s the pattern: i sprint hard. i get it live. i stall.

not because I’m lazy. b/c promotion/selling burns me out way more than building.

i’m not some weekend hacker. i’ve been a Chief of Staff, a founder, a fixer, a builder. i’ve managed up, down, and sideways in a real company. i’ve coached teams. i’ve been coached. it’s helped friends escape the corporate treadmill.

i still don’t know what my next thing is.

i’m not writing this for pity. i’m writing it because i see myself in this post, and maybe someone else sees themselves in mine.

niklasbabel.com

Re: I launched 17 side projects. Result? I'm rich in expired domains

#54

Post by parpfish »

donatj wrote: post #25

I created a rule almost ten years ago that I won't buy the domain until I actually have something to host, and it's done me reasonably well. I however have a similar but more expensive problem, I develop side projects to an MVP and leave them up for literal decades with no one but myself using them, paying for the domain and hosting. I can't let things go. I rewrote a number of things in Go recently so they could sca…

if i search for a domain and it's available, i feel unreasonable pressure to buy it IMMEDIATELY.

I'm paranoid that some squatter can tell which domains i'm searching for and they'll swoop in and get it as soon as they know there's one interested party

Re: I launched 17 side projects. Result? I'm rich in expired domains

#56

Post by canadaduane »

hellojesus wrote: post #42
deadbabe wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I doubt this. You can learn endlessly and never get any closer to succeeding in something. It’s like the developer equivalent of people who keep reading business books and case studies and going to network events because they want to start a business. After 1 or 2 failed side projects, you should have learned roughly 80% of what you need to know. A few more might get you the next 20%, but 17 failed projects…

> Otherwise you spend your whole life chasing something that will probably never happen, and avoiding better opportunities. I'm also have a decent graveyard of domains. I've all but accepted that I'll never create anything of value in my life or even anything awesome. But the dark side of that is now there's no point to being alive, so I'm planning to die. What are these better opportunities you referenced? Anything…

This is brutally honest. In all seriousness, consider that external metrics are not the only way to value life. Economics looks from the outside and judges value. Art looks from the inside and expresses experience. Also, check out Internal Family Systems therapists. I'm learning a lot, and believe this is a very valuable line of inquiry into self & getting unstuck.

Re: I launched 17 side projects. Result? I'm rich in expired domains

#58

Post by cornfieldlabs »

> And the famous "anti-social media social network" (spoiler: it was just me).

Haha we are building one too!

Got any advice for us?

Here's the waitlist page with all the features: https://waitlist-tx.pages.dev

Email is in profile if you want to connect.

Thanks in advance!

I myself have left 6 domains expired over the last 4 years so you are not alone! 3 are from this year alone

Now a days I don't buy the domain until I have actually set up the server with the codebase. Project might get dropped just before that. It has happened

Edit: I feel validated after reading the replies. I am not alone!

Re: I launched 17 side projects. Result? I'm rich in expired domains

#59

Post by titusjohnson »

LeifCarrotson wrote: post #29

> I buy a domain name → I code for 3 all-nighters → I lose interest → I start again. At least you're actually doing the "I code for 3 all-nighters" step! I've stopped too many projects at the "I buy a domain name" stage, and added an intermediate "I create a Trello board" step between that and starting to write code. No need to pull all-nighters, which are hard to do with family and a full-time job, if all I need to…

> The problem seems to be that my brain gives me a dopamine buzz for merely _imagining_ accomplishing the project, whether or not I eventually implement, publish, and get users for the it.

I get this same buzz from talking about my projects. So today, I do not talk about anything I'm working on because I know I can drain myself of all motivation with one excited conversation.

If I want daydream fuel I buy a Powerball ticket for $2. I get the same dopamine rush doing fictional estate planning as I did spending $10=$50 on a domain and fantasizing about the project succeeding. The Powerball ticket also doesn't circle back around next year asking for more money.

I've also found that having a small homelab that can support Dokku or similar is also very helpful when I want to be productive. Deployable from Day 1 and after every change is a game changer for me, and deploying to an internal host lets me be lazy in all the right ways, as long as I keep track of the sins I commit (you can go a long, long way on a project before you have to add the boring boilerplate that is proper auth, for instance).

Re: I launched 17 side projects. Result? I'm rich in expired domains

#60

Post by cornfieldlabs »

jonplackett wrote: post #7

I have now reached the point where I won’t buy the domain name until I get a prototype ready. I’ve only bought one domain name since then and got the project out! I think the domain name is your reward for finishing your minimum viable product.

> I won’t buy the domain name until I get a prototype ready.

Me too. I learnt it after 6 expired domains

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