Unless you have a paying customer willing to pay you with just a promise of something to be delivered (see kickstarter et al, Steve Blanks's customer discovery, etc.), you don't. If it solves a problem you have and in a better way for you than other solutions then you personally get immediate value from it. From there, it's possible others may have the same problem and will be willing to pay for it. It's not guaranteed but the number of people getting value from the software will be at least n = 1.
Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
11–20 of 23 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
#12Unless you have a paying customer willing to pay you with just a promise of something to be delivered (see kickstarter et al, Steve Blanks's customer discovery, etc.), you don't. If it solves a problem you have and in a better way for you than other solutions then you personally get immediate value from it. From there, it's possible others may have the same problem and will be willing to pay for it. It's not guarante…
I pretty much have the same perspective, until unless it doesn’t solve my issue, I don’t really want to work on it
Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
#13You can't know the future value of a project. You will always learn things along the way, and it's important to consider the value of those lessons in your consideration. I've wasted far too much time in analysis paralysis, and not spent enough time trying things. Hopefully you can find a better balance.
Ahh I see your point
Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
#14As others have said, you don't know. But start with you: Are you building it because you want to build it, or because you want it? Are you in love with it as a project, or as a product? Is it something you want to use? Then, when you have it as a just-barely-usable thing, give it to a few people who have the same need. Get their feedback. Does it actually help them? If so, then you may have something.
I want to build it because I want it. In love with a building my own company, and I’ll actually use it. It’s something I want to work on, trying to get more and more users because it’s community driven.
Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
#15As others have said, you don't know. But start with you: Are you building it because you want to build it, or because you want it? Are you in love with it as a project, or as a product? Is it something you want to use? Then, when you have it as a just-barely-usable thing, give it to a few people who have the same need. Get their feedback. Does it actually help them? If so, then you may have something.
I want to build it because I want it. In love with a building my own company, and I’ll actually use it. It’s something I want to work on, trying to get more and more users because it’s community driven.
So yeah, I do think it solves a great issue at hand. It solves mine atleast. But it’s community driven, it’s not possible to make it effective with 3-4 users, need at least 30-40 people.
Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
#16For me, one signal has been whether the problems remain interesting even when progress is slow.
When working on complex systems (like anything involving long-running automation or agents), most of the real work happens in areas that don’t show up in demos: defining “done”, handling partial failures, and keeping behavior predictable.
If those problems are still worth thinking about after repeated failures, I take that as a sign the work itself is worth continuing.
Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
#17Is this an ad or a question?
I would say domain knowledge and experience. I've been in my industry for long enough to spot situations where my work will have disproportionate impact. The longer I am in this industry, the more knowledge, contacts and followers I have, so I can be very effective at building things, getting them validated, and finding users for it.
Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
#18Is this an ad or a question? I would say domain knowledge and experience. I've been in my industry for long enough to spot situations where my work will have disproportionate impact. The longer I am in this industry, the more knowledge, contacts and followers I have, so I can be very effective at building things, getting them validated, and finding users for it.
It's an ad.
You can tell because the product answers OP's question.
Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
#19For me, one signal has been whether the problems remain interesting even when progress is slow. When working on complex systems (like anything involving long-running automation or agents), most of the real work happens in areas that don’t show up in demos: defining “done”, handling partial failures, and keeping behavior predictable. If those problems are still worth thinking about after repeated failures, I take that…
That resonates a lot.
I’ve noticed the same thing: if the shape of the problem is still interesting after the novelty wears off and progress stalls, that’s usually the real signal. The visible demo work is easy; the hard part is exactly what you said—defining “done,” handling edge cases, and making systems behave consistently under stress. If those invisible constraints keep pulling you back, it’s usually because there’s something fundamentally worth building there.
Re: Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?
#20Is this an ad or a question? I would say domain knowledge and experience. I've been in my industry for long enough to spot situations where my work will have disproportionate impact. The longer I am in this industry, the more knowledge, contacts and followers I have, so I can be very effective at building things, getting them validated, and finding users for it.
It’s a bit of both.
I’m not in the industry or part of a company yet—I’m still on the younger side.
I’ve had many ideas and I work on them, but nothing really takes off. I keep coming back to the same question: is this worth it? Especially because every idea I have, I run it by my friends—they love it, I build it, they don’t use it, and I’m left with a dead project, a half-empty wallet, and goals I could have pushed further with if I hadn't taken up the project.
Bit of an ad because I am trying my best to get my product out there everywhere.