Ask HN: What makes you go for it?

From idea to implementation...

Do you go for something based on a technical analysis, market research, monetary potential, the start-up "ride", or just because it's fun to build something regardless of the outcome? Do you ever commit to a project knowing that even if you "fail miserably", you will still gain from the experience?

Obviously most people weigh multiple factors, but which carries the most weight in your decision?

I've realized two important things: that I am capable of making a lot of money from my own products, and that there can be important differences between ideas that impact the potential for the former.

I like to build things that improve on past or present solutions, mainly because the market is already there and you aren't pulling teeth to convince people they have a problem you are solving. I also am building products right now in the same space with my current company (simple web development and hosting tools/services).

But when I come up with a new product, it's largely something that I know can be made really simple to start, and then built on over time. If I can ship an MVP or proof of concept in a month or two of 20-40% full-time work I am satisfied. Anything longer than that and I risk making something no one wants.

I also try to learn and be better with every project I do. That means starting with libraries instead of building from scratch, or being more diligent about the architecture. One small example is that I used django-compressor on a recent project instead of hacking that myself. Another is baking referrals and drip email campaigns directly into the MVP instead of pushing this off.

The benefit is that the more you do this the more natural it becomes, to the point where you get higher quality in less time, but I don't dwell on the technical quality too much since your customers generally don't care, so it's a fine line.

At the end of the day though, the new products I've developed have largely been fits of desire to work on something new. Once my co-founder builds a design for it and I implement a simple PoC, the momentum pushes it to become reality.

The difference between what ideas I choose now and what I used to choose is I start looking ahead and see problems or opportunities related to the business model. Things like retention patterns, market potential, etc. I don't measure or predict these things with numbers because I think that's a waste of time, but since I've had experience with those issues, I can get a better feel for them before I start to work on a project.

Also, now that I've achieved and surpassed my initial desire to build my own company and hire a few people, my ambition is pushing me towards achieving bigger milestones. Some ideas are harder to grow than others.

I'm writing a book about this very topic so I'm very interested obviously :)