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5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

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Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#101

Post by math-dev »

StevePerkins wrote: post #68

Maybe I'm just old and cranky and this is a generational thing, but when did "side project" become mixed up with "side hustle"? I think the dead horse has been beaten already in this thread, with what the author "should have done" in terms of market research, A/B testing, MVP, etc. No need for me to pile on further there. But what strikes me is that the author really seems to draw no distinction between personal side…

Superb Advice, thanks. I often get caught in the trap of having my feet in both buckets

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#102

Post by xeromal »

iamstupidsimple wrote: post #39
bufferoverflow wrote: post #31

Minimal metronome and minimal time tracker are close to useless, because the market is so saturated, and there are tons of free options. You need to start with validating your idea instead of wasting days/months on coding.

Also, I think we need to stop rewarding 'minimal' products. Like you said, there's no room for minimal time tracking, but there's definitely room for more high quality, feature-dense time tracking tools.

Yeah, my minimal time tracker is Excel.

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#103

Post by Stampo00 »

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but most people never manage to get passive income. I wish it was real, but it's about as common as winning the lottery and you're just burning the candle at both ends while you're doing it. I try to spend my free time doing stuff I enjoy rather than gambling it away for the hope of getting more free time later instead of having to work. I'm sorry.

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#104

Post by vhanda »

tessierashpool wrote: post #99
StevePerkins wrote: post #68

Maybe I'm just old and cranky and this is a generational thing, but when did "side project" become mixed up with "side hustle"? I think the dead horse has been beaten already in this thread, with what the author "should have done" in terms of market research, A/B testing, MVP, etc. No need for me to pile on further there. But what strikes me is that the author really seems to draw no distinction between personal side…

I've gone in the opposite direction. my latest side project is costing me money. but it gives me a dev superpower, so I don't mind. this is a blatant plug, sorry, but here's my newfound superpower: I built forkfreshness.com so that, whenever I find an abandoned repo that would otherwise be perfect for whatever I'm working on, I can find out exactly what downstream forks exist, who's keeping those forks alive, and how…

forkfreshness seems like a really nice idea.

I have a repo[0] where I would like to check how active any of the forks are, just to see what they have done with the project, and/or speak with them about contributing upstream. I noticed that just adjusting the URL[1] did not work, however since running this website is costing your money, I don't feel comfortable asking you to add it.

Is there any chance you would feel comfortable open sourcing the code? (It can even be under some kind of fair-code license)

[0] http://github.com/GitJournal/GitJournal

[1] https://forkfreshness.com/GitJournal/GitJournal

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#106

Post by herval »

kjksf wrote: post #38
herval wrote: post #15

All these have a thing in common: he gave up because they weren’t immediate successes. Some even had traction: 5 users in 3 months isn’t the incredible outlier story you hear time and time again, but it’s 5 people you can talk to, listen to what they want (and why they signed up anyway), then you gear up from there. We’re too conditioned to believe in the stories of immediate success and MVPs making tens of thousands…

I don't think "just stick with it" is a good advice in general and especially not for his projects. He was smart to abandon his minimal time tracker, minimal metronome and jobs website. BTW: he didn't get 5 users for minimal time tracker, he got 5 people who signed up for a mailing list based on screenshots of non-existing product. Even smarter would be to not do such projects in the first place. With jobs websites y…

“Stick with it” is by no means what I said. A time tracker isn’t an end-all product - you start with it, then spiral out based on customer feedback. I’ve seen plenty of companies start that way and succeed, even time tracker and job posts.

High competition is also not a red flag by definition. It’s a strong indication that the market exists, and as a solo or bootstrapped founder, that’s a HUGE time & money saver.

Low value to users isn’t necessarily a issue on itself either - you start with something with low value, then value-add as you grow. There’s room in the world for vitamins and painkillers.

There’s room in the world for red sea strategies and blue ocean strategies. In none of these worlds is “not doing projects in the first place” a good idea though, no matter if they fail. The best way to never succeed is to keep dreaming and never try :)

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#108

Post by Igelau »

bufferoverflow wrote: post #31

Minimal metronome and minimal time tracker are close to useless, because the market is so saturated, and there are tons of free options. You need to start with validating your idea instead of wasting days/months on coding.

Tell that to those guys who made the 1500 slot machines.

Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0

#109

Post by herval »

kjksf wrote: post #73
zeroc8 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only problem is that pretty much anything I can do has been done a zillion times by others.

I doubt that's true. I have literally hundreds of ideas. As an experiment I put them on a website for anyone to see and "steal": https://blog.kowalczyk.info/article/e4132d5a44014b2aad81d815... I'm not saying those are all great, profitable ideas. I'm saying that they are doable by a competent programmer and unique enough. Certainly not "done a zillion times by others".

Almost all the “ideas” in your list are “make X with Y”. They’re not unique by definition. It’s a nice exercise for the brain, but you won’t really ship anything people use that way.
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