Apart from contract work, there's currently only one. It's called Snippets (http://www.snippets.eu). It replaces the caps lock key with note taking functionality.
Although I wouldn't call it profitable, still trying to figure out how to get traction.
Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
111–120 of 164 posts
Re: Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
#112I only have 1 side project, which is a utility for Windows laptops (a battery meter). It does about $1500 to $2k per month in sales. I've been thinking about expanding it to have a Enterprise (B2B) product. I'm trying to get another idea I have into a startup, but I haven't been able to get that off the ground.
Where is the self plug? I want to check it out! :P
Re: Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
#113NewsBlur - http://www.newsblur.com - a visual RSS feed reader with intelligence. I have a few hundred paying users and a few thousands free users. I develop it almost entirely on the train, which I'm on for almost an hour and a half everyday. It's a ton of work and is profitable in the sense that the hundreds of dollars a month in server costs are just a bit more than covered by the premium users. But otherwise, it d…
Very cool UI. May I ask what laptop you use for coding on the train? I spend ~2 hrs on the train everyday and have been trying to figure out what would be a good laptop to code on. I realize personal preferences play a role, but it seems like large laptop is a hassle to hold, and a small one is difficult to code on because of the smaller screen space.
A 15" MacBook Pro. So I bike 4 miles with this thing strapped to my back, then hop on the train (Caltrain, where bikes are treated like kings). I think I just got used to schlepping 5.5 lbs. around.
I recently came from NYC where I would use the same laptop on the A train. 15" is exactly the width of my legs and the seat, so I would comfortably take up my area, but no larger. I can't work on a dinky 13" screen, so 15" or bust for me.
Re: Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
#114Gumroad - http://gumroad.com/ - right now I'm trying to turn it from a million dollar business (current valuation) to a billion dollar one. :)
How does one discover things for sale on gumroad? I mean, processing the transaction is nice, but how do you help with marketing
Re: Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
#115Gumroad - http://gumroad.com/ - right now I'm trying to turn it from a million dollar business (current valuation) to a billion dollar one. :)
How does one discover things for sale on gumroad? I mean, processing the transaction is nice, but how do you help with marketing
Right now it's purely a product. There is no distribution built into it. It's more for those will followers/fans already.
Though if I execute, I could see myself building a distribution platform into it.
Re: Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
The valuation of the last round was greater than that. A combination of potential and % chance of reaching that potential. So really, plucked out of thin air by those with money :)
Seems to have very little traffic, when viewed in alex though.
Most traffic is on gumroad.appspot.com links for security.
Re: Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
#117I made a silly Mac vs. PC parody video with South Park characters for a college class final project that went viral and made me a few thousand dollars through various ad deals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id_kGL3M5Cg
Re: Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks! It's currently a third party screenshot service, but as I've had a lot of interest and good feedback, I'm now looking into setting up my own in-house screenshot system.
I wrote my own custom screenshot service. I have no idea how to monetize it but you can check out a demo here: http://yoursitemakesmebarf.com
Looks cool! Would you mind me picking your brain some time about how you set it up? My email is in my HN profile.
Re: Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
The OP asked about profitable side/weekend projects. This is a project I worked on on the side, and it made money. So why did my comment get downvoted?
Most awesome to-the-point short web design booklet, I bookmarked it the first time I saw it on HN some moths ago and visit religiously. I lost the bookmark at some point and made great efforts to find the site again. Great job. (I'm a programmer not designer but I like the instant gratification of the booklet. It's similar in feeling to http://bonsaiden.github.com/JavaScript-Garden/ for JS)
Thank you! I worked very hard to keep it short and useful, and it's nice to see that appreciated. Thanks, too, for the link to JavaScript Garden. I've only scanned it, but I love the table of contents and I know that will come in handy.
Re: Ask HN: What has been your most profitable side/weekend project to date?
#120Clean Up Your Mess ( http://www.visualmess.com/ ) is just a mini visual design tutorial and not a product, but it was a side project and it's made a few hundred bucks from amazon ads. I did not intend to make money from it, so it was nice surprise that I did.
How many people are visiting the page? I am curious to hear how much a well-targeted Amazon ad can extract from a visitor.
During the month where I made about $277, I had around 80k visitors.