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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

#121

Post by baduiux »

danudey wrote: post #92

> I buy a domain name → I code for 3 all-nighters → I lose interest → I start again. That's ADHD for you. A former coworker of mine lamented this - "I start so many projects or hobbies, but just when I feel like I've learned a lot I lose interest". I had to point out to him that his hobby isn't - whatever, sheep shearing or book bindery or underwater basket weaving - but rather his hobby is learning things . That's a…

I called this Opportunity FOMO for myself. I always wish to jump on the bandwagon with the next idea/project instead of sticking to the one I currently work on.

I wrote a short blog post on this a few weeks ago: https://baduiux.de/posts/opportunity-fear-of-missing-out/

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

#123

Post by al_borland »

reactordev wrote: post #120
al_borland wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn’t think I had ADHD. Then I saw some video on autism that hit a little too close to home. I went and got tested, and just had them test for everything while I was at it, which included testing for ADHD. Turns out I do have ADHD. The more I learn about it, and autism, the more my entire life comes into focus. I have mixed feelings about finding this out late in life (early 40s). I do think there was a lot of val…

Aspb ‘83 baby, that’s 80s parenting for you. Boomers saying “Oh he’s just hyper” or “Oh he’s shy” or “Oh she’s just in her own world” and brushing it under the rug. Combine that with processed food additives of the 90s and I look exactly the same as I did in high school only with grey hair instead of brown!

I actually remember telling my dad in the late 80s or early 90s that I thought I had ADD after I first heard about it. He simply said, “no son of mine has ADD,” without even breaking stride. That was that. I was never a problem in school, so no one had any reason to question it and I moved on.

Funny enough, when I told my dad about the diagnosis, within 90 seconds he said, “I think I might have that too.” Then he went off and did a bunch of research. He doesn’t feel it’s worth getting a diagnosis in his 70s, but is pretty sure he has it as well after the research. Funny how life works out. This actually helped me forgive some of the harder parts of my childhood, as I could better understand where he was coming from.

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

#124

Post by quesera »

baduiux wrote: post #115
quesera wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do the same. And FWIW, your (our) paranoia is justifiable. As mentioned in another comment, GoDaddy is historically-notorious for front-running domain searches. ICANN tried to make that a bit less practical, but I just assume that they (and other sketchy registrars) still do it. If you search directly through whois (i.e. from the command line), you should be OK. That's been my strategy, and I think it works.

I decided for myself that there’s no need to buy a domain up front. I don’t even let myself look for potential domain names or start asking ChatGPT to provide me with some naming ideas. Most of the time, the project don’t even reach MVP state. During development and research I also learn more about my project and similar products thus helping me decide on a good name.

I agree that there's no need, and that yours is the reasonable approach.

That said, I often have project/product ideas at times when I cannot work on them. In fact, always. But I enjoy noodling on names and branding, and if I come up with a really good name that's available in .com, I register it.

I have revived project ideas 15-20 years later, and have been happy to have a great domain for it which would absolutely not have been available "now".

Of course I have many more domains that are patiently awaiting their prioritization.

The registration fees add up (and I do feel bad about reserving them for myself, although I've given a few away to persuasive requesters, and I've sold a few which, in aggregate, more than cover all of the registration fees).

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

#126

Post by bberenberg »

I build all kinds of “useless” stuff. Recently I did a LoungeBuddy clone[0]. Prior to that I made a bunch of other things you can see at [1]. I toss things on domains I happen to own if it makes sense. Sometimes they live on a path of an existing domain. If I don’t need the thing anymore I recycle the domain for something else. I’m fortunate enough that I can afford to pay this tax on my entertainment.

[0] https://www.tacavo.com/ [1] https://abrega.com

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

#127

Post by elpakal »

tnt128 wrote: post #119

My advice: It’s probably not that you’ve lost interest in your project — it’s more likely that you don’t know what to do next and you’re defaulting to your comfort zone: building the product. Here’s an easy way to test this: imagine your product suddenly takes off — it gets picked up on Reddit or Hacker News, you start getting lots of users and feedback. Would you still feel uninterested? Or would you find yourself e…

IDK, you can stay in builder mode on the same idea. I’m getting old now and I wonder if there’s something in this whole persistence/keeping at it thing VCs love to talk. Not because you eventually figure _it_ out, but because sticking with an idea makes people see you believe in it and then they eventually think they should check think about it.

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

#128

Post by presentation »

danudey wrote: post #92

> I buy a domain name → I code for 3 all-nighters → I lose interest → I start again. That's ADHD for you. A former coworker of mine lamented this - "I start so many projects or hobbies, but just when I feel like I've learned a lot I lose interest". I had to point out to him that his hobby isn't - whatever, sheep shearing or book bindery or underwater basket weaving - but rather his hobby is learning things . That's a…

No, I think it's just that actually shipping projects is harder than one imagines it, and the glow wears off relatively quickly.

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

#129

Post by presentation »

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…

I'm actually having some success now with the

> I buy a domain name → I set up a bug tracker → I spec out a bunch of tasks → I let Claude Code do the coding

Seems more sustainable to me than working a full-time job coding, then adding another coding side project. Nice change of pace to just be describing what I want my app to do (during my work day), then letting Claude Code buzz away while I do my day job.

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