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5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
181–190 of 206 posts
Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
#182Maybe I have a different definition of "side project" and/or it's somehow a HN-bubble about articles like "I earned 100k with my side project", but for me a side project is exactly the opposite of what seems to be the target is the author: I have side project in my free time, because it is always about stuff I don't get paid for but I need somehow. Is it about software to use for me and my friends or to learn about something. But it is always under the premise of not gain any cent from it. And I understood articles about making money from a side project exactly about being lucky to start something without financial intension and gain money anyways. If course I would love to get money for my side project, but worth noting, that I don't get any attention on it anyways: for example I build esp-ena, a covid hardware tracker to be compatible with exposure notification framework. I don't want any money, it was I side project, but it was still a failure because it didn't get the attention I hoped for (that maybe someone starting to make this professional). So of course it was not about money, but I had bigger expectations than just being for myself. I'm the end I think, side projects should always stays something you create just for you and maybe it goes bigger, but when planning to make more than that out of it, you shouldn't make it a side project and start a business instead.
Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
#183Earlier quoted context omitted.
As Guy Kawasaki once said in Art of the Start : “You want to be high and on the right.” You make something everyone wants and is of great value, and only you can make it. The worst place is making something that 50 others do and is of no value to the customer.
The only problem is that pretty much anything I can do has been done a zillion times by others.
How thorough have you been in researching competitors? I'm willing to bet that there'll be some differences either in target market or execution. Even if it's effectively the same product maybe there's something they've missed which would give you a significant advantage early on?
Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
#184Earlier quoted context omitted.
This has been my experience. I'm working on an app that will be released in the next few months (we don't have a definite ship date, yet). It's based on two servers that I wrote. One, I wrote eleven or twelve years ago, and has become a world standard; but only in the last three years. Since it's a specialized demographic, the numbers are quite small, for "world standard." The other server is one that I wrote, about…
FWIW, there seems to be an issue with your contact form on rift walley software, here is what it looks like in mobile Safari: CONTACT US [contact-form-7 id="67" title="Contact form 1"] (
Sigh… I updated the plugin, and it seems to have borked.
Thanks. I’ll get on it. I may need to do a fairly significant site upgrade. I’ve been avoiding it.
Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
#185Building a product is easy but takes a lot of time, that's why you need some marketing skills and validate your product carefully before put your time into the product.
Btw, your story is not alone. There are thoundsand of products are built everyday and just a few of them get to the top of product hunt (yet still out of business).
Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
#186>> seeking financial independence
So, instead of being dependent on your employee, you are seeking to be dependent on a bunch of random people who you don't know anything about a.k.a. users. What could possibly go wrong,right.
Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
#187If the apps you have developed solved practical problems of yourself, they are not failed.
Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
#188Earlier quoted context omitted.
“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…
> I’ve seen plenty of companies start that way and succeed, even time tracker and job posts. That would be a good argument if you mentioned which ones.
https://clockify.me/about-us
>>Nothing fancy or intrusive. We just needed a record of how much time a certain project took in a certain month, and how much we need to bill clients.
Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
#189Earlier 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".
Sorry for an off-topic comment!
I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you for your work on SumatraPDF. My favorite, hands down.
(Following the link you posted, I realized you're the author.)
Re: 5 side projects in 6 years, earning $0
#190This is so true. Thanks for sharing! It reminds me of my own failures.
A few months ago I was thinking about my failed projects too and made a blog post with a few conclusions - "How to fail a project" - https://cornerbit.tech/how-to-fail-a-project/ ;)