Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I spent two years launching tiny projects

tinyprojects.dev

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

181–190 of 199 posts

Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects

#181

Post by BurningPenguin »

petercooper wrote: post #90
dcchambers wrote: post #23

Does anyone let the tax implications of launching (several) tiny projects prevent them from even starting? I know LLCs allow for pass-through taxation and you don't have to file as a business, but I get frozen by the idea that generating a few hundred dollars in revenue from some silly side project means I have to spend hours/days of my time the next Spring figuring out how to properly pay taxes on it.

I know HN leans heavily US, but if anyone is in the UK, you can now earn up to £1000 in side income without having to declare it or file a self assessment tax return.

Damn, that's nice. In Germany it's enough to have the intention to make money outside of regular employment. You won't pay taxes until a certain amount is reached, but you'll have to get a business license and fill out tax forms every year. And if you don't register yourself as "Kleingewerbe" (small business below 22k €), then you'll have to do sales tax too.

There are lawyers and some very shady businesses, that sweep through the web and report anyone who doesn't comply to any kind of law. They actually make money with this. When i had a small business, i've got a cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer of a "competitor" because a single link in my imprint page wasn't clickable. I guess that's why so many people are afraid of starting a business...

Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects

#182

Post by vbezhenar »

danielvaughn wrote: post #92
marban wrote: post #46

I started my professional life ~25y ago with a side project that by 2022 led to roughly 50 more side projects — The vast majority failed, some turned into 200 employee businesses, some others got acquired. In essence, I make a living out of side projects. Side projects are life.

Your career is what I aspired to when I started in this industry over a decade ago. But what ended up happening was that I (a) worked full-time while dabbling on nights and weekends, (b) spent several years trying to decide which project I wanted to really pursue in earnest, and then (c) after picking the project, obsessing over it so much that I never felt it was ready to release. So it's...not going well so far lol…

Time is easy. Find a work with 20 hours/week schedule and a lifestyle to live for earned money. Should be possible for software developer. Now you have 20 hours a week without sacrificing free time (or more with sacrifices if you feel it worth it).

Choosing good idea worthy of implementation and finding enough inspiration to finish it is another matter.

Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects

#183

Post by FL33TW00D »

buf wrote: post #135

I also do the same as the author, but I only build websites with a clear monetization model. Every project I've done after my first successful one as been in an adjacent audience. Doing roughly $700k revenue yearly right now over the 2 main projects. Hopefully with a 3rd coming this summer. https://siliconvict.com/projects

700k solo?

Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects

#184

Post by aqme28 »

mft_ wrote: post #97

Have you written anywhere about the technology you use underneath - from languages to libraries to hosting? I’ve got a few ideas somewhere between just started and half-written, but I often grind to a halt when it comes to figuring out sensible hosting. As an amateur, the world of AWS vs. GCE vs. Azure vs. Heroku vs. many, many others is difficult, and there are scary stories about out of control costs abound.

Build on the easiest thing possible (probably Heroku or a competitor). If you have to worry scale and how you'll pay for it then, well that's a good problem to have. Most projects won't get to that point.

Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects

#185

Post by kirso »

acuozzo wrote: post #94
danielvaughn wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your career is what I aspired to when I started in this industry over a decade ago. But what ended up happening was that I (a) worked full-time while dabbling on nights and weekends, (b) spent several years trying to decide which project I wanted to really pursue in earnest, and then (c) after picking the project, obsessing over it so much that I never felt it was ready to release. So it's...not going well so far lol…

This is my story as well, more or less. Want to compare notes? Perhaps figuring out what we have in common would help us understand what we're doing wrong.

The main issue is world randomness.

You have no idea and irregardless of evidence that you have gathered if something will work or not. Based on this, it would be very bad to work on something for a year without knowing or getting frequent feedback (cash sent to your bank account by customers).

So the only way is to treat this like poker. You place several bets over a period of time (max 1 month). This way you launch 12 projects in a year and have a better success chance of hitting something that actually works. You have to place bets until the card is right, then you can go all-in.

Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects

#186

Post by cgg1 »

marban wrote: post #161
cgg1 wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you decide whether a side project/idea is worth pursuing? You mentioned in another comment that you don’t “do the MVP stuff” and go full blown from the beginning. That seems like a big time sink without a rigorous way of validating whether users want what you’re building.

Yes it is a time sink and I can't claim having a specific methodology but if you look at all the conflicting theories, literature and endless blog posts that have been written about validation, you might as well just trust your gut. My amateurish approach is to jot down every idea in a single line of a text file, then walk away. If the same idea or topic strikes me again, I give it a separate text file and write some…

Interesting. Thanks for taking the time to answer.

Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects

#187

Post by OJFord »

petercooper wrote: post #176
OJFord wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Now'? But yes, I was thinking of that ('entrepreneur's relief' I believe) too - it solves this problem nicely: don't worry about it until you know you're making money. (And also other problems like 'hang on I sold some old crap on eBay.. was that income')

Ha! I'm old enough that 2017, when the "trading allowance" was introduced, feels like a year or two ago.. :-| (Entrepreneurs' Relief was a thing that let you get reduced capital gains of 10% on up to £10m of proceeds from selling certain types of shareholdings or assets of a personal business. It's now called Business Asset Disposal Relief and has been decimated to just £1m.)

Oh, I wasn't trying to call 2017 distant - I thought it was much older than that and just had a name change or something.

Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects

#188

Post by jasonjmcghee »

hardwaresofton wrote: post #11

One thing I would have loved to read about is more about how they did market validation for these ideas. For a micro-bet strategy knowing which one (outside of really interesting projects that would trend on HN), it feels like market validation chops would be crucial. The author seems to be batting an insanely high average for just building things and having them actually get some traction, and be exit-able. > When I…

I was able to reach the author using Gmail, fwiw.

Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects

#189

Post by oliwary »

kokanee wrote: post #63
softwarebeware wrote: post #50

As someone who has written down probably 100's of little ideas over the years, and never built even a single one of them ... I applaud you

My problem is a bit different, and I'm curious if others can relate. I constantly have a project in the works, but once I solve the interesting technical hurdles and prove that the concept works, I suddenly think of a "better idea" and never actually release anything. I've been in this cycle for the better part of a decade now. But let me tell you, if my current project works out, I'll never have to work a W2 job aga…

This is exactly me. It is like I get bored as soon as I realize that I could do something, and move on to the next thing.

The book "Refuse to choose" was really enlightening to me, it talks about "scanners", people that have this attribute. I felt very seen and it taught me that this style of working can be an incredible strength.

https://www.amazon.ca/Refuse-Choose-Interests-Passions-Hobbi...

Post reply on HN