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Build apps not businesses.

sahillavingia.com

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Re: Build apps not businesses.

#21

Post by MicahWedemeyer »

It’s the ultimate resume

This is absolutely true, and the heart of the distinction. If you are happy with a regular job, then definitely go that route. Building weekend apps and such will keep you up-to-date and you'll be highly prized anywhere you go.

However! For many of us, we simply cannot be happy in a regular job. For whatever reason, it rankles and chafes us. For lost souls like this, we need to find a way to monetize and build businesses in order to escape.

I envy people who love their jobs. It seems like a simpler, more satisfying life. It's just never been that way for me.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#22

Post by locopati »

smokey221 wrote: post #20
tristan_juricek wrote: post #13

How many projects are only a couple of hours in length? I started down this road, and ended up with a list of "learning experiences"; nothing that I'd inflict upon anyone else. I guess I'd add "... but don't release it". If it's just to build up a portfolio, you can usually make the source code available and maybe a demo. I do like the idea of "programmer portfolios", however.

Oh yes, damn learning. That pesky little utterly useless thing. Heck burning for eternity in the fires of the underworld is preferable to having learning "inflicted" upon oneself.

I think he's saying that the result of his learning experience, while valuable to him, is not something that you or anyone else would find usable or enjoyable.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#23

Post by shantanubala »

flyosity wrote: post #14
zaidf wrote: post #9

Build businesses, not apps. But hey, whatever floats your boat is right.

Or build apps that may become profitable enough to turn into a business. Don't set off to build a business for the sake of building a business, build something for the sake of building it and then see how it goes.

I agree with you. But in a way, isn't that the 37Signals story? Basecamp was a byproduct of their consulting job -- something they just made for dogfooding. They realized they could make money and then released it as a business.

Along with the "build a business" mantra, they also build apps, but they are pretty quick at converting them into businesses when they see the opportunity. When they don't see a business opportunity, they do other things (like releasing Ruby on Rails)

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#24

Post by lancashire »

Surely it depends what your goal is.

You wouldn't leave your job to build apps, but you might to build a business.

Of course apps are fun to build. But making something profitable involves doing a lot of things which are not fun, marketing for example. At this point, someone simply making an app is likely to walk away and just build another. After all, their goal was simply to have fun.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#25

Post by chanux »

In the blog

David Heinemeier Hansson of 37Signals is known for lambasting businesses that seem oblivious to the concept of profitability. I don’t really agree with him.

In his website

About me

Short answer: I happen to like doing fun things for profit.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#26

Post by JonnieCache »

MicahWedemeyer wrote: post #21

It’s the ultimate resume This is absolutely true, and the heart of the distinction. If you are happy with a regular job, then definitely go that route. Building weekend apps and such will keep you up-to-date and you'll be highly prized anywhere you go. However! For many of us, we simply cannot be happy in a regular job. For whatever reason, it rankles and chafes us. For lost souls like this, we need to find a way to…

>I envy people who love their jobs. It seems like a simpler, more satisfying life. It's just never been that way for me.

We don't have some mental deficiency, absent in you, that stops us from hating our jobs. We have simply found jobs that we don't hate. Just like you.

Just because you are self-employed, doesn't mean that you don't have a job. And if you don't have a controlling share in your company any more, you aren't any more self employed than me.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#27

Post by doorty »

I think it comes down to what your motivations are--money or fun. Then there are companies like Twitter that have no obvious revenue model when they get started, so do you call it a business? And how often do the Twitters of this world really scale up enough to actually call themselves a business. Given you're a developer, you're going to focus more on the creation of the product. Whereas someone without those skills is going to approach it from a business perspective in all likelihood. If it's just a weekend project, I would say go have some fun with it. But if you're going to invest some time in it as a way to make a living, it's worth doing that ground work before you even get started to make sure people are willing to pay for it.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#28

Post by rick888 »

JonnieCache wrote: post #26
MicahWedemeyer wrote: post #21

It’s the ultimate resume This is absolutely true, and the heart of the distinction. If you are happy with a regular job, then definitely go that route. Building weekend apps and such will keep you up-to-date and you'll be highly prized anywhere you go. However! For many of us, we simply cannot be happy in a regular job. For whatever reason, it rankles and chafes us. For lost souls like this, we need to find a way to…

>I envy people who love their jobs. It seems like a simpler, more satisfying life. It's just never been that way for me. We don't have some mental deficiency, absent in you, that stops us from hating our jobs. We have simply found jobs that we don't hate. Just like you. Just because you are self-employed, doesn't mean that you don't have a job. And if you don't have a controlling share in your company any more, you a…

It's not just this.

I could have the best job in the world and because I'm not working for myself, I'm not going to be happy.

Re: Build apps not businesses.

#29

Post by JonnieCache »

rick888 wrote: post #28
JonnieCache wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I envy people who love their jobs. It seems like a simpler, more satisfying life. It's just never been that way for me. We don't have some mental deficiency, absent in you, that stops us from hating our jobs. We have simply found jobs that we don't hate. Just like you. Just because you are self-employed, doesn't mean that you don't have a job. And if you don't have a controlling share in your company any more, you a…

It's not just this. I could have the best job in the world and because I'm not working for myself, I'm not going to be happy.

>I could have the best job in the world and because I'm not working for myself, I'm not going to be happy.

This statement is not internally consistent. If it is the "best job in the world," then by definition you would be happy to do it. It reminds me of people who say things like "I like my chips to be TOO salty!" No you don't.

It also sounds like a self-imposed rule put in place for reasons of contrarianism, which would be deeply maladaptive and self-defeating, but as accusing people of contrarianism is becoming a bit of a meme round here, forget I said that.

EDIT: I appear to have been contrarian over the issue of accusing people of contrarianism. If the internet implodes in the next hour, my bad.

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