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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

#211

Post by kassner »

palata wrote: post #172

IMO building a side project with the goal that it will take off (and to hopefully get rich) is not the right motivation. Spoiler: it probably won't take off and you probably won't get rich. Minor survivorship bias. Work on a side project because it's interesting (e.g. you want to learn the tech) or because it's useful to you (i.e. you want to use it). Not because it may make you rich. In the former case, you may lose…

My most successful side project to date is one that has “always-free, no-ads” as a motto, so it will always be a money sink.

Sometimes I spend a week refactoring core stuff, sometimes it stays forgotten for months on end. I still come back to it when I want to test some ideas, mostly because it has a decent chunk of data to feel I’m “solving problems at scale”.

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

#212

Post by al_borland »

b800h wrote: post #185
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…

I felt the same when I discovered I was a Gemini. Come on - someone has created a category which describes a group of people in a fairly self-consistent way. Of course a large number of people will spot it and say: "Finally! The agency lies outside of me! My struggles are no longer my fault!" But they never were in the first place, and being in a category doesn't change your responsibility to do the best with what yo…

Where did I say I was absolved of responsibility to do my best? In real life, I’d told fewer than 6 people about the diagnosis. I haven’t told my bosses and have no plans to. I’m not looking to game the system to lower the bar for myself. I was simply looking to understand myself better. I even said it was probably good I didn’t know when I was younger, as it forced me to not use it as an excuse.

I ran into situations countless times where I have things that had a big negative experience on my life and when talking to others, people just looked at me weird; they couldn’t relate. My sister was the only one who ever got it (her doctor has suggested she get tested, but she hasn’t done it yet). When I stumbled across people talking about their experiences with AuDHD, for the first time in 40 years I heard other people saying the same stuff I was trying to say, when others just looked at my like a weirdo. It’s not about looking for what to blame, it was about finding out I wasn’t the only one dealing with some of this stuff, which is how it felt for the vast majority of my life.

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

#213

Post by kassner »

heathrow83829 wrote: post #71

is anyone else here tired of building products for which there is little to no demand? What if we started with a product idea for which we know there is demand for: things people are already paying money for. For example: apples, or tires, or etc. something you know people are paying money for. and then try and either build that product or another product that makes building the product easier.

That’s called product-market fit (PMF), and once any product reaches that stage (in other words: it’s proven that people will spend money in such solution), it’s a race to the bottom in terms of costs/building it cheap.

Unless your market is location-dependent, most of the time the incumbents have waaay more experience, so the only advantage you can bring to the market is a lower price, as the first expansion any incumbent will do is to higher the price band with better quality offerings.

Think about stuff like an Air Fryer. Convection ovens had been in the market for several decades. Someone (Philips? I’m not sure they were the first) proved there is a market for a smaller counter-top convection oven and all of the sudden there are Air Fryers from literally any supermarket brand out there.

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

#214

Post by prawn »

dcminter wrote: post #30
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…

Upvoted, but just in a friendly "hello, I recognise myself in this comment" sort of way :) I currently have a little stack of index cards with in-play projects scrawled on them and at the end of the year the plan is to weed those and shut down any resources that aren't required for the ones still in the list. Hmm, maybe I need a domain name for that though... One thing I will add is that it's ok to recognise that one…

It's hardly the worst hobby to have. Maybe one goes somewhere? That doesn't really happen if the alternative is working through the list of TV shows people have mentioned.

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

#215

Post by dudeWithAMood »

devoutsalsa wrote: post #183
dudeWithAMood wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How did you figure out that was available? Searching just for, "github" on domain searches didn't pop that up but you were correct. I scooped that up because I could :)

Haha, I just looked on a domain registrar. Maybe Microsoft will buy it from you :)

We'll see what happens!

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

#216

Post by b112 »

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…

This is a downside?!

You can bed unlimited lovers, all in a moment's thought! You can win the lottery a thousandfold, all before eating breakfast! You can win arguments, all in your mind, even whilst loosing them!

Success!!

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

#217

Post by al_borland »

rkachowski wrote: post #194
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…

What kind of tests are these that can identify such disorders? In the culture and country I'm from, everyone I know with a similar diagnosis has had to go through a path of "decide what you have, battle the gatekeepers until they relent". This isn't just cynicism and shopping for desired results but the result of a medical system where professionals are guardians of insurance spend rather than fonts of advice. The id…

Pulling up my results, these are some of the named tests that were administered, with a short summary of what it's for (after asking Chat-GPT what they're all for.

- WAIS-IV (full scale IQ)

- WRAML-3 (memory)

- CPT-3 (ADHD - selective attention, impulsivity, and vigilance)

- BDEFS-SR (ADHD - executive functioning deficits in daily life activities, including self-management to time, self-organization, self-restraint, self-motivation, and emotional self-regulation)

- DKEFS (higher-level cognitive functions related to executive functioning)

- ADOS-2 (Module 4) (ASD - diagnostic tool for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in adults)

- SRS-2 (ASD - social impairment)

- PAI (inventory that assesses personality traits and psychopathology - self-report)

- Beck Depression Inventory (depression - self-report)

- Beck Anxiety Inventory (anxiety - self-report)

I think there was more than this, but I wasn't counting. It was about 4 hours of test after test after test. I was told it would take 4-6 hours; I think I finished slightly under 4 hours, taking no breaks.

During the test when I asked what various things were for, they wouldn't tell me, so I don't know which test was for what. There was one that was pretty clearly for ADHD, it was on the computer and to hit space bar or something each time something came up on the screen at random intervals. That was the worst one. I sucked at it.

When getting the results, I spent most of the time asking if I could have gamed it, or if they were just a mill for handing these things out to anyone who seemed like they wanted it. I was told that since it is a mix of quantitative vs qualitative testing, with multiple tests that all have to align for a diagnosis, it would be nearly impossible to do that.

Some testing centers have online screening test, which are going to be better than the Buzzfeed style quizzes. But they are largely self-reports. For me, they were pretty accurate. For my dad, they seemed less accurate, as he has a lifetime of skills built up to help manage things and was taking all those into account. During testing some of those things came up, where they'd ask if I had an issue with X, and the answer was no, but it was because I did Y to make sure that didn't happen, which they said would be a coping mechanism or something.

I have heard some of the things you have about it being hard to get tested. For me, in the US, it was pretty easy. It did still take about 6 months, and cost me about $3k (I think) out of pocket. Insurance didn't cover it. But cost and waiting aside, there weren't any roadblocks standing in my way.

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

#218

Post by al_borland »

southernplaces7 wrote: post #205
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…

What kind of testing for ADHD was given to you? Or more specifically, from what you've learned, what helped you diagnose it best? Even more importantly, what has helped you manage it better afterwards?

I talk about the testing a bit here[0].

YouTube was actually the most helpful thing in getting me to the point where I felt testing for a diagnosis would be a good idea. There are a lot of channels out there from people who have this stuff who talk about their experiences. I found this much more helpful than reading the diagnostic criteria. While I did read the section of the DSM on ASD, I had to pair that with ChatGPT to ask for example of how this stuff presents in actual life. People on YouTube were a good source of seeing what people deal with and getting these real world examples of how things present, and I saw a lot of alignment to what they were talking about in my own life.

I'm scored pretty high in masking (hiding what's going on), so it's not something others usually pick up on me. Having ASD and ADHD, they can kind of help compensate for each other, so that can also lead to things hiding a bit to the outside world. I talked to a therapist for 2 years before this was even on my radar. I mentioned the possibility to him, and he was like... I don't see it, and then didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore. He was big into just blaming my dad for nearly everything. However, during several of our sessions over those 2 years we'd have a disagreement, where I'd try to explain what I'm feeling and he'd be like, "no, it's this." I'd tell him he wasn't understanding and try to explain further, and he just wouldn't get it. Back and forth for 30+ minutes. It was infuriating. Then as I was watching some of these videos that talked about neurotypical introverts vs autistic people, they basically said the introverts thought the way the therapist did, while people with autism tend to think the way I was arguing. So that's why he wasn't understanding me; he had the wrong framework for understanding the problem. There were many such examples like this in talking to him, but also throughout my whole life.

In terms of management, I haven't done much yet. I think I'm still in the period of processing it and finding it nice to take a break from searching for what the problem is after decades of looking. I feel like when I look at the typical advice, it's a lot of stuff I've already tried over the years from reading various books or taking various courses. I have a theory that the entire self-help genre is being fueled by people with undiagnosed ASD and ADHD. I quit therapy with the person I was seeing the day before getting my results. If I had it, he didn't seem like he could help me with it after brushing it aside for 6 months while I waiting for testing. If I didn't have it, I didn't feel like I was getting any value out of the sessions at all, so it was pointless. The places that did the testing said they had therapists, who would probably be better, but when I emailed the person she didn't reply back. I never followed up, so that's probably on me.

I haven't tried any meds for the ADHD, I'd have to talk to doctors about that. I'm on the fence on the whole idea. I've made it this far without them. I've also worked with people while they were trying to get their meds dialed in, and it was a nightmare. There are some valid arguments on both sides.

For the ASD there are no meds, as far as I understand. I probably need to force myself to go out into the world more. The pandemic really gave me an excuse to be alone all the time and 5 years later I haven't really stopped. I feel like it's making it worse, because I'm more out of practice of how to be around people.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44745215

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

#219

Post by lbhdc »

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…

This is me. After I hit ~70 domains, I realized I needed to stop. Now, I have since pared that down considerably, and instead add all of the domains I like to a "wishlist" so I can come back to them (I never do).

Then for my project ideas, I find writing them out to really be what scatches most of the itch for me. I get to think through the problem, think about how I could implement it, maybe even do a little exploring of tech I could use to solve the problem.

For the vast majority of the ideas I don't circle back. For some ideas I will come back a few times and iterate on the plans and designs, but still never build it. And even fewer I actually build. Its all of the fun, without feeling like I can never finish a project. Instead I feel like I can't start them.

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

#220

Post by expatrick »

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…

Thanks for this comment. I love this - it is a very kind and self caring way of thinking about it especially on dreaded annual domain renewal day
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