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Ups and downs of a side project

jereze.com

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Re: Ups and downs of a side project

#41

Post by imhoguy »

bmitc wrote: post #2

I have several side projects. While I contribute to the ups and downs, the usual dagger that grinds things to a halt is hitting some bug in an open source library or language that I don't have the ability, expertise, what have you to fix. Inevitably, the library is maintained by one person who is minimally active, despite being used by tons of people, and so I just get stuck. Software is a very frustrating endeavor.…

I try to sort out the dependency issue with one of the following solution (order relevant)

1) fork and fix, submit PR and use my fork until PR is not merged, if ever;

2) find replacement;

3) remove it and find workaround to implement the user feature in other way;

4) just completely abandon the feature.

Re: Ups and downs of a side project

#42

Post by imhoguy »

revel wrote: post #30

It's not mentioned here but one of the biggest mistake experienced hires make on side projects is throwing out all the project planning that would normally be done if it was anyone else's project. Honestly, if you can't draw a stick 'n' box flow of what you'll build, you are, to put it mildly, highly unlikely to build it.

I could explain this as I was there many times - planning is not fun for a creator in passion.

The fun is to code some clever software solution and make it to work and show to friends or just keep for own pleasure, then boring stuff starts: user accounts, payments, maintenance, human contact, complaints, and here 99% of projects fail.

Re: Ups and downs of a side project

#43

Post by bob1029 »

tta wrote: post #40
bob1029 wrote: post #35

The article touches on organizing code which has an interesting aside for me. When I work on side projects, I certainly encounter periods of boredom or disengagement. What can help is to say something like "you know what... I am just going to rewrite this and make it much cleaner". Only feature parity. Not trying to force anything new or trick myself into solving a hard problem right now. Sometimes this simple cleanu…

I feel this too, and I've learned to accept that this is just the way my brain works. Once I've lost my motivation for a certain project there's really no point trying to force it back, and besides, this isn't such a bad thing. The whole point of a side project is that I can work on what I want, even if that means doing something new every 4-6 weeks. I create a "project" in my to-do list app for each side project, an…

> I have a low-friction starting point to jump back in, which makes all the difference.

This is potentially the most important idea raised so far.

Making smaller, deliberate steps can many times take you a lot further than 2-3 gigantic, messy sprints.

I don't beat myself up over "only 10 minutes" spent on the side project anymore. Even if no value-add occurs, as long as I didn't make things worse, I see it as a good experience.

Re: Ups and downs of a side project

#44

Post by xyzzy4747 »

vare2 wrote: post #28

I'm always curious as to how side projects that are so niche and targeted acquire users. I would like to ask the author how much time and effort he has dedicated to marketing and what he learnt from it.

The easiest way is to build something for an existing community where you are not disallowed from promoting your own stuff. Ideally you need a way to talk to a lot of target users without having to pay money on advertising.

As for ones that manage to gain users without latching onto an existing community, I'm wondering as well. Perhaps good SEO or searchable content generation?

Re: Ups and downs of a side project

#46

Post by cddotdotslash »

I've bootstrapped a side project before (in the B2B security space) which was later acquired. I had a _lot_ of ups and downs, but the "up" that consistently outweighed the downs was getting a new user and seeing them convert from free/trial to paid. There is something incredibly tangible and rewarding about seeing MRR increase.

Because of this, I approach side projects from the perspective of getting to revenue as quickly as possible, as opposed to, for example, hacking away at something just for fun or learning something new. Those are entirely valid reasons to start side projects, but I personally don't get the same motivation from them and have found myself quickly getting bored.

My personal preference is to focus on SMB/mid-size B2B SaaS with the goal of eventually replacing full-time job income. For me, consumer SaaS is too small - you're making $5-$20/month/user and therefore need 100s or 1000s of users to reach that goal. Enterprise SaaS is too difficult for a side project (sales cycles are too long/complex). Most mid-size companies are willing to pay a few hundred/month for a good service. As an example, if I can charge $300/month, I only need 50 customers to generate the equivalent income of a decent-paying tech job. The challenge, of course, is finding an idea that meets those requirements!

Re: Ups and downs of a side project

#47

Post by [deleted] »

cddotdotslash wrote: post #46

I've bootstrapped a side project before (in the B2B security space) which was later acquired. I had a _lot_ of ups and downs, but the "up" that consistently outweighed the downs was getting a new user and seeing them convert from free/trial to paid. There is something incredibly tangible and rewarding about seeing MRR increase. Because of this, I approach side projects from the perspective of getting to revenue as qu…

[deleted]

Re: Ups and downs of a side project

#48

Post by throwaway4aday »

bob1029 wrote: post #43
tta wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel this too, and I've learned to accept that this is just the way my brain works. Once I've lost my motivation for a certain project there's really no point trying to force it back, and besides, this isn't such a bad thing. The whole point of a side project is that I can work on what I want, even if that means doing something new every 4-6 weeks. I create a "project" in my to-do list app for each side project, an…

> I have a low-friction starting point to jump back in, which makes all the difference. This is potentially the most important idea raised so far. Making smaller, deliberate steps can many times take you a lot further than 2-3 gigantic, messy sprints. I don't beat myself up over "only 10 minutes" spent on the side project anymore. Even if no value-add occurs, as long as I didn't make things worse , I see it as a good…

> I don't beat myself up over "only 10 minutes" spent on the side project anymore

This is like the "1 pushup" rule for exercise. Stated briefly, you don't consider any day a loss where you have done even the smallest amount of deliberate work. This has many benefits, it makes for an easier on-ramp to doing the work since your goal for the day is the smallest possible amount of work. It builds the habit of doing something every day. It more often than not leads to doing a lot more work than the bare minimum. It builds a sense of achievement as you continue streaks of work and see progress. Most importantly, it actually does move you towards your big goals one tiny step at a time.

Re: Ups and downs of a side project

#49

Post by sum1ren »

nip wrote: post #18

It took me roughly 2 years to find "success" with my side-project / micro-saas: users using my product on a daily basis. I've found that the hardest part is the "post-launch" / "first-user" phase, where one needs to have the fire / resilience to keep building / marketing without (what it feels) anyone caring. Once the first users (and feedback) start coming in, it becomes much easier to keep shipping.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I definitely have given up on marketing/selling my projects after just a month or two of trying.

Going to try a little longer this time.

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