How do you even find ideas for these?
IMO tiny ideas like this are mostly for fun and learning, they don't need to be unique. Build another take on a blog or a game or utility or whatever you like to do online, but put your own spin on it.
I spent two years launching tiny projects
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Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects
#62This is awesome and what I initially set out to do but always found a way to talk myself out of it. I dream big. I found a project to stick to "completion" but it took me two years to build alone. I've only lost money but it's been a wild ride of an experience. This tiny project approach sounds like a lot of fun and conveniently my project will help me down that path while I try to market my work.
Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects
#63As 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 again!
Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects
#64I 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.
What are some of your favorite stories from that life, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm not the person you're responding too but I thought I'd mention some of mine. I wrote a blog post called "How to Lose Money With 25 Years of Failed Businesses" where I discuss some of the little side hustles I've managed to kill over the years.
https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-fail...
I build a lot of tiny projects and Ben (original blog post) is inspiring me to get them better organized.
Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects
#65I love this post. Thanks Ben. It's especially generous to share pageviews and revenue numbers which are so frequently kept private. I didn't though understand this point from the post:
> One other weird downside is that .. I sometimes catch myself thinking "should I build something just for the upvotes".
Is the author saying the attention from social media sites like Hacker News sometimes seems like motivation enough to build the next project?
Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects
#66One 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…
Market validation might take more work than building a tiny project.
Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
With coding, I often find Antoine de Saint-Exupéry helping me to limit myself: "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
I feel like this quote is why I can't have a removable battery, a headphone jack and an sd card in a new phone.
Perhaps. I always assumed it had more to do with offering better waterproofing, but maybe that's naive.
Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects
#68As 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
Maybe, as a suggestion, launch a Notion page with your “100 side-project ideas I never got around to making” — perhaps this will get that juices flowing?
Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects
#69Properly want to vet ideas a bit before executing.
I actually agree with this. There are a bunch of low-cost ways to prototype and collect user feedback. The paper notebook idea could have started with surveying people and finding if anyone actually existed who say it would be useful and they would pay for it. Or even just launch a one-page product site with an email sign-up list to get notified when the alpha version releases and wait until it reached some critical…
> It's a paradox, but I've found that my best ideas now come from building other ideas.
Building and failing and building and failing might be a faster way of getting to something great than vetting, vetting, vetting, building, vetting, vetting building...
Re: I spent two years launching tiny projects
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are some of your favorite stories from that life, if you don't mind me asking?
I'm not the person you're responding too but I thought I'd mention some of mine. I wrote a blog post called "How to Lose Money With 25 Years of Failed Businesses" where I discuss some of the little side hustles I've managed to kill over the years. https://joeldare.com/how-to-lose-money-with-25-years-of-fail... I build a lot of tiny projects and Ben (original blog post) is inspiring me to get them better organized.
Besides maximising luck, the only real strategy I follow is buy low, sell high in a sense of keeping the burn low and counting on a win every 3-4 years that will create enough cash to finance the next period of failures — because what got you here won't get you there ...