5 ms·

Ask HN: What is your most profitable side project?

59 points by laksmanv 11y ago

rileyt 11y ago
$0, but my most successful is definitely standardresume.co. I'd be interested to hear how people with profitable side projects went from side project to profitability.
- jordsmi 11y ago
  Thanks for this, I'm about to use it. Was actually working on a resume and this is perfect timing.
- mod 11y ago
  I have a profitable side project. It was never a non-profitable side project. I built it for paying customers.
- orky56 11y ago
  I'm not job seeking at the moment but when I was, I would have paid for a site like this that would allow me to create tailored resumes for each application, manage the list, and ideally have some version control. Might be outside the scope of what you were working on but definitely a way to go from side project to side business. Contact me if you'd like more feedback.
matthewarkin 11y ago
Commencepayments.com, costs me $40 a month to run (though if I wasn't lazy I could drop it significantly - $20 for heroku + ssl and $20 for cloudflare) launched last February and just hit the $1000 mark!
- znpy 11y ago
  What Heroku services are you using ?
  - matthewarkin 11y ago
    Their SSL endpoint, I plan on just moving to an ec2 instance
    - rowofpixels 11y ago
      I'm pretty sure you can use cloudflare's free ssl with heroku at this point.
      - matthewarkin 11y ago
        yeah, but I wanted SSL for the complete trip, free SSL would terminate at Cloudflare leaving the connection from Cloudflare to Heroku not-protected (which would be questionable from a PCI perspective). And then for some reason, I couldn't get the connection from Cloudflare to Heroku to work under the *.herokuapp.com ssl cert.
    - kirankn 11y ago
      @matthewarkin You may want to use letsencrypt.org for SSL and save further on costs
      - matthewarkin 11y ago
        the ssl itself was only $10/year, the $20/month heroku charges you to use a custom ssl cert.
- nambante 11y ago
  and why wouldn't I use Stripe directly?
  - matthewarkin 11y ago
    You can, just not everyone has access or the ability to write server-side code. For instance if you used Wix, Squarespace, some generic website builder you often have no access to the underlying server-side code.
- tixocloud 11y ago
  Very nice. Very cool! How did you start getting customers in the first place?
  - matthewarkin 11y ago
    a lot of time spent in Stripe's IRC chat room, recommendations from Stripe support to users
roedog 11y ago
It's not tech. It's a rental property.
- preetnation 11y ago
  word
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
apryldelancey 11y ago
My most enjoyable is williseeashark.com and the point hasn't been profit as it's really a passion project. It looks at shark behavior along the California coast by compiling data from scientists, social media and fishing/whale watching boats. I have quite a bit planned for it in the future.
itengelhardt 11y ago
For me this is https://www.LinksSpy.com https://www.LinksSpy.com - a CRM for getting white-hat inbound links. I started it in April 2014 and it's making about $1,000/month. Haven't invested time into it (busy day job) in the past 2-3 months. I've got a bunch of ideas how to grow it, but time is a serious constraint
tylercubell 11y ago
http://jekyllthemes.io http://jekyllthemes.io - 3 months old and making ~$50/mo through Adsense and affiliate links. Hosting is free for the next year from AWS and the domain is $30/year.
- stadeschuldt 11y ago
  How many visitors/page impressions do have on average?
  - tylercubell 11y ago
    15k impressions per month on average.
andersthue 11y ago
Mine is http://www.watermark-image.com http://www.watermark-image.com a windows downloadable watermarker - oldschool but still making more than $1000 a month :) I am using the income to help fund my new project http://timeblock.com http://timeblock.com a resource/time management and project overview system that is made with a makers schedule in mind!
akulbe 11y ago
Does this question only cover products? I was doing side work for two companies, and I quit my job of 8 1/2 years to go full-time independent, doing automation and sysadmin stuff for them, have a couple more customers coming on too. Gave myself a HUGE increase _after_ taxes and insurance. To clarify, I have signed contracts that are committing to certain lengths of time. It's not something that I would have quit my day job for, without a significant part of the risks mitigated.
keade 11y ago
Mine is http://www.boxo.coffee http://www.boxo.coffee - monthly coffee exploration. Started this while living in Hong Kong as a way to bring in coffee from the popular roasters in the USA, and expanded to the states within 8 months. Good times so far, and it's still a side project. Used the profits from the HK side of the business to launch USA side.

59 points by laksmanv 11y ago

$0, but my most successful is definitely standardresume.co. I'd be interested to hear how people with profitable side projects went from side project to profitability.

jordsmi 11y ago
Thanks for this, I'm about to use it. Was actually working on a resume and this is perfect timing.
mod 11y ago
I have a profitable side project. It was never a non-profitable side project. I built it for paying customers.
orky56 11y ago
I'm not job seeking at the moment but when I was, I would have paid for a site like this that would allow me to create tailored resumes for each application, manage the list, and ideally have some version control. Might be outside the scope of what you were working on but definitely a way to go from side project to side business. Contact me if you'd like more feedback.

matthewarkin 11y ago

Commencepayments.com, costs me $40 a month to run (though if I wasn't lazy I could drop it significantly - $20 for heroku + ssl and $20 for cloudflare) launched last February and just hit the $1000 mark!

znpy 11y ago
What Heroku services are you using ?
- matthewarkin 11y ago
  Their SSL endpoint, I plan on just moving to an ec2 instance
  - rowofpixels 11y ago
    I'm pretty sure you can use cloudflare's free ssl with heroku at this point.
    - matthewarkin 11y ago
      yeah, but I wanted SSL for the complete trip, free SSL would terminate at Cloudflare leaving the connection from Cloudflare to Heroku not-protected (which would be questionable from a PCI perspective). And then for some reason, I couldn't get the connection from Cloudflare to Heroku to work under the *.herokuapp.com ssl cert.
  - kirankn 11y ago
    @matthewarkin You may want to use letsencrypt.org for SSL and save further on costs
    - matthewarkin 11y ago
      the ssl itself was only $10/year, the $20/month heroku charges you to use a custom ssl cert.
nambante 11y ago
and why wouldn't I use Stripe directly?
- matthewarkin 11y ago
  You can, just not everyone has access or the ability to write server-side code. For instance if you used Wix, Squarespace, some generic website builder you often have no access to the underlying server-side code.
tixocloud 11y ago
Very nice. Very cool! How did you start getting customers in the first place?
- matthewarkin 11y ago
  a lot of time spent in Stripe's IRC chat room, recommendations from Stripe support to users

roedog 11y ago

It's not tech. It's a rental property.

preetnation 11y ago
word

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

apryldelancey 11y ago

My most enjoyable is williseeashark.com and the point hasn't been profit as it's really a passion project. It looks at shark behavior along the California coast by compiling data from scientists, social media and fishing/whale watching boats. I have quite a bit planned for it in the future.

itengelhardt 11y ago

For me this is https://www.LinksSpy.com https://www.LinksSpy.com - a CRM for getting white-hat inbound links. I started it in April 2014 and it's making about $1,000/month. Haven't invested time into it (busy day job) in the past 2-3 months. I've got a bunch of ideas how to grow it, but time is a serious constraint

tylercubell 11y ago

http://jekyllthemes.io http://jekyllthemes.io - 3 months old and making ~$50/mo through Adsense and affiliate links. Hosting is free for the next year from AWS and the domain is $30/year.

stadeschuldt 11y ago
How many visitors/page impressions do have on average?
- tylercubell 11y ago
  15k impressions per month on average.

andersthue 11y ago

Mine is http://www.watermark-image.com http://www.watermark-image.com a windows downloadable watermarker - oldschool but still making more than $1000 a month :) I am using the income to help fund my new project http://timeblock.com http://timeblock.com a resource/time management and project overview system that is made with a makers schedule in mind!

akulbe 11y ago

Does this question only cover products? I was doing side work for two companies, and I quit my job of 8 1/2 years to go full-time independent, doing automation and sysadmin stuff for them, have a couple more customers coming on too. Gave myself a HUGE increase _after_ taxes and insurance. To clarify, I have signed contracts that are committing to certain lengths of time. It's not something that I would have quit my day job for, without a significant part of the risks mitigated.

keade 11y ago

Mine is http://www.boxo.coffee http://www.boxo.coffee - monthly coffee exploration. Started this while living in Hong Kong as a way to bring in coffee from the popular roasters in the USA, and expanded to the states within 8 months. Good times so far, and it's still a side project. Used the profits from the HK side of the business to launch USA side.