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Side projects also help diversify your perspective. As a founder, I don't want people who are 100% invested in one thing. It sounds good at first, but you run i

by tyre 11y ago

Side projects also help diversify your perspective. As a founder, I don't want people who are 100% invested in one thing. It sounds good at first, but you run into burnout and narrow-mindedness very quickly. How can you be expected to see your product, company, mission, etc. as part of a larger world if it is your entire world? Most people I meet in SV cannot, and a large part appears to be what percent of their life is wrapped up in their work.

stevesearer 11y ago
I really enjoy my line of work, but sometimes the day-to-day work just isn't very creative so every few months I take some time to build a small project that has zero potential to be a "startup". The latest is just a database of local parks that will be sortable by the various features (bbq grills, play grounds, etc). The official city website was terrible, I'll get to have the joy of using it because it was something I wanted, and I learned a few new things about WordPress which is what I work in for my primary job.
- cableshaft 11y ago
  I've done that with games. I've taken breaks from working on my big, long game to work on something I could knock out in a week. My most popular game ever, Proximity, was one such side project that I conceived, built, and released within a week. Jonathan Blow's talk on Deep Work also recommends doing that to recharge your creative batteries and help break up a long project, and mentions a couple side projects he worked on during The Witness: https://vimeo.com/94259578 https://vimeo.com/94259578
- tyre 11y ago
  This is really cool! Coincidentally, our company builds software for local governments. What website were you looking at? We don't do that specifically, but we're friends with proudcity.com who do city websites.
- davidjnelson 11y ago
  I love these and do them too. I built an app to search craigslist in 2007 across multiple neighborhoods and regions and plot the results on a map. This was roughly 6 or 7 years before Craigslist added these features I think. I found a great apartment with it, as did some friends. Fun, and learned some cool stuff. Another one was a Wordpress plugin for Facebook comments before Facebook released the official one and the existing ones were hard to use. People loved it, and again I learned a lot. Side projects rock!

by tyre 11y ago

stevesearer 11y ago

I really enjoy my line of work, but sometimes the day-to-day work just isn't very creative so every few months I take some time to build a small project that has zero potential to be a "startup". The latest is just a database of local parks that will be sortable by the various features (bbq grills, play grounds, etc). The official city website was terrible, I'll get to have the joy of using it because it was something I wanted, and I learned a few new things about WordPress which is what I work in for my primary job.

cableshaft 11y ago
I've done that with games. I've taken breaks from working on my big, long game to work on something I could knock out in a week. My most popular game ever, Proximity, was one such side project that I conceived, built, and released within a week. Jonathan Blow's talk on Deep Work also recommends doing that to recharge your creative batteries and help break up a long project, and mentions a couple side projects he worked on during The Witness: https://vimeo.com/94259578 https://vimeo.com/94259578
tyre 11y ago
This is really cool! Coincidentally, our company builds software for local governments. What website were you looking at? We don't do that specifically, but we're friends with proudcity.com who do city websites.
davidjnelson 11y ago
I love these and do them too. I built an app to search craigslist in 2007 across multiple neighborhoods and regions and plot the results on a map. This was roughly 6 or 7 years before Craigslist added these features I think. I found a great apartment with it, as did some friends. Fun, and learned some cool stuff. Another one was a Wordpress plugin for Facebook comments before Facebook released the official one and the existing ones were hard to use. People loved it, and again I learned a lot. Side projects rock!