It's probably true that not everyone can pull it off, but many evidently can. You don't need to excel at your day job, you just need to work hard enough to han

It's probably true that not everyone can pull it off, but many evidently can. You don't need to excel at your day job, you just need to work hard enough to hang on while exploring your side project. Speaking of, I don't think I've met a programmer without some kind of side project, so it's just a matter of how much effort you can put into it, and how good the idea is. If you have a family this will depend on how understanding your wife is, but I think it's safe to assume that anyone can but in an hour a day at least. Americans watch some 3 hours of TV a day, so time is not lacking.