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Haha, I love this list. I wish I remembered all the stuff I did. In the early days (2003) I was doing flash games on newgrounds. Later turned to a hockey card s

Haha, I love this list. I wish I remembered all the stuff I did. In the early days (2003) I was doing flash games on newgrounds. Later turned to a hockey card store. Then I tried a million-dollar-pixel ads clone (made nothing, big surprise). I also wasted too much time on stupid shit I never even launched. Like 1yr on a flash game of my dog (never launched). Another year on a site for musicians that never had a name or domain. A year on a bike rental directory. Another on a CMS for mobile sites (yeah m.domain sites, my timing sucked). A year or more on a trello-like project management app that sucked but launched with 100 beta users. I also did 10-20 launch pages for testing marketable ideas. Most didnt work, and a few that did I didnt want to do (stuff like automated browser testing). All that before hitting a product I've spent the last 4 years taking to six figures. So yeah, results vary. But I love this list. Brings back my good memories of wondering when I'd make more then 5 bucks on something that wasn't freelancing.

dedupely 8y ago
Oh I forgot. My "big break" product was actually from a mentor who needed the prduct. Had nothing to do with me hunting it down. Kind of funny actually. I can't really tell you what the secret to any success it accept seems that the more you work in the direction you want to go the closer you get. But some of it is just luck. Don't have any strong opinions for you.
- adventured 8y ago
  > I can't really tell you what the secret to any success You just did ;) Right here: > My "big break" product was actually from a mentor who needed the prduct. Had nothing to do with me hunting it down. That's one of the great secrets to success right there, build something that you already know someone needs. Considerably reduces the role of the luck factor and guess-work.
  - dedupely 8y ago
    True, you hit the nail on the head. All the new businesses I start (nowadays) comes down to: do we already have customers? Is there a real (proven) demand for this? Bottom line, can we prove that this won't be a waste of time? This is why I don't open the text editor and start new stuff that I come up with now days. I'm too traumatized from all the lessons I've learned to do that. Getting above water is the biggest hurtle. After that you realize that you don't need to touch anything that risks going nowhere.

dedupely 8y ago

Oh I forgot. My "big break" product was actually from a mentor who needed the prduct. Had nothing to do with me hunting it down. Kind of funny actually. I can't really tell you what the secret to any success it accept seems that the more you work in the direction you want to go the closer you get. But some of it is just luck. Don't have any strong opinions for you.

adventured 8y ago
> I can't really tell you what the secret to any success You just did ;) Right here: > My "big break" product was actually from a mentor who needed the prduct. Had nothing to do with me hunting it down. That's one of the great secrets to success right there, build something that you already know someone needs. Considerably reduces the role of the luck factor and guess-work.
- dedupely 8y ago
  True, you hit the nail on the head. All the new businesses I start (nowadays) comes down to: do we already have customers? Is there a real (proven) demand for this? Bottom line, can we prove that this won't be a waste of time? This is why I don't open the text editor and start new stuff that I come up with now days. I'm too traumatized from all the lessons I've learned to do that. Getting above water is the biggest hurtle. After that you realize that you don't need to touch anything that risks going nowhere.