I know EXACTLY what you mean! A short story... A few years ago I built a web/mobile app for local resource sharing. Books, tools, etc. It looked great, felt g

I know EXACTLY what you mean! A short story... A few years ago I built a web/mobile app for local resource sharing. Books, tools, etc. It looked great, felt great and had a few decent reviews. But I was building it with a big mental flaw: I avoided selling/marketing the thing. I was convinced that "organic" growth would make for a healthier marketplace. Given the opportunity to go "network" or even share the idea in a public forum or work on a bug/feature...you'd find me centered in emacs coding away. Needless to say, I had to spin it down after failing to grow the community but successfully growing a hole in my pocket. Fast forward a few years later. I'm fully employed and enjoy my work but still have the itch to build something of my own. This time, I want to learn from my previous mistakes so I start dreaming up projects that will FORCE me to get better at those skills I was avoiding (selling/marketing). Something where I wouldn't be tempted with feature-creep. That project is https://24hourhomepage.com https://24hourhomepage.com and I recently gave a talk about all these feelings/learnings at js.la: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8WFZ4b7s4Y https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8WFZ4b7s4Y To summarize: - Design a project you find fun, provides value for others and is easy enough to maintain/grow on your nights/weekends - Hold yourself publicly accountable. I've been writing my learnings every week since launch (launch post: https://higgins.medium.com/24hourhomepage-com-an-experiment-in-advertising-sales-and-uncomfortable-work-d4b3864a3fb6 https://higgins.medium.com/24hourhomepage-com-an-experiment-...) - Try "Rejection Therapy"! Seriously, this helps me so much in getting over those moments of hesitation asking for "the sale" - Try a public challenge like http://100in100.co http://100in100.co. You'll get grouped with other entrepreneurs who are learning just like you - Determine who your "big fish" user/customer is and don't give up on getting them to join until they explicitly tell you they aren't interested. - Talk to experts about your journey. I interviewed 15+ professional marketers http://netnetsynergy.com/ http://netnetsynergy.com/ just to get a feel for how I could be doing better. - Don't give up! Maybe you need to take a large break, but you'll come back recharged and with new ideas. Honestly, this whole journey has given me a new appreciation for the mental "grit" of salespeople who can go for large periods without a sale. I hope you come up with a fun sales project; let HN know when you do!