3 ms·

What do you think? Do I have a point? Am I way off?

dpatrick86 13y ago
> BRAG UNTIL YOU FAIL See: http://lifehacker.com/5921478/shhh-keeping-quiet-may-help-you-achieve-your-goals/all http://lifehacker.com/5921478/shhh-keeping-quiet-may-help-yo... In my opinion, the truth may be somewhere in the middle and is probably context dependent (surprise!).
- cpncrunch 13y ago
  Interesting. I generally don't tell many people about my projects. However that's just the type of person I am - I don't like attention. As mentioned above, I don't have any problem finishing projects. (I work for myself, so I have to be self-motivated and be able to finish crap :) However I think keeping quiet can actually be a negative in this business. Blowing your own trumpet seems to be a good way to generate hype and funding (which then generates more hype), and that can sometimes be enough to propel a startup to huge success.
  - dpatrick86 13y ago
    Your last point is a good one, but if the person we're talking about doesn't complete projects what's the point of blowing a trumpet about it? Not disagreeing with you, just offering another perspective. Like I said, I think the truth is somewhere in the middle and is probably a bit more complex. FTA I linked: > Four different tests of 63 people found that those who kept their intentions private were more likely to achieve them than those who made them public and were acknowledged by others. [...] Once you've told people of your intentions, it gives you a "premature sense of completeness."
    - xur17 13y ago
      Marketing is a large part of the success of a side project, so while keeping your intentions private may make you more likely to complete your side projects, it's not as likely to make them 'successful' and get you users. Like you said, the trick is probably somewhere in between.
cpncrunch 13y ago
First, your website isn't working, but I managed to read the article here: https://medium.com/p/bf39d3424114 https://medium.com/p/bf39d3424114 My myself, I don't have a problem finishing my side-projects. The problem is actually getting people to use them once I have completed them. You just can't predict what will be successful (twitter is an excellent example, as well as whatsapp, instagram, etc). For myself I was quite lucky in that my very first side-project took off and I've been earning an income out of it for the last 15 years. However every other project I've come up with since then has failed miserably, except for ones related to my core product. Now I mainly try to spend my time improving my existing products and adding features that my customers are asking for, rather than trying to dream up new ones. Still, I do come up with ideas for amazing new products every month or two - I think that's just the nature of being an entrepreneurial, creative developer. Usually when I do some research I find that someone else has done something very similar already, so I don't waste too much time developing something that will be a dead-end.
- xur17 13y ago
  I typically build something with users, and where to market already in mind. Both times I created a proof of concept, and presented it to users after a short weekend of coding, so I could see how well the idea 'stuck', and then built from there.

> BRAG UNTIL YOU FAIL See: http://lifehacker.com/5921478/shhh-keeping-quiet-may-help-you-achieve-your-goals/all http://lifehacker.com/5921478/shhh-keeping-quiet-may-help-yo... In my opinion, the truth may be somewhere in the middle and is probably context dependent (surprise!).

cpncrunch 13y ago
Interesting. I generally don't tell many people about my projects. However that's just the type of person I am - I don't like attention. As mentioned above, I don't have any problem finishing projects. (I work for myself, so I have to be self-motivated and be able to finish crap :) However I think keeping quiet can actually be a negative in this business. Blowing your own trumpet seems to be a good way to generate hype and funding (which then generates more hype), and that can sometimes be enough to propel a startup to huge success.
- dpatrick86 13y ago
  Your last point is a good one, but if the person we're talking about doesn't complete projects what's the point of blowing a trumpet about it? Not disagreeing with you, just offering another perspective. Like I said, I think the truth is somewhere in the middle and is probably a bit more complex. FTA I linked: > Four different tests of 63 people found that those who kept their intentions private were more likely to achieve them than those who made them public and were acknowledged by others. [...] Once you've told people of your intentions, it gives you a "premature sense of completeness."
  - xur17 13y ago
    Marketing is a large part of the success of a side project, so while keeping your intentions private may make you more likely to complete your side projects, it's not as likely to make them 'successful' and get you users. Like you said, the trick is probably somewhere in between.

cpncrunch 13y ago

First, your website isn't working, but I managed to read the article here: https://medium.com/p/bf39d3424114 https://medium.com/p/bf39d3424114 My myself, I don't have a problem finishing my side-projects. The problem is actually getting people to use them once I have completed them. You just can't predict what will be successful (twitter is an excellent example, as well as whatsapp, instagram, etc). For myself I was quite lucky in that my very first side-project took off and I've been earning an income out of it for the last 15 years. However every other project I've come up with since then has failed miserably, except for ones related to my core product. Now I mainly try to spend my time improving my existing products and adding features that my customers are asking for, rather than trying to dream up new ones. Still, I do come up with ideas for amazing new products every month or two - I think that's just the nature of being an entrepreneurial, creative developer. Usually when I do some research I find that someone else has done something very similar already, so I don't waste too much time developing something that will be a dead-end.

xur17 13y ago
I typically build something with users, and where to market already in mind. Both times I created a proof of concept, and presented it to users after a short weekend of coding, so I could see how well the idea 'stuck', and then built from there.