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Just wanted to add a note: Most people who aren't making anything won't be posting, so results will be drastically skewed. So for anyone here getting discourage

Just wanted to add a note: Most people who aren't making anything won't be posting, so results will be drastically skewed. So for anyone here getting discourage because they think their a minority - think otherwise (And then get back to work on trying to get your own setup ;))

jasonkester 12y ago
I wonder if it skews both ways. I tend not to post on these threads because a.) they come up so frequently and b.) it sometimes files like it's just bragging to keep telling everybody that my business stuff is successful. I definitely agree on not getting discouraged. It's not in any way as hard as you think it is before trying. And you get better at it the more times you try. My history of products looks like: - Hey, I built this cool piece of technology. Maybe I should try to turn it into a product. (... but never finished it) (X3) - Hey, Google Maps is cool and I like travelling. Maybe I should launch a Travel Blog host. (... without any fathomable way to monetize it) - Hey, look at this cool one-day hack that got tons of Reddit love. We should totally start a company! (... with a flaky co-founder who never got around to doing any of the "business" stuff before bailing for the next shiny thing) - Hey, I bet you could transform Amazon's cloud storage logs into CLF and feed them into Webalizer. I should totally sell this for like $1/month! (... which actually turned out to be a good idea, but for $10-$300/month) After all that, I expect my next product will be something with some form of actual market of people willing to pay money for it before diving in to the IDE. But then you never know...
- csallen 12y ago
  Nice, it's awesome that you've been able to do so well with your Amazon product! What kind of things do you do/have you done to market it? Or did you rely on an "if-you-build-it-they-will-come" strategy?
- chrisdew 12y ago
  Yes, my first paying side-project (virtsync) was the fourth or fifth thing I'd started. I currently have three other ideas I'm working on, but I find it difficult to focus on one.
- helen842000 12y ago
  FYI I find these threads really inspiring so please do keep reminding those of us not there yet that it is possible.
- helen842000 12y ago
  FYI I find these threads really inspiring so please do keep reminding those of us not there yet that it is possible.
jmnicolas 12y ago
It's been several years now that I'd like to launch a few side projects. But contrary to the crowd here I'm just a normal human : when I come home I'm just exhausted and / or want to do something else than coding. I could use the extra cash though. This month I even tried placing bets on soccer and tennis and failed miserably.
- tmuir 12y ago
  I've found that you have to work on something that you're passionate about, something you want to use. I don't have the magic formula for finding these things, but after trying several side projects and having them fizzle out, I've finally found something that I want to spend almost all of my free time on, and I do. I do hope to sell the product, but what keeps me working on it 40 hrs a week, in addition to my full time job, is the promise of actually using the device. The closest I can get to making the process formulaic is to find a hobby that requires gear of some kind. Before you ever build something to improve that hobby, you need to enjoy the hobby. Then, find some aspect of that hobby that could be improved, most likely through some sort of automation.
  - mgarfias 12y ago
    If only I could figure out how to make $ working on my car or playing with my kids.
    - sweettea 12y ago
      Mechanics are people who enjoy working on cars; and beyond that, cars provide lots of space to tinker --- I remember being inspired by old Mother Earth News articles on converting your pickup to be wood-burning, or vegetable-oil-burning, or any sort of alternative fuel. Farming/gardening is a great way to play with your kids, and make a little money on the side too; the money is likely to not be significant, but the pleasure at making money from the work of your hands is personally palpable, since I normally am a knowledge-worker.
    - tmuir 12y ago
      I realize that you're being somewhat facetious, but don't think of the hobby itself as the income generator. Think of something that is difficult or expensive, or time intensive about working on your car, and try to make it easier, cheaper and or faster to accomplish. Think of it from the perspective of people that work on cars for a living. Anything that saves them time/labor/equipment costs will be of interest to these people. The bare essence is this: find a problem that a large group of people experience, and find a way that allows people to solve that problem.
goshx 12y ago
People on H1B, like me, simply can't. It is ilegal to have any income coming anywhere else other than the employer associated to the H1B... It is ilegal to even make money on ads on a blog... this completely sucks and is very frustrating.
- 13hours 12y ago
  How about if the income is in your country of origin? Can't your side project just pay out where ever you're from? It's the Internet, websites aren't really located anywhere.
  - goshx 12y ago
    It is doable, but still not legal :)
    - derwiki 12y ago
      It's not legal to launch a web service in your home country that makes money from people in your home country? How do other businesses operate?
      - to3m 12y ago
        No :) It's not legal in America for people resident in America on an H1B visa to operate businesses. You could just ignore this, like I do, but if you're in America on an H1B visa, which I'm not, then you're probably best off following the rules, lest they expel you and never let you back in, without giving you time to organise getting all your stuff back first.
        derwiki 12y ago
        To be clear, we're talking about running a country in your home country, not in America, while you are currently on an H1B in America. I'm sure you know more about this than I do -- could you provide me with a link? I'd love to learn more.
graeme 12y ago
The flip side is that a lot of people with highly successful recurring revenue streams don't post at all, because it would invite competition into their niche.
- ams6110 12y ago
  It's almost a certainty that every idea for a website or app that is highly successful at generating recurring revenue already has multiple competitors. A lot of recurring revenue tends to mean a lot of users which tends to mean it's not a secret.
spyder 12y ago
What "results"? This isn't a poll. But i agree with the second-half of your comment.
gedrap 12y ago
I really like this thread because it reminds me (and others) that creating a product is not only about leaving full time job, doing crazy hours and trying to raise money, like it's often portrayed. You can simply create a product with reasonable cash flow as a side project. Thank you all for contributing to this thread.

jasonkester 12y ago

I wonder if it skews both ways. I tend not to post on these threads because a.) they come up so frequently and b.) it sometimes files like it's just bragging to keep telling everybody that my business stuff is successful. I definitely agree on not getting discouraged. It's not in any way as hard as you think it is before trying. And you get better at it the more times you try. My history of products looks like: - Hey, I built this cool piece of technology. Maybe I should try to turn it into a product. (... but never finished it) (X3) - Hey, Google Maps is cool and I like travelling. Maybe I should launch a Travel Blog host. (... without any fathomable way to monetize it) - Hey, look at this cool one-day hack that got tons of Reddit love. We should totally start a company! (... with a flaky co-founder who never got around to doing any of the "business" stuff before bailing for the next shiny thing) - Hey, I bet you could transform Amazon's cloud storage logs into CLF and feed them into Webalizer. I should totally sell this for like $1/month! (... which actually turned out to be a good idea, but for $10-$300/month) After all that, I expect my next product will be something with some form of actual market of people willing to pay money for it before diving in to the IDE. But then you never know...

csallen 12y ago
Nice, it's awesome that you've been able to do so well with your Amazon product! What kind of things do you do/have you done to market it? Or did you rely on an "if-you-build-it-they-will-come" strategy?
chrisdew 12y ago
Yes, my first paying side-project (virtsync) was the fourth or fifth thing I'd started. I currently have three other ideas I'm working on, but I find it difficult to focus on one.
helen842000 12y ago
FYI I find these threads really inspiring so please do keep reminding those of us not there yet that it is possible.
helen842000 12y ago
FYI I find these threads really inspiring so please do keep reminding those of us not there yet that it is possible.

jmnicolas 12y ago

It's been several years now that I'd like to launch a few side projects. But contrary to the crowd here I'm just a normal human : when I come home I'm just exhausted and / or want to do something else than coding. I could use the extra cash though. This month I even tried placing bets on soccer and tennis and failed miserably.

tmuir 12y ago
I've found that you have to work on something that you're passionate about, something you want to use. I don't have the magic formula for finding these things, but after trying several side projects and having them fizzle out, I've finally found something that I want to spend almost all of my free time on, and I do. I do hope to sell the product, but what keeps me working on it 40 hrs a week, in addition to my full time job, is the promise of actually using the device. The closest I can get to making the process formulaic is to find a hobby that requires gear of some kind. Before you ever build something to improve that hobby, you need to enjoy the hobby. Then, find some aspect of that hobby that could be improved, most likely through some sort of automation.
- mgarfias 12y ago
  If only I could figure out how to make $ working on my car or playing with my kids.
  - sweettea 12y ago
    Mechanics are people who enjoy working on cars; and beyond that, cars provide lots of space to tinker --- I remember being inspired by old Mother Earth News articles on converting your pickup to be wood-burning, or vegetable-oil-burning, or any sort of alternative fuel. Farming/gardening is a great way to play with your kids, and make a little money on the side too; the money is likely to not be significant, but the pleasure at making money from the work of your hands is personally palpable, since I normally am a knowledge-worker.
  - tmuir 12y ago
    I realize that you're being somewhat facetious, but don't think of the hobby itself as the income generator. Think of something that is difficult or expensive, or time intensive about working on your car, and try to make it easier, cheaper and or faster to accomplish. Think of it from the perspective of people that work on cars for a living. Anything that saves them time/labor/equipment costs will be of interest to these people. The bare essence is this: find a problem that a large group of people experience, and find a way that allows people to solve that problem.

goshx 12y ago

People on H1B, like me, simply can't. It is ilegal to have any income coming anywhere else other than the employer associated to the H1B... It is ilegal to even make money on ads on a blog... this completely sucks and is very frustrating.

13hours 12y ago
How about if the income is in your country of origin? Can't your side project just pay out where ever you're from? It's the Internet, websites aren't really located anywhere.
- goshx 12y ago
  It is doable, but still not legal :)
  - derwiki 12y ago
    It's not legal to launch a web service in your home country that makes money from people in your home country? How do other businesses operate?
    - to3m 12y ago
      No :) It's not legal in America for people resident in America on an H1B visa to operate businesses. You could just ignore this, like I do, but if you're in America on an H1B visa, which I'm not, then you're probably best off following the rules, lest they expel you and never let you back in, without giving you time to organise getting all your stuff back first.
      - derwiki 12y ago
        To be clear, we're talking about running a country in your home country, not in America, while you are currently on an H1B in America. I'm sure you know more about this than I do -- could you provide me with a link? I'd love to learn more.

graeme 12y ago

The flip side is that a lot of people with highly successful recurring revenue streams don't post at all, because it would invite competition into their niche.

ams6110 12y ago
It's almost a certainty that every idea for a website or app that is highly successful at generating recurring revenue already has multiple competitors. A lot of recurring revenue tends to mean a lot of users which tends to mean it's not a secret.

spyder 12y ago

What "results"? This isn't a poll. But i agree with the second-half of your comment.

gedrap 12y ago

I really like this thread because it reminds me (and others) that creating a product is not only about leaving full time job, doing crazy hours and trying to raise money, like it's often portrayed. You can simply create a product with reasonable cash flow as a side project. Thank you all for contributing to this thread.