3 ms·
My business is formed of once side projects that gained traction and I doubled down on. My "in hindsight" advice is to choose whether a project is to be optimiz
by petercooper 12y ago
My business is formed of once side projects that gained traction and I doubled down on. My "in hindsight" advice is to choose whether a project is to be optimized mainly for fun, learning or money ahead of time - each radically changes how you (should) begin.
The first two are kinda easy, but if it's "money", work from the money back to the idea rather than figuring out how to make money from a certain idea. Who's spending money, where, and on what? What sort of people do you have exposure to (on Twitter, HN, wherever)? How could you improve on something people already spend money on? Etc.
- bliti 12y agoYou bring a valid point. Who you have exposure to is very important. Build solutions to the people you can access. One thing that helped broaden exposure was to begin socializing through relatives or friends that are business owners. It allowed for a horizontal chain of introductions and conversations to happen within a specific group of people that are of interest to me. It does not take much socializing to start talking about topics that bring up software. Video games, apps, phones, etc., are a great way to steer the conversation towards their software needs. Without being inconsiderate at all. After all, you want to help them improve the business.