What to do when you just start making something useful | Hacker News Reader

What to do when you just start making something useful

blog.garrytan.com

45 pointsdeafcalculus10 comments

Good perspective to focus decision-making. I think option 3 is a little too simplistic, however:

> If you can't grow or you can't make money doing what you're doing, then don't do it

It seems to me that better advice would be: If you can't grow and make money, be very cautious about how many resources you commit to the project. Passion projects have a place, and it seems like 'pivoting' can be a powerful way of using what you've learned to move in a better (profitable?) direction - both are valid options besides "don't do it"

I agree. Absolute statements can be quite impactful rhetorically, but they often don't capture the whole truth.

'passion projects' are called 'hobbies', and this post isn't talking about that.

It's talking about what to do if something you considered treating as a business doesn't look economically viable - I am suggesting that instead of shuttering the project, it is perfectly valid (and even beneficial) to keep it going as a hobby/passion project.

Just because it's not going to make you money doesn't mean it's not valuable, particularly since you'll likely learn a lot that can be applied to future entrepreneurial projects - just don't over-commit.

That's a much better way to put it. Some really fantastic projects come from places with no growth or profitability. I'd hate to not have those.

I think he is giving advice specific to a project that is explicitly for the purpose of making money. I didn't get the sense that this advice applied to something that you were building just because you wanted to.

This short post falls into the common trap of assuming that if you decide not to raise money, your company must be a lifestyle business.

What about all the profitable companies that never need to raise venture capital?

Attention, founders! You can choose to play "small ball"[1] instead.

[1]: http://avc.com/2016/05/small-ball/

DuckDuckGo is a financial success?

There is also nothing wrong with a small project that will always remain a side project, just offering something to the world for free, simply because you want it to exist.

If it starts to take more resources than you are willing to commit, THEN you evaluate how to monetize and grow. But small hobby projects absolutely have their place.

We aren't talking about OpenSSL here, right?

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