What’s described here is a lot further along than I normally take a project.
There is always a more interesting project to make that has no potential of being “successful” than the most interesting idea among potentially successful projects.
I think for some people the entrepreneurial angle itself is enough to make a project attractive. But I never quite understood it.
I have to conclude that most people on HN talking about commercializing are doing purely software projects.
My projects very often include hardware. Commercializing hardware+software projects is hard... orders of magnitude harder than just software. That's probably a factor in why the idea of making money from wiring/soldering/dremeling/hacking things is so far from the forefront of my mind.
As for what's attractive... novelty and usability/street cred do seem to be my subconcious goals. "Street cred" or even just aspiring to have people use a software tool is certainly a form of non-profitable entrepreneurship.
You are allowed to do things just for fun.
I think it is a common dream of escaping 9-5 worklife. I find myself trapped in that quite often, trading fun for possibility of financial independence.
Someday maybe, but if not, that's fine anyway because I learned something and had some fun.