Ask HN: Solo developer successful startups examples?
Maybe a solo developer can't do everything but with a bit good taste, social skills and a small niche, he/she can invent a sustanaible project at least to earn enough for himself.. or not?
http://discuss.bootstrapped.fm/ http://www.chasingproduct.com/
A better bet is to have multiple products that you sell to the same audience, not just one product. One product alone may only have small success, but if you have several small products all bringing in revenue it will add up over time. And while you're working on building them, it's safest to keep multiple revenue streams to fund yourself while doing it - be open to doing freelancing / consulting, or keep a part-time job. Patio11 worked at his day job for a long time while doing Bingo Card Creator.
http://betakit.com/plentyoffish-acquired-by-match-group-for-...
I think the solo-programmer startups are usually something among these kind of projects:
- a webapp for simple or largely automated service
- smartphone/tablet app
- smartphone/tablet game
...
I started a simple paid monthly platform for meeting new people a few months ago - if I would put even a little bit of effort into marketing then I'm pretty sure it would be a liveable monthly wage on 5h/week within 2-3months...
I guess it depends whether we're talking about start-ups or small businesses/hobby projects.
I don't think I've heard of any start-ups which were sustainable at the beginning, whereas many small businesses/hobby projects are.
Drew Houston from Dropbox was also a solo dev at the very beginning of Dropbox, but I guess the very fact that by definition start-ups are destined to grow quickly means that new people need to be brought on board at some point...
he has a bunch of big name customers as well on the home page http://errorception.com