Same pattern here. I'll get excited about an idea, dig deep into one specific
feature, look at how existing OSS solves it, build a working prototype — and
then hit a wall the moment it's time to add auth, roles, billing, all the
"SaaS wrapper" work. Project gets abandoned.
But like the author, I've come around to seeing this as feature, not bug. My day job rarely includes the technologies or domains I want to explore, so side projects became my way of learning new stacks deeply. The funny thing is — abandoned or not, that exploration showed up on my CV. I've landed harder, more interesting roles specifically because I'd "played with" the stack on a never-shipped project.
The shipping isn't the point. The depth of the dive is.