Ask HN: Describe the perfect side project

I will often experiment with new technologies while working on a side project. For example, right now I have an active side project that is a mobile app with a (geo)Django backend.

A couple months ago I became aware of PostgREST. It's an interesting project and aspects of it appeal to me. But it's still worng.

So I thought "why not do something like that, but in Common Lisp". I messed around with it for a few weeks and proved to myself that I can in fact, build a better mousetrap. Spent a couple more weeks toying around with writing a new postgres client library to support it.

And finally, last weekend I returned to Django. When I've got the iPhone and Andriod stuff working and have it all deployed -- I'll go back to the Lisp stuff and reimplement the backend.

For me, a side project is an opportunity to build something while allowing myself to run off on little tangents. I can't justify doing that when working for somebody else.

But on a side project nobody even knows I'm working on... Might as well might as well.

I only really care about the tech-stack of a side project if it's an open-source thing or purely an educational project for myself. If I'm doing it for profit, I'll build it quick and dirty in whatever technology lets me move the quickest.

For for-profit projects I usually give them a time-limit and a hard budget. For example: I'll put a max of 40 hours and $2,000 into project XYZ. If I hit either limit without turning a profit (or at least seeing some return on my investment), I'll move on to the next thing.

I've found that the trick to side projects is to keep moving until you find one with product-market-fit. Don't let yourself get bogged down trying to make a mediocre idea into a real business. In my experience, when you hit something good, the market will let you know immediately, so just keep testing ideas into you strike oil.

The best side project is one where the potential upsides are big, and there are no potential downsides.

Realistically, this means you should choose to work on something that you actually want to use yourself and you should build it using technology you want to learn for career advancement. As for monetization, don't count on this, but if you have several options in terms of side project that are roughly comparable in terms of personal interest/professional development, it would be prudent to choose the one that has the best chance to turn a profit.

I use side projects for R&D and fun. All I invest is time and domain names and effort.

I also like them as ways to collaborate with friends and strangers.

Right now I'm working on a CI tool, a browser testing tool, a web app for collaborating on song chord sheets, and a new kind of real time database.

The chord app is for my band, and some friends are helping. It might become useful for other people.

The CI and test tools are infrastructure that I'll use for other projects.

The database is a stepping stone for a long term project...

In my side projects, I am influenced by a book I read few years ago: The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau. I only do projects that have potential to bring revenue. I use the following milestones to decide whether to keep project alive or not. Once a project is cash flow positive (ramen profit), I only reinvest cash flow.

``` $100 + time before project goes live $250 + time after launch and until revenue generation $1,000 + time after revenue starts coming and until cash flow positive ```