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SOFA - Start Often Finish rArely

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191 points pabs3 | 4 comments | 18 Oct 24 00:07 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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jongjong ◴[18 Oct 24 02:26 UTC] No.41875860[source]▶
I think pretty much everyone falls into SOFA by default. If your goal is to start a software business, it's almost impossible to achieve that. You don't need to aim for it. It will happen by default.

To finish something in such a way that a customer will be willing to pull their credit card out and pay for it is a very difficult point to arrive at.

I never tried this approach and yet I have 7 failed projects under my belt. Only 1 was a success but it only lasted for 3 years.

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1. RajT88 ◴[18 Oct 24 02:38 UTC] No.41875909[source]▶
As I age, I am getting better at finishing things. Partly because my side projects are intentionally more bite-sized.

Rather than write am application, maybe I will just write a module, or a useful script someone else can use to build or improve an application. I am much happier with this approach so far.

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2. jongjong ◴[18 Oct 24 03:51 UTC] No.41876197[source]▶
I finished all my projects, met all technical requirements which I set for myself but I only met user requirements for one project. Hence I got paid. Ironically, it was the one which required the least amount of work and where I contributed the least socio-economic value. 3 years of passive income literally fell on my lap. I didn't even write a single line of code for that one. Just spoke to a bunch of people a couple of times.

It's definitely a lot easier if you set yourself goals which don't depend on other people. Having goals which depend on things that are outside of your control is a sure way to become miserable.

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3. tomjakubowski ◴[18 Oct 24 05:02 UTC] No.41876490[source]▶
You completed your most successful project just by talking to other people -- your recommendation to go it alone seems to contradict that. Does it come from having had a bad experience?
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4. jongjong ◴[18 Oct 24 08:52 UTC] No.41877522{3}[source]▶
Yes that's true. The surest path to success doesn't generally align with happiness. People will frequently disappoint you. Yet unfortunately success in our current system is all about people and connections.

But if you focus on building stuff for its own sake and don't worry about financial success, you will be a lot happier because those goals are within your control. You will build the product and you will achieve your personal vision. Nobody else will care but that's going to be OK because you will prove to yourself that you're a capable individual and that's satisfying in itself.