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Bootstrapping a side project into a profitable seven-figure business

(projectionlab.com)
655 points jonkuipers | 4 comments | 07 Jul 25 22:58 UTC | HN request time: 0.597s | source
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bisRepetita ◴[09 Jul 25 08:13 UTC] No.44507446[source]▶
Thank you so much Kyle for sharing all this. This is very inspiring. I will put a few more extra hours today in my project thinking about you.

I'd love to have some info about the hiring of Jon, anything you may feel like sharing, while I realize a lot of it is very confidential. For example:

- I am wondering how the working relationship got started since you write that he "spent a year contributing real value", and he was not asking for equity upfront. Did you hire him as contractor initially, did he volunteer his time?

- the structure of the deal with him, and of course the equity part, especially _if/while_ you are not planning to sell the business. Maybe you have some pointers on "possible deal structures" that you looked into without spilling the beans on the actual deal?

I know I am asking a lot, I hope it does not hurt to ask, so realistically I don't expect any answer, but any breadcrumbs would be so valuable/helpful! In any case, thank you so much already.

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1. teiferer ◴[09 Jul 25 09:27 UTC] No.44507908[source]▶
> I will put a few more extra hours today in my project thinking about you.

And that's the recipe for failure right there. Your passion side project needs to be fueled by passion, not thinking about somebody else's success that you are trying to replicate.

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2. bisRepetita ◴[09 Jul 25 09:38 UTC] No.44507955[source]▶
I find this such a strange comment, to be able to reach such a conclusion so quickly without any idea what my side project is, how much passion I have put into it, and how much still have in me, with no idea how many people I've helped already with it.

Like Kyle writes keep showing up to make it a little better every day. Today again I will show up, but today I'll think of him and it will help me.

What's your passion project? How do _you_ keep the motivation every day? How long has it been?

3. optymizer ◴[09 Jul 25 13:59 UTC] No.44510136[source]▶
> Your passion side project needs to be fueled by passion

Maybe he's in that valley of despair right now that the article shows occurs many times. Passion is fleeting and at times you just need a little inspirational jolt to get back into it and regain some of that passion.

Also, to share a personal experience, passion is not sufficient. You need favorable conditions as well (or the ability to create them). For example, the article talks about working nights and weekends. I'm not sure if the author has kids or what the arrangement is in his family, but personally, as much as I wanted to work whole weekends on my passion project, I would feel like a shitty father if I ignored my kids over the weekend for months, so the project gets put on the back burner a lot while I'm biking with my kids outside and having fun.

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4. scubakid ◴[09 Jul 25 14:55 UTC] No.44510768[source]▶
I was definitely fortunate to attempt this in a compatible stage of life (no kids yet).

I'd like to think there will still be room for craft/creation if I become a parent someday. But I doubt this level of sustained focus (obsession?) over multiple years would have been possible or responsible in that scenario.