HN Explorer

Ask HN: Did you succeed after struggling to build something people want?

15 points by hoodoof ↗ HN
What was your journey?

How did it feel when finally people started to use your service?

I've been trying for so long to build something people want, without success so far. I may never.....

I'd love to know how it feels though to go from trying and trying and trying to finally building a software product that people want to use.

6 comments

[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 24.2 ms ] thread
sras-me
I made this reader that you can use to read both HN and reddit, after seeing people ask for a better interface for HN, and ofcourse ended up with no one else using...

https://sras.me/reform/#/setconfig;reddit=programming%2Cscie...

EDIT: I know this was not much of a journey. But ultimately, what I have learned is that you need to come to terms with failure even before you start. But at the same time, work like failure is not an alternative...

abstractspoon
I started writing this free task manager (http://abstractspoon.weebly.com/) in 2003 and it proved to be quite popular. I still work on it on a semi-daily basis because I enjoy it but users can be soooooo demanding. I've received some emails that I've allowed to spoil my day, and some people have tried to ride on my coat-tails but overall it's been a very rewarding experience and it kept me sane after my divorce. I wish you luck in your adventures.
[deleted]
(comment deleted)
pcunite
Build things you need and that will help you to discover services other might need.
12s12m
Build a very small thing that would provide value. I've built quite a few products. However, the most successful product to date has been one that I wrote in a week to solve a problem I had for my websites. So, my take away from that is to try and build simple things.