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Ask HN: Building a successful startup on the side?

8 points by mcrittenden ↗ HN
I'm new to the world of startups, but everything I read (both on HN and elsewhere) is about founders who quit their other jobs and gave the startup their full attention.

Is there any reason why the startup can't be built on the side and then the founder could quit the full time job once it gains enough traction to sustain him/her? Is the issue just that it takes a lot longer to get to a release-ready state this way (i.e. only devoting a few hours a day)? Or what am I missing? I'm almost ready to release a MVP for a web app I've been working on (while working a separate full time job), and I just want to be sure I'm not in over my head.

9 comments

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willheim
I think it depends on the individual situation/app. There are plenty who have startups on the side. That said, if your app is more heavily demanding user interaction/complicated then I think you are much more likely to find that customer service demands and/or technical issues post launch will exceed your part time availability.

An MVP tends to be just a small part of your vision. You test it out with some users and gather their feedback before progressing farther. If you cannot respond to them quickly I believe you will quickly find you have no users at all (good idea or not).

undrwd
Definitely, if you're almost ready for release you've made it over the initial hump.

Once it gains traction you'll have a better idea on when to quit your 'day' job or perhaps reduce your hours at your day job.

Checkout the interviews on mixegy.com particularly with Todd Garland he was working a full time job while building buysellads.

http://mixergy.com/buysellads-todd-garland-interview/

I work full time as an engineer and run a web design firm as well as working on a start-up so I'm very busy as well. It's hard work but it pays off.

toddynho
you just have to REALLY want it. if you want it badly enough you will figure out a way to make it work. launching a company while working another full time job will force you to work within constraints that will help you create a more profitable and more efficient company than if you had plenty of time and plenty of money. that's what worked for me, anyway.

@undrwd thank you for the shout out :)

atiw
Well said. I also think if you REALLY want it, you can make it work. It will probably be way harder.

I am someone who is on the same boat, working full time on a completely separate project, and working on side to get my web app all setup. I lost a lot of my motivation late august, due to crazy working hours/ least social life/ issues at full time job because a senior guy quit, and I got a lot more workload than expected. But I believe this way I would also learn way more than normal scenario, picking either one, and probably the best learning/productive period of my life.

I guess only way to test your limits is to push yourself to the limits and then look back and see how far you've come.

Just FYI, my full time job involves Java, GWT, GXT(Sencha), Spring, Hibernate and/or JPA (depending on the branch), MySQL, JAXB, Java Web services and other Java related tools, (Ant etc.)

On my startup side, it started almost a year ago, when I had a working prototype of an Excel addin, written in C#, which we then realised needs to be a web app, and now I am working on a web app using Javascript, Jquery, LAMP etc.

Of course, there are always hiccups, and major issues, every couple of months, and I see my life and wonder if I would change anything and I don't really know how to accept "reality" (need to get a girl, marry, get a house etc.), esp since I still want to finish what I started. I just rebounded from a serious case of demotivation, but now my doctor is telling my I might have colon cancer and what not, and tomorrow is my appointment with a specialist about it.

But I know for sure, disease or not, as long as I have some energy left, I would finish my startup work and launch it in a couple of months hopefully.

Here's to hoping all my "working-on-a-startup-on-the-side" HN brothers too are able to do whatever is needed and get it started.

staunch
Most people can't successfully do a startup on the side. Are you one of the people that can? Probably not...but maybe.
mcrittenden
But why can't most people do it? What are the barriers?
staunch
Sustained motivation is the only problem.

Many people can only be motivated (over the long term) to do hard things if doing that hard thing is the easiest of the available choices.

arn
It partly depends on your definition of startup. But sure, you can start up your web app on the side and hope to gain traction. But problem is just that you are at a disadvantage since you don't have full time to devote to the project. That means you can't add features, respond to user requests, market, expand as quickly as your competitors who are full time.
maresca
I believe it depends on the atmosphere of your full time job. I've been working on my current project for the past 2 years now and have had 2 different full time jobs in that period. My previous job had me working at 120% of utilization, with a bunch of overtime. Needless to say, not much of my side-project got done. When I got home from work every day, I wouldn't even think about touching a computer. My current job isn't nearly as stressful. Although I get a lot done, I still salivate about programming when I get home. I think it all depends on how much of a workload you can handle past your full time job and how stressful your full time job is. Having positive and motivated people at your full time job also helps your motivation on your personal project.