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Ask HN: At what point did you just start working on a prototype?

4 points by sown ↗ HN
I'm ready to quit and move to another job but I started to think about a prototype for an idea I have. I've worked on it off and on, and maybe I should try to carry it as far as I reasonably can. It'd be nice to have a change of pace.

Do I just quit one day and then start work on it? Will it sound OK to employers in silicon valley if I took 3-6 months off to work on it and had nothing to show for it?

7 comments

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hansc
If you have some savings and are passionate about it: Why not? I have done the same thing. Is it a success? Well, from an experience side it very much is, financial or carreer: Don't know yet.

Two things I would advice: - Give yourself somekind of milestone and target date to help keep focus (for instance, working prototype and share with 10 bloggers in 2 months) - Get out there: Go to meetups, etc. Not to sell your thing, but to meet people and when they ask share your idea, progress, experiences and see what questions and advice/ideas they have.

Good luck: It can be awesome!

betaout
Prototype can be as small as Wireframes, Product Specs, HTML mockups. You dont need to change/leave your job to do that.

If you have been living with the idea for few weeks/months are also very passionate about it. Three four nights or weekends are sufficient to start with the sketches and wireframes.

Once you have it ready, show it to few friends, industry experts you know and iterate until you will confident to take the next plunge. Because after that there is no going back.

sown
Perhaps my definition of prototype is wrong. I'm working towards a decent 1.0 version with very basic functionality that people might use.

I used to think that having a prototype was enough but now I hear that is not enough to talk to investors or people. I dunno.

betaout
Why don't you outsource some of the work. At least version 0.1 - you will get a working prototype and market validation as well.
sown
Perhaps but I think I would want to keep something like that close to my heart, not because I'm paranoid but because I really want to learn the code behind it so I know what's going on.

Besides, it's using technology I'm not used to and I need all the practice I can get.

hiphopopotamus
But you would have something to show for it. You'd have gained the experience of actually doing it. And you'd be showing good decision making skills ;-)