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Many suggest to work on your prototype part-time and quit after getting some users. I found that it is hard to build a quality product on a part-time basis because of distractions. I have tried a few part-time things over the years. It seems that for me the best way to achieve success is to quit my full-time job and work on my startup full-time. However, it is hard to quit my job which helps me pay my mortgage. Has anyone achieved startup success while only working on their startup part-time? |
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It all depends on how much time and effort is part-time. I know very successful entrepreneurs who spent 60 hours on their part-time venture every week for 3 years on top of their existing jobs and then quit. It is important to have a strong vision if you have a part-time attempt at your startup. The other key thing is to be flexible and deal with frustrations as they come up when you attempt multi tasking at two different jobs (breadwinning and entrepreneuring) at the same time. |
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Short answer: me :) Long answer: I was working on my part-time project for about 3 - 3,5 months until 1.0 release, investing about 10h/week. After the release, I worked on it for about 6 more months before quitting my day job (more on this here). I used that time for the obvious things: • making the product better • learning • increasing income and... • saving it for the time after I quit My advices for working part-time: • choose a simple project • choose a project that's interesting to you • choose the market, niche and your competition wisely • release early to receive feedback and hopefully some money - each will validate your idea and can motivate you to continue working on it • if you get positive feedback and some money your idea is validated and you're already closer to success :) I learned that from my 2 projects. • Weight training assistant for Nokia phones Fairly simple project, interesting to me. Market pros: does not require much upfront investment. Market cons: very fragmented (many devices with different capabilities), hard to reach (marketing difficult for low-price-point apps) and with many obstacles (for the potential costumer - from app download and installation - to payment). I was working on the project too long before the first release, just to find out that it won't sell ;) The result: failure. • Time tracking app for iPhone Fairly simple project (well defined, using good iPhone SDK and standard frameworks). Interesting to me personally (eating my own dog food). Market pros: big, homogeneous, does not require much upfront investment. Market cons: very competitive, very young. I released early, got some encouraging feedback and started earning from release day one. Right now, about 11 months after 1.0 release and 5 months after quitting, I'm starting to earn more than in my ex-day-job. Will this trend continue? That remains to be seen, but... the result: closer to success :) |
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delicious.com raised a Series A based on work that Joshua did part time. Its totally possible. |
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In my case, I have been working 1.5 years part time on my technology. I realized that to "get serious" I was going to have to ramp it up and get some help. To do so, I incorporated as a C corp and have since "hired" four people strictly for equity. They are working ten to fifteen hours a week in exchange for stock. This is great for everyone. I get employees without spending any money (except for the corporation paperwork) and they get to contribute early on and make an impact. Finding engineers to work for equity was surprisingly easy. Rick |
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I am not speaking from personal experience here, but checkpoint software started part time working weekends and nights at one of the founders' grandmothers house (he just inherited it). Their costs consisted of mainly coke and pizza until the product was ready, which was the worlds first firewall. If I recall, that is how steve wozniak invented the personal computer before founding apple with steve jobs. Yes, those are rare stories, and yes it is hard. But keep in mind that it is possible. |
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on the same boat. you can see some really good answers to this question on http://answers.onstartups.com/questions/8/when-does-the-daytime-job-retire |
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It all depends on the nature of what you're doing. But since you're trying to build a software product company, there are some serious problems you're going to run into if your product is anything more than a simple shareware app:
I learned this lesson from first hand experience. A little more than ten years ago, I tried building a product (Dry Clean Management Software) on the nights and weekends. There was a real need for the product, but development was slow and that meant corners needed to be cut. When we landed our first client... it was a bitter-sweet moment, as there was no way to support them. Shortly thereafter, another company (with obviously a full-time staff) came out with a much better product. Things went downhill from there, and the venture was abandoned. After that, I focused on freelance development on the nights and weekends, and had tremendous success with that. Services work incredibly well, since the customer understands that he's getting you for a great rate and is willing to accept the freelance downside. |
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