Ask HN: How do you know when to stop? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you know when to stop?

18 pointstoto44412 comments

I have been working on a side project for a year now. It is free and aims to help some learners. I enjoy the process of doing it and have put a lot of love in it thinking of its potential to help the community. The problem is the people it is supposed to help are not interested.

I am now wondering if I should stop or not. I enjoy doing it but with an audience of 0 there is very little point. A part of me thinks the underlying idea is good but I am bad at selling it, the other one thinks that I should stop.

How can I know which part is correct ?

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Side projects are for your enjoyment only. "To scratch an itch." as mentioned in "The Cathedral and the Bazaar".

If somebody else happens to use it too, that's all well and good. As long as you want to do it for yourself, then just go ahead and do it. Don't worry about anybody else. On the other hand, if you're not getting any enjoyment from it, then just stop. If the idea is good enough, somebody else will take over the reins.

Relevant phrases from "Linux is not Windows":

Increasing the number of end-users of proprietary software leads to a direct financial benefit to the company that makes it. This is simply not the case for FOSS: There is no direct benefit to any FOSS developer in increasing the userbase. Indirect benefits, yes: Personal pride; an increased potential for finding bugs; more likelihood of attracting new developers; possibly a chance of a good job offer; and so on.

But Linus Torvalds doesn't make money from increased Linux usage. Richard Stallman doesn't get money from increased GNU usage. All those servers running OpenBSD and OpenSSH don't put a penny into the OpenBSD project's pockets.

1. The Cathedral and the Bazaar: http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/cathedral-bazaar/cathedral-...

2. Linux is Not Windows: http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

What was your motivation? The kudos of having a popular project, making money down the line or filling some space in your life? If it is one of the first two I would say move on. If it's none of the above and you genuinely just want to help people I would also say move on as you have no users.

I'm an older guy who spends less time solving tough problems no one else cares about. Time is too short. I'm sure the skills you have learned will not be lost and put to good use elsewhere.

The original motivation was to prove mostly to myself that something was possible. It is not a tough problem but very time consuming. It turns out that I enjoy doing it and I like the result but I am wondering if I am wasting my time.

I remember reading on HN someone who had spend 6 years of his life writing a programing language as a personal project. No one will ever use this language. Would you call is a waste of time or an amazing journey ? It all depends on the motivation for sure, but motivation is not always 100% up and feedback and the possibility to talk to someone is important and this is what I miss really.

Is the side project for you or them? If its for you to learn and flex your creative muscle go for it. If it's for them, then maybe quit, reflect on the experience, and move on.

> Is the side project for you or them?

A bit of both which is the reason I have a hard time making a decision whether to continue or not. I don't want to be the one who stops at the first obstacle but don' want to be stubborn beyond reason either.

Yes, I have side projects which are mainly for my enjoyment and honing some skills, and which a few people benefit from, so I carry on with them as a 'hobby'. But I put very little effort into most of them at any one time.

> potential to help the community

Did you start the project with a conversation with that community?

> project for a year now... > audience of 0

Stop. Move on.

Talk more to potential customers. Don't start another project until you get several enthusiastic yeses from reliable sources. (you'll probably get a few "meh" and the rare negative comments too).

Most people don't care, even when they're figuratively on fire. Best to find something really compelling to work on before one line of code.

If you decide its not a hobby, what does the intended audience say when they say they aren’t interested?

Worse. My posts/links are ignored or downvoted with no reason given.

Could it be possible that posts intended to be informative and helpful are being seen as spam where the posts appear?

If so, you'd have to change the way to draw attention to the app before knowing whether it's useful to the intended audience or not. Your goal should be to get ONE (i.e. more than zero actual users from the target audience), then be able to retain them. If this is not your primary motivator, then the app will not grow in usage.

In particular, "the customer is always" right applies here because it's their response (whether to use the app) which trumps all. You can change how it's promoted or which features or how features work until something sticks.

I agree with this. Start by getting 1 user. A human whom you can talk to.

Possibly read [Thanks for the Feedback](https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00F10Z4GO/ref=dp-kindle-redirec...) and some things on [Jobs to be Done](https://jobs-to-be-done.com/jobs-to-be-done-a-framework-for-...)

Thank you for the references.

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