[gagege]

I have the same problem. I see all these hackers out there making (something like) the millionth travel blog and sticking with it for years and somehow ending up making a decent income off of it. But I'm sitting here wondering if my potentially cool game idea that has never been done before is something that the world really needs, then I quit after about a week because of those thoughts.

What drives people?

[Aurornis]

I went through a phase of following a lot of “indie hacker” people on Twitter when everyone was posting their growth numbers and other stats in public. It was fun to watch them try different things and experiment.

Then slowly, nearly all of them stopped. Some got jobs at big companies. Others quietly stopped posting after numbers flatlined or declined. This includes a lot of people whose projects were “Ramen profitable” and then showing huge month over month growth, which was supposed to be the start of something bigger.

A disappointing number of them have pivoted into personal brand building and selling courses. It’s a lot of “follow me/subscribe to my newsletter for more advice” which turns into “sign up now for an exclusive spot in my new course” after a half a year. It’s like a switch flips after a certain number of followers where they realize it’s going to be easier to sell courses/content than to build their project into a successful company.

[camhart]

You're painting a picture as though they've all switched. Thats not accurate, still plenty of indiehackers hacking away. Only a small percent successfully, but thats always been the case.

[diamondfist25]

Newsletters were cool until now everyone’s doing it.

Spammed my email with subpar / spam writing

What’s the next stage for these content creators?

[sibit]

> What drives people?

I've worked on [side/pet/hobby] projects consistently for the last 6 years. What drives me is my friends. One of the latest projects I've started to work on is a free alternative to a mobile app called UDisc. They hit us with the ol' switcheroo by offering the service for free for several years and now force you to pay if you want to maintain your previous disc golf rounds (beyond 10 rounds).

I've tried to build things only I want and I usually lose steam or interest. For me, building things for, and with, other people keeps me motivated.

[frakt0x90]

I extremely resonate with this. I write music and often don't finish a track because it's a lot of tweaking and monotony once you get the main idea down (much like software). But one time my wife wanted to make a "Great British Bake Off" show with her friends and I was suddenly extremely motivated to make the score. I scored the whole 30 minute video and it turned out great.

[gagege]

This is great advice, and applies to business as well. Make something people actually want.

[rwhyan]

It's hard to be accountable to oneself. But it's easier to be accountable to others.

So, feedback from others motivates me.

Seeing people visit my website, even if only a few dozen or hundred, is motivating.

[FireBeyond]

I think working solo you need to embrace this and tweak it. “If my paying customers were my boss, would they be happy paying my salary this month?”

[michaelteter]

I think most people do better with a partner or small team. It can still be very much like solo, in that each person really has their own domain of activity and expertise. But unlike solo, you have one or more people to help you stay motivated and on track.

Of course it's possible to learn techniques and behavior patterns which can help you be a successful pure-solo creator, but it takes time and persistence (and motivation :) ) to learn and stick with those behaviors.

So my conclusion, as someone with a few dozen parked ideas (some of which got 80% near to MVP complete), is to find a partner or at least goal-buddy to help you stay motivated... and occasionally to help you remember why you're doing the thing.

[hermitcrab]

Partners come with their own issues, not least having more mouths to feed.

[Jarwain]

Would working on it bring you joy? Because the world could certainly use more of that :D

I personally lean on people to help stay motivated. For your example, I would find a game dev meet up or some discord community, talk shop & share what I'm working on on a regular basis. Validate or give feedback on the work of others, and get some of my own.

It's a process of constantly pushing back the thoughts and community makes it easier

[ChadNauseam]

I think they write the travel blog because they enjoy it. Most people aren’t doing things like that because they think the world “needs” more of it

[p3rls]

Mental resilience and not understanding the sunk-cost fallacy

[WhrRTheBaboons]

the fact that even if it has been done before, the experience of making it yourself will benefit you in the long run