When he says "company", he means "project". Trying out new ideas is actually easier with a project because you don't have any company overheads. Innovate. Go crazy. See what sticks.
As someone that is prevented from working for my own company by restrictive US visa nonsense, I'm glad I can at least play around with side projects.
I agree that the post is mistitled and should be called Why you need side projects. The two quotes at the end of the piece support this:
“If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert.” - Australian psychiatrist W. Béran Wolfe
“Find a happy person, and you will find a project.” - Sonja Lyubomirsky
Anything Sivers says is gold to me but in this case I think you're adding something that makes it a little more correct. Yep, definitely being merely a project makes it easier and more agile, less risky, than if it's formally a company. I think that there's a certain extra invigorating constraint that happens if you also approach a project from the angle of, "How can this make me a big profit?" or "How could this change the world for the better?" and those can give extra motivation and clarifying structure around what would otherwise merely be a hobby project. I think both approaches are good though, based on my experience.
There's probably an advantage to having a company set up already. With that taken care of, there's less to deal with if you decide a side project is ready to launch for real.
And, perhaps, if you set the company up first, you won't rush it and possibly screw something up, in the hurry to get your side project on the market.
Of course, the visa thing would be an obstacle to this.
For him it's a company, for others it's a project. If you're 'playground' is the business world then you're going to need a company to play. If you're 'sandbox' is a literal sandbox then you're going to need either someone to hire you to build it or somewhere to pawn you goods. Either way, this is cross-applicable to many things besides the author's specific example.
It depends what you want to experiment with. If you have real users who are paying you real money there are things you can test you wouldn't otherwise be able to to.
Sure, it's easy to be successful when you've been successfull and there is no problem using your company as your own virtual playground, when it's your second (or third) company. For the rest of us we just have to work our ass off.
Agreed, he has already achieved financial freedom so it is a lot easier to experiment with throw away companies and projects. Others have to find that balance between working on fun activities and those that earn you income.
Agreed -- there's also the survival bias at play here. We only hear and read the blogs of those that already made it - dabbling in hot springs of financial freedom - in hindsight.
More interesting are the reads of those about to take off, in real-time - e.g. Chris Granger
A good motivational post and it works when you apply it at a personal level. However when you have employees and they are constantly jumping from one of your experiments to another, without your project achieving much traction among users, it can become horribly demotivating.
Hey really good work. I have been enjoying your newsletter since Wednesday. More time down the drain but its still good. Do you personally curate the articles or is it automated?
edit: forgot to say thanks!
In the context of this article, I think you can safely exchange those two words. I'd even say you can exchange company by side-project and the advice is still solid.
It's probably because running a company usually means you have more resources and money available to use than just doing a project. I guess that it comes with a lot more constraints than a project though in some areas - you might have really good ideas that you want to try but if they're too big and too much of a gamble, you can't really just do it and risk your investor's money...
A company presumably has the relevant filings and registrations done, and tax and accounting processes set up, so if a project starts generating revenue or is ready to do so, that's all taken care of.
ie, you're not sitting there with an app ready to go in the app store, trying to decide which business structure to use, how to get it established, filing to get a tax ID #, etc.
I didn't get that impression at all. After all, Derek wrote this post in 2009, and if you follow the links, the company he rushed back from the hot springs to found seems to have gone nowhere.
All he's really saying is 'you need to be executing on your ideas to be happy, not just thinking about them.' Which is true for a lot of people, myself included.
Not quite. I think the author was focusing more on any company that you have a stake in and can redirect its focus.
Technically, as long as you're a director of operations, you can redirect the company's vision any way you please. Just hope that the employees stay with you on your wild ride.
I found this to be very true for me, in a different context. Last spring I quit my job to take a six month road trip visiting as many national parks as I could. It had been a dream of mine for several years, and I loved it.
What I found, though, was that I no longer had any goals I was working towards. I was living my dream, and loving it, but without something to plan for and strive towards, my imagination and planning abilities became detached from my surroundings, and my daydreams and long-term goals became more and more baroque, until I had an entire dream-universe in my head. It made me realize that humananity, or at least I, need to have something they're working towards, a goal of some sort.
I saved this article and plan on re-reading it a few times.
I have kicked around for years the idea of having a small company with multiple projects. What is holding me back is not money (I have enough passive income) but that I have a difficult time letting go of my consulting business. I generally only work for very good tech'ies and I constantly get exposed to new ideas and technologies while working. Since my wife and I live in a remote area (Sedona Arizona - small town in the mountains) I rely on interactions with tech-saavy customers.
I'll probably keep doing what I do now (consulting 2/3 of my time and spend 1/3 of my time on side projects that don't have to succeed in making money).
Personally I've found that having my company gives me something to pin all of my personal projects, freelance efforts and stuff that belongs to me on. Eventually this grew to the point where I was able to leave my full-time job, and I'm not sure that would have happened if I hadn't gone through the motions of registering a company.
Am jobless, am broke and i want to start my own company. Am currently working on my web app that i really hope will turn out to be my first company. Keep you posted
This may go against the common current on HN, but if you're jobless and broke, you might not be in the best place to start a company, especially considering that often times companies aren't profitable in their first year. Do you have any resources to pull from? Family? Friends? Do you have a place to stay? Can you survive for a year not drawing a salary? If you're jobless, broke, and 17 living with your parents then you have a huge resource to draw on to make this happen.
My advice (for what little it may be worth) is that you find a job related to what you want to do. Learn all you can, live frugally, and store up as much cash as possible. Do this until you have enough in savings to live modestly while you get your company to the point where it will support you (I.E. Ramen profitable).
Sounds like one of those "idea guys" who thinks everything they think of is brilliant, but doesn't have the talent, discipline, and skill it takes to create anything. People like that get on my nerves. Learn a skill other than sales.
[+] [-] untog|13 years ago|reply
As someone that is prevented from working for my own company by restrictive US visa nonsense, I'm glad I can at least play around with side projects.
[+] [-] branola|13 years ago|reply
“If you observe a really happy man you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his son, or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert.” - Australian psychiatrist W. Béran Wolfe
“Find a happy person, and you will find a project.” - Sonja Lyubomirsky
[+] [-] mkramlich|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jonhendry|13 years ago|reply
And, perhaps, if you set the company up first, you won't rush it and possibly screw something up, in the hurry to get your side project on the market.
Of course, the visa thing would be an obstacle to this.
[+] [-] Shoomz|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tlrobinson|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lsc|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dholowiski|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] redox|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mck-|13 years ago|reply
More interesting are the reads of those about to take off, in real-time - e.g. Chris Granger
[+] [-] larrys|13 years ago|reply
Possibly but also remember that when you have something you have something to loose as well.
[+] [-] djt|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rodolphoarruda|13 years ago|reply
And pockets were full! That's the main factor I'd say.
[+] [-] 44Aman|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sid6376|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] duck|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TravisLS|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sid6376|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] tjr|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] espinchi|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stephen_g|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] prostoalex|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jonhendry|13 years ago|reply
ie, you're not sitting there with an app ready to go in the app store, trying to decide which business structure to use, how to get it established, filing to get a tax ID #, etc.
Plus, write-offs.
[+] [-] seats|13 years ago|reply
That part resonated with me and after parting with my company was something I definitely missed.
[+] [-] StavrosK|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gyardley|13 years ago|reply
All he's really saying is 'you need to be executing on your ideas to be happy, not just thinking about them.' Which is true for a lot of people, myself included.
[+] [-] vecinu|13 years ago|reply
Technically, as long as you're a director of operations, you can redirect the company's vision any way you please. Just hope that the employees stay with you on your wild ride.
[+] [-] acoyfellow|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gatsby|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] bcbrown|13 years ago|reply
What I found, though, was that I no longer had any goals I was working towards. I was living my dream, and loving it, but without something to plan for and strive towards, my imagination and planning abilities became detached from my surroundings, and my daydreams and long-term goals became more and more baroque, until I had an entire dream-universe in my head. It made me realize that humananity, or at least I, need to have something they're working towards, a goal of some sort.
[+] [-] mark_l_watson|13 years ago|reply
I have kicked around for years the idea of having a small company with multiple projects. What is holding me back is not money (I have enough passive income) but that I have a difficult time letting go of my consulting business. I generally only work for very good tech'ies and I constantly get exposed to new ideas and technologies while working. Since my wife and I live in a remote area (Sedona Arizona - small town in the mountains) I rely on interactions with tech-saavy customers.
I'll probably keep doing what I do now (consulting 2/3 of my time and spend 1/3 of my time on side projects that don't have to succeed in making money).
[+] [-] alinajaf|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] capdiz|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dkokelley|13 years ago|reply
My advice (for what little it may be worth) is that you find a job related to what you want to do. Learn all you can, live frugally, and store up as much cash as possible. Do this until you have enough in savings to live modestly while you get your company to the point where it will support you (I.E. Ramen profitable).
[+] [-] gsibble|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] einhverfr|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Porter_423|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] scyscy|13 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] greghinch|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] oscardelben|13 years ago|reply
[+] [-] DrJokepu|13 years ago|reply