Ask HN: How do you know what you're working on is worth working on?

[ideavo]

How do you know that the idea you want to work on or are working on is worth the time, energy and money? Not talking about side projects that you whipped up over the weekend, but medium term projects that you want to monetise, or even want to market to a medium to large audience (upwards of 100 daily/weekly users)

I see so many posts on reddit, people asking for validation. So I made a community-driven platform for it, I am attaching that link only: https://ideavo.tripivo.co.in

But my question remains, if you don't get any validation, why to take that risk of doing it?

[austin-cheney]

Just build it because it’s something you want to build. My current side project is something I have been working on for 1.5 years and I have not shown it to anybody else. It does not solve for world peace but it does solve for multiple problems I have.

[montague27]

I've built one for about 3 years. It's simply a todo app, but it solves my personal worflow very well.

[raw_anon_1111]

To be frank, this is a horrible suggestion if you want to see whether it’s worth it if you are trying to monetize it.

First you validate your idea by seeing if there is a potential market for it. Talk to people. See if someone is excited about it. Show them your work in progress.

See if there is already a company in that space and find a differentiator.

[ideavo]

That’s honestly a great perspective

[nicbou]

Is this an ad or a question?

I would say domain knowledge and experience. I've been in my industry for long enough to spot situations where my work will have disproportionate impact. The longer I am in this industry, the more knowledge, contacts and followers I have, so I can be very effective at building things, getting them validated, and finding users for it.

[ideavo]

It’s a bit of both.

I’m not in the industry or part of a company yet—I’m still on the younger side.

I’ve had many ideas and I work on them, but nothing really takes off. I keep coming back to the same question: is this worth it? Especially because every idea I have, I run it by my friends—they love it, I build it, they don’t use it, and I’m left with a dead project, a half-empty wallet, and goals I could have pushed further with if I hadn't taken up the project.

Bit of an ad because I am trying my best to get my product out there everywhere.

[sejje]

It's an ad.

You can tell because the product answers OP's question.

[gcheong]

Unless you have a paying customer willing to pay you with just a promise of something to be delivered (see kickstarter et al, Steve Blanks's customer discovery, etc.), you don't. If it solves a problem you have and in a better way for you than other solutions then you personally get immediate value from it. From there, it's possible others may have the same problem and will be willing to pay for it. It's not guaranteed but the number of people getting value from the software will be at least n = 1.

[ideavo]

I pretty much have the same perspective, until unless it doesn’t solve my issue, I don’t really want to work on it

[IntelliAvatar]

For me, one signal has been whether the problems remain interesting even when progress is slow.

When working on complex systems (like anything involving long-running automation or agents), most of the real work happens in areas that don’t show up in demos: defining “done”, handling partial failures, and keeping behavior predictable.

If those problems are still worth thinking about after repeated failures, I take that as a sign the work itself is worth continuing.

[ideavo]

That resonates a lot.

I’ve noticed the same thing: if the shape of the problem is still interesting after the novelty wears off and progress stalls, that’s usually the real signal. The visible demo work is easy; the hard part is exactly what you said—defining “done,” handling edge cases, and making systems behave consistently under stress. If those invisible constraints keep pulling you back, it’s usually because there’s something fundamentally worth building there.

[AnimalMuppet]

As others have said, you don't know.

But start with you: Are you building it because you want to build it, or because you want it? Are you in love with it as a project, or as a product? Is it something you want to use?

Then, when you have it as a just-barely-usable thing, give it to a few people who have the same need. Get their feedback. Does it actually help them? If so, then you may have something.

[ideavo]

I want to build it because I want it. In love with a building my own company, and I’ll actually use it. It’s something I want to work on, trying to get more and more users because it’s community driven.

[mikewarot]

You can't know the future value of a project. You will always learn things along the way, and it's important to consider the value of those lessons in your consideration.

I've wasted far too much time in analysis paralysis, and not spent enough time trying things. Hopefully you can find a better balance.

[ideavo]

Ahh I see your point