Why did my side-hustle fail? How to validate business ideas
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2023
- Last week I launched a side-hustle business with voice cloning AI, but things are not going well. Learn why most business ideas fail and develop techniques to improve your idea validation process.
#tech #business #startups
💬 Chat with Me on Discord
/ discord
🔗 Resources
The Art of the Side Hustle • How to get rich as a s...
AI startup ideas • 5 ideas for your own A...
My Voice Cloning Service vocalize.cloud
Twitter report of business launch / 1659930105127505920
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🎨 My Editor Settings
- Atom One Dark
- vscode-icons
- Fira Code Font
🔖 Topics Covered
- Advice for solo businesses run by programmers
- Building in public
- Community building and viral marketing techniques
- Top reasons businesses fail
- Tips for launching a tech startup
- How to validate business ideas
- Running a software development side-hustle
- Charles Bukowski Motivation - Наука та технологія
Twitter's video platform is getting good, follow me there for moar twitter.com/fireship_dev
I don't use Twitter because... It requires an email and phone number to sign up.
you could let users clone their own voices and sell them and then set up a referral program
Surprised you're still on Twitter
As someone who has been watching your content for a couple of months now, I really wish you had a more direct approach to content. The bits and jokes are not easy to follow most of the time and the visuals most of the time are not presenting the video coherently. I don’t mean to hate, you have proven yourself to be someone that I could learn a lot from.
Yo the video is too long, I already lost my motivation.
The most inspirational part of this video was seeing that a developer like you didn't build a responsive site. I feel so much better about my own junk now
Yes, that bit of humility really went a long way in making be less insecure about my jank code. My half-assed, but working github projects are going public.
What does your dick have to do with this?!
What do you mean by a "responsive" site? I took a look around it and don't understand your comment. I am still learning, so am curious.
@@brain5853 responsive is when the same site looks good on a phone and a computer (same html/css). He has shown on a phone his site looks bad
The issue is obviously the use of svelte, everyone knows users prefer angular 1.0 with JQuery plugins
Dude, I'm having such a hard time trying to debug SSR code with Sveltekit... Don't even dare me on calling bs on the svelte-love, haha.
Ouch, hit me right in the early 2010s.
God speed JQuery tutorials...
Why not just go full JQuery?
Mootools ftw
No backbone love?
Man that last line
“You’ll have the pride in knowing you took a risk and tried something , that many people dream about, but most are to afraid to ever try”
Is it worth it if you lose all your money?
I am going to comment this exact same thing 😂... but you stole my idea... or may be i'm to late 🥲.
@@dxabier if you do it smart you won't lose all your money maybe just some of it
More weakling wantrepreneurs in this comment section than a Dan Lock video. Maybe if you get enough atta-boys you'll actually start something! Lol
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
Absolute Gold, no bullshit of "motivational videos" and not too pessimistic, lovit👍
DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS, DEVELOPERS,
It reminded me of everything I already know and again reminded me to refocus on what actually matters in the project.
Which is pretty motivational. Loosing focus and working on crap that doesn't really work ultimately makes your project feel jank and bleck.
true!
a precise summary
I quit my job today, I'm a Senior Software Engineer and I've been working 60+ hours a week and getting screamed at for minor differences in opinion. This video is exactly what I needed to see, we only live once and it's not worth it to never try for something that makes us truly content. I'm gonna start making videos on tech tutorials and my side projects, maybe with a DevOps and ML focus. Your content is the gold standard for programming related videos on the platform, thanks for making all this quality, inspiring content.
Been indie making for 4 years, barely making money... trust me its not easy as it looks, you need to be prepared financially, physically and emotionally
@@ryant6552 Yea I get that, I have a decent amount saved, and I'm gonna be freelancing doing AWS consulting. I also have some other interviews coming up. I just know life is too short to be treated less than professionally at work.
@@llambduh dang, enjoy your life, man,
I wish I could get my ass stressed over a job as long as it earns me the 6 figures, but I got neither the respect nor the cash
@@TheDoomer666 Are you working 60+hrs a week? I'm a dev working close to that many hours and I use to do construction, i'd rather do construction. If you've never been a SWE you wouldn't understand the pressure it can bring. If I don't get something done in 8 hours it just means I keep working until it's done, or you lose your job, and when you're solving large logic and system problems you don't always get to wrap up at 5pm. People think being a SWE is some cushy gig, and I"m sure there are certain people who have less stressful enviroments, but a lot of us are under deadlines that were made with sh**** guesses and then we get extra work that isn't accounted for, basically the grass isn't always greener on the other side and I can understand this kind of post.
@@TheDoomer666 "I wish I could get my ass stressed over a job as long as it earns me the 6 figures" spoken like someone who has never spent a weekend fixing a dependency error you didn't even commit.
The key to making a successful email list is to make the user feel like they are getting a special offer by being one of the first to join. Either reduced costs or extra features/support
That's why my offer is 0.50 Dollars, so low you barely notice.
Does anyone actually sign up for email lists??
@@ratvibe for projects like mojo
@@ratvibe I signed up for chatgpt's plugins back when it wasn't released yet, also for mojo since I want to try it out whenever it comes out. Exclusivity is an addiction
i just lock on those email, if are important to me, at least almost as important when to pay the fee of the water supply service of my house, or when i will have my package on the way on my house about a buy i did 30 min ago, or ifsomeone noticed me in a job, other things are not so relevant to have an email, but for example, facebook emails are mostly thrash for except the validation user ones, and most amazon package relative emails are prioriti number 1 escept the ones amazon tries to sell me something i do not want, but we know stores sell ads of products, if there is a product i want but the seller is not paying ads for it, it will not reach my email, but that guy who desperate want to sell something have been send to my email, making that email thrash content, amazon is the only winner there, but is better if amazon send me something i need but i did not found, the seller get a buy, amazontheir comision and i my product, that can be a pretty good thing, but we know that is not going to happen.
At least you didn't spend 6 years trying to build a 3d rpg by yourself
You're the only UA-camr I have seen that admits that their UA-cam channel played a big part in the initial reception for their side project.
Seen too many youtubers who are like nah you don't need a popular UA-cam channel to get your project noticed.
in the AARRR framework, no amount of free audience can make a project grow beyond what it really deserves. Retention and Referral are key and can't be bought.
@@TheBlackManMythLegend Good point.. No matter how many niceties people are willing to give, come the 3rd month, if the product is shit they are going to cancel that payment
@@TheBlackManMythLegend But no audience and no exposure can kill just about anything. And that's where most people's ideas start off at. Plus your product can be garbage initially but if you have enough users thrown at it regularly, you can A/B optimize it into the perfect psychologically manipulative money extractor that everyone's app dreams of being.
Everybody, we must keep his side hustle going on!! His half assed voice cloning tool must become the new Facebook
I'll make that happen if you paypal me $100
Lmao
There's absolutely no need to take the piss.
@@MRJMXHD Can we combine it a with generative text platform to make fireship, but edgier? Basically, if you mixed 4chan shitposting with pseudoeducational developement ideas.
This man really tryna bootstrap himself through this community so hard it’s unreal, like POV entrepreneurship, but the viewers get to decide if he lands 😂
Your combination of blunt honesty and dark humor is what keeps me coming back. I wish I were still young and enthusiastic enough to even want to try a side hustle. :-( But hey, the vicarious thrill of watching your ups and downs is still pretty good... I'm pulling for you.
8:17 As a game developer I can relate even though my games aren't as financially successful as I hoped I would rather be the developer that made the game he dreamed about rather than the one who wants to but is too afraid to try.
I guess youtube chopped off the last minute of the video
Wrong timestamp. Fix it NOW
Good. You fixed it like I said
@@johnychinese it was a typo.
What game(s) did you make?
That Bukowski poem hits hard, I was having an axiety attack (hasn't happend in years) last night because of the tech job market and was going to give up---went to college for it, spent a year thereafter just making projects and learning web dev and practicing leetcode, with nothing to show for it, thus far the idea of giving up had not ever occurred but for some reason last night it did, it was strange. But then I open this video and you hit me with that Bukowski poem sparking something I had thought was long gone, Thanks man
Idk if this helps. Literally nothing matters in the grand scheme of things, so you can do whatever you please. No rules matter at all, it makes little sense to live in such a chaotic world with rules; social expectations and morals are agreed on but are largely irrelevant. So then, isn’t it better to die doing what you believe in, instead trying to live like others. This hot (for some, not for me) take is what I’ve been trying to really accept and live by, it doesn’t address many issues, but serves as a reminder nonetheless
I feel u bro, the job market is depressing 😔
Not for nothing - you have experience and knowledge that no one can take away from you.
@@turolretar no rules matter at all? Man, can you please tell that to my landlord, the grocery store, my electricity bills, computer component manufacturers, etc.? And while you're at it, tell that to spacetime so I can stop aging so I don't feel like I wasted my prime years!
Unfortunately though, we are living in reality where you can't just magically fix all your problems by imagining them away.
The struggle finally paid off for me in the past week, its been a very rough year for those of us trying to become something in a sea of seasoned programmers that got laid off, but it's worth it and we are all better programmers because of the conditions too. Good luck
The timing of these videos is impeccable. Been working on a project for months, and now that it's pretty much working with the minimum features, I'm finding every excuse not to get it in the hands of users. This just pushed me to market a bit and see if people like it. Thanks for the great content.
What's your project?
Can you post a link or something? If it's interesting it might get you a couple signups or people on your mailing list anyway
Omg me too
I like, this comment replies. It has an advertiser, entrepreneur, someone interested in the project & obviously programmers. How can I get hold of any of you guys
Haha the typical fear someone will steal your project. I have a project too. Only 2 months now and an MVP will be ready. Why don’t you post a link? How’s your project doing now?
3:49 "The problem is there is 100 billions people in the world if you include the outer land of the ice wall..." That literally hits me straight 😂😅.
"Go all the way!"
Good luck to everyone out there❤
There are no words to describe how perfect this channel is
Wow.. thank you so much for this. You just relit the fire in me. I was about to abandone my project, without even launching it, because of some crappy reasons. But after watching this video, i've made up my mind to follow through, no matter what. 🥰🥰
In trying to build a side hustle myself, the biggest eye opening moment was when I realised that the problem matters.
It might be a good business opportunity / validated by competition and you can do it. However if you don't love the problem it will suck. As founder spending countless hours building, validating, marketing it will eventually lead to a place where one just want to quit and go back to normal job. At that moment the biggest motivator is - "darn I want to solve this problem for MYSELF". And then you keep going even if there are no customers, no revenue, etc... Money is a very poor motivator in the long term.
Damn, what a brutal, optimistic honesty and transparency. This is my new favorite video of your channel.
Our point of view has so much of a big impact in our lives, im so glad you addressed that in the last minutes of the video. Much love and luck for you guys ❤❤
I love the honesty. Been working on a side-hustle for 3 years. 6 separate projects, all coming together in a symphony. Been a coder for over 20 years so there's a bit of flexing in this too. But the real arbiter will be whether the users love it. I always say, build something YOU would want to use.
Been in the realm of entrepreneurship for only a few months myself. There are plenty of themes I've picked up on including scalability, leveraging other people's time and money, and the careful consideration and/or use of debt...but if I'm strictly honest the critical tipping point was learning from other people who've already been successful at what I want to do. End of the day, I can't build a business like Google without help and seeking out mentorship from people who have already demonstrated profit in a given business structure. Was very lucky to come across a group of entrepreneurs who were willing to help me build and scale my own side hustles. Made all the difference in helping me start a business I would have never been able to before.
I learned a ton from this and the previous video launching the product. This content is actually brilliant. Funny and clearly explains important business concepts
Thank you for sharing this insightful video! It has provided me with a better understanding of why my side hustle hasn't been successful. Your explanation has truly enlightened me, and I greatly appreciate your guidance. You are my hero!
i start to think this isn't a programming channel anymore
This is a hustle channel
Reading about people grabbing multi-figures monthly as incomes in investments even in this crazy days in the market, any way or any pointers on how to make substantial progress in earning I would really appreciate.
All you need as a beginner to make good profit in the financial market is a financial advisor who will assist you and also invest on your behalf else you make huge losses.
First start working with a certified financial advisor if you have any, if you don't, I will recommend John Desmond Heppolette, He's really one of the best advisor I'd invest with, he's going to guide you and give you the rundown on how to get started on a profitable investment journey.
I’ve been looking for a way to invest, the fact that Im a newbie, I believe I need someone who understands this market, someone to give me all the right advice I need to invest. I just discovered his exceptional resume when I Googled his name. Thank you for sharing this information! I see this as the beginning of something big and special.
John Desmond Heppolette, really seem to know this stuff. I found his online-page, read through his resume, educational background, qualifications and it was really impressive. I left him a note and booked a call session with him..
With the help of Sir John Desmond Heppolette, I’ve gained perfectly well from my investment. The quantity of capital you invest, though, ultimately determines everything. With a substantial start-up budget, you could able to end more
This is the most effective Business 101 I've seen on YT. Your comms skills is amazing and I wonder how would be to work in an office with you. 10 mins meetings. Congrats mate
This might be my favorite video from you. Thanks man, I really appreciate it
Such quality content. Sarcasm much appreciated.
As a non-programmer who just released an open source passion project I’ve been working on for months. Having this video as the first thing I watched after release really feels confusing but assuring.
I was just talking with my friend and telling him my idea and you dropped this video you exactly hit what I wanted and how I wanted!!! Thanks :)
I've been through several startups from the ground on up and I have to say this is some of the best advice on starting something you'll ever see.
The toughest part for me is actually diving deep and having the discipline to finish the project end to end. I have multiple GitHub repos, notion pages and raw ideas in my notes app but the work always stops once I see someone has already created my idea
It’s very hard to be completely unique (and it might actually be impossible if we’re being real), but you really just need one thing to be different.
I work in branding and if it can help, try to see what your competitors do and change one of these aspects: Who (target market), When (basically the moment they use your service, connects to their need), Where (maybe you could target a specific nation that doesn’t have that service yet), How (a different experience matters even if the result is the same), What (that’s just offering something new or adding onto something) and lastly Why (this is tough, but you could bet on a moral/ethical aspect)
You really just need to stand out 1/8 of an inch, good luck!
Find weakness in competiton, EXPLOIT
I think must of us have that problem. Discipline is the hardest part lol.
I used to think like this, until I've pivoted into making side projects just for learning.
Honestly it was a refreshing view, I learn way more efficiently, don't have the stress to be unique/marketable and I get to explore my creativity with no barriers.
Shortly after I became a SWE I've lost that extra fire I used to have for Programming, but I realized I didn't lose it at all, I just don't like "Corporate Programming" and making projects in the hopes of making them profitable just added more to this feeling I had. I didn't give up on making a side-project profitable but I think it's not a good time for me right now to go in that direction, it's a goal of mine but I'm not pushing it at this stage.
man that siunds like serious mental wellbeing issues, it's like farmers thinking "oh no there's more farmers with potato crops, I am just gonna sow nothing now"
Great video. Awesome, straight-to-the-point advice. There is just one point I disagree with: "people will only sign up for a mailing list if they really want the product" (paraphrasing). Soooo many people I know sign up for every little thing without much thought and their inbox is crammed to the brim with junk mail that they never get to. Usually, there is something offered free (e.g., free ebook), but often it is just for updates on things that they are vaguely interested in. I think a lot of mailing lists, wishlists, etc. share this problem. This is why you have cases like on Steam where 100,000 people wishlist a game and only 10 buy it. Don't underestimate how impulsive and undiscerning a lot of people are.
I love this serie of digital side hustles videos of yours.
For me this video is the most one i can relate with so far. They are so valuable
If you could please do more video on tips and how to start digital side hustle it would be amazing!
Experience really is the best teacher. Thanks for sharing a great content as always. We're so lucky to have you!
Cautious optimism in the face of a harsh reality is what we should all strive for. Thanks for the video :)
that point you made about engaging with influencers using competitive products was genius
I think I'll start a youtube channel and document my journey just because of this video. Thanks a lot, Jeff!
Validating business idea + quote Bukowski in a tech video, that’s beyond any imaginable colab and surprisingly worked very well!
I thought the cringe quote was a bit....
@@jessh4016 Was a bit wot
I think it's also important to create a product targeted to niche audience with a high perceived value. I think trying to make an app for everyone with a low price ticket with a free tier isn't always a good idea. I rather try to find a someone who will pay $99 a month than trying to convert 300 free users
@fireship I can't code but I watch your videos because they're quick honest and witty, well done, great content 😁
i really love these kinds of videos it helps me understand what i should be doing when i start a project. only thing left for me to do now is come up with some great idea
I tried it and the AI voice honestly wasn't very good 😅 elevenlabs works super well, I was surprised it didn't sound all that good haha (easily my favorite youtube channel btw, just providing feedback)
I think the big problem with the idea was "Why would anybody want to clone any one person's voice?" It's an incredible niche market, even if you're Mark Hamill or Morgan Freeman. What you need to expand to, is letting other people licence out their voice on your site. (And that makes your project a bazzillion times more complicated, but that'll be the idea that succeeds in some form eventually.)
I think he made that app for the purpose of making this video. He definitely knew people wouldn't spend money on it. He probably also expects to make a bit on that site off of this video, but probably not a lot
Even though I think I heard this already a thousand times before this is the first time it actually clicks with me and makes me feel like I can do it or at least do it and learn, thanks for the content it’s good
Thanks for the inspiration, you uploaded this at the right time!
I'M so happy I made productive decisions about my finances that changed my life forever, hoping to retire next year... Investment should always be on any creative man's heart for success in life.
@@rachelortiz3585trading is easier with proper guidance, especially from a professional, Newbies who are not aware of how crypto truly works and wish to make profits from it, I would advise to invest with a professional like Jeffrey kathryn, It helps secure and minimize the possibilities of losses.
@@tanjakovacic9188哇你也认识她？我什至认为我是她唯一帮助我度过外汇交易的恐惧和失败的人。
I've never heard or seen any of her clients complain of lost I think she is just too perfect.
it was a testimony like this that introduced me to her and although at first I thought she was not real but I can now boldly testify...her strategies were awesome and her trading last week was boooom!!!
,Trading with an expert is the best strategy for newbies and busy investors who have little or no time to monitor trade.. I will advice anyone to stop trading on your own it's very risky. Seek advice of a professional trader
You work for 40yrs to have $1M in your
retirement, meanwhile some people are putting just $10K in a meme coin from just few months ago and now they are multimillionaires.
I’m celebrating a $30k stock portfolio today. I started this journey with 6k. I have invested on time and also with the right terms now I have time for my family and the life ahead of me
Wow, really. I was able to make my $25k on investment
@@eileengardner5462I’m looking for something I can venture into on a short term basis, I have $15k sitting in my savings
Assets that can make you rich
*FX
*Btcoin
*Stocks
*Gold
*Real estate
You’re right but a lot of people remain poor due to ignorance
Actually...many thanks for this. Thank you for your daily effort to get us out of misery. God bless you.
This is in the Top3 videos from the channel, man! Great stuff!
Maybe advertise it to vtubers? They have a rabid fanbase and their fans would pay to use their voices especially since the promise here is they don't need to do all the technical stuff and you do it for them.
This video is really valuable, thank you!
Perfect motivation, ideal mindset, keep the gems coming!
This is so encouraging. Thank you Jeff!
3:39 HE KEEPS CHILDREN IN THE BASEMENT! GUYS, FREE THE CHILDREN!
7:42 "Don't even worry about making money"
Starts the entire video saying how little money his project made and jokes about going out of business 😂
The humor in Fireship videos is always mind-blowing. The "end-user" part was very funny LOL.
Really love this series! Keep going on !
“The founders made their own luck just like Tarantino” 🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶
Build an AI application to validate business ideas?
That's a terrible idea. Even the code generated by AI need validated. Unless there is a system for AI built like a human team for building and testing (with real set of human validation data). I doubt it will be successful. AI is not an omniscient tool. It's confident but doesn't know where it's wrong unless you test its result and give the feedback.
It's already been done
Love the retrospective on your own startup!
Your words are wisdom for present and future generations. The world moves forward by ideas rather than by money alone!
Thanks bud for keepin us financially Educated! Regardless of how bad it gets on the economy, I still make over $22,000 every single week.
As a beginner investor, it's essential for you to have a mentor to keep you accountable 🤷. Myself I'm guided by Mrs Camille Anne Hector, a widely known crypto consultant 💪
@@Max.5058 Wow!! Kind of in shock, you mentioned Mrs Camille. She has proved beyond all doubt that it's worth generating wealth from crypto investment. I've been earning greatly
I'm also a new subscriber of Mrs Camille Anne Hector coaching program and I'm so excited took a positive turn by earning over $10k biweekly
@TrvorDanielSeeking her contact info
Idiot bots lol
Figma was made by a guy with a small hat and at least one of the guys who founded Firebase probably owns a small hat too.
Connections are more important than skills and ideas.
What do you mean by small hat?
@@Dude29 I assume jewish
@@Dude29 Oh I forgot, Mr. Altman 6:32 owns a small hat too.
@@ozoozo3301 ah I see
Hello, do you know any website that sell small hats for a good price? I'm looking for something with a cowboy vibe.
I love this channel cuz of the fast paced nature 🔥🔥
the best video ever from u so far. Powerful message 🙏🏻
Nice to see some acknowledgement of those of us beyond the ice wall
Hands down Fireship videos are the freaking best!!!
This is quietly encouraing.
Thanks Jeff!
This is a lesson for me too! I will do as you said Thanks fireship :)
Pure and precious wisdom. Thank you, sincerely.
Never ever stop this fireship
This is the best video ever produced on this channel! ❤
The reusable code on past projects is always so valuable
Dude your videos are awesome. From a UX design (my job) point of view you covered the lean strategy very straightforward. If I were in your shoes I would check out how to talk to your paid / qualified leads from your community to get more insights. Maybe fiver can help you with something quick in that direction. The improvement point you mentioned are on the spot. You could also use some free tools to get some data on that like hotjar or maze to quickly prototype and test new features.
Hope you (and the awesome community) have a wonderful week!
officially, u r my fav tech youtuber
This is why i come back here
Pure honesty
This video was fricking amazing!!!
Timing of this video is unbelievable, thanks
Huge huge huge respect for the video. Thank you for that.
Thanks a lot for this one. Such a valuable content.
Watching this as I decided to embark on my own. Thanks man
I have heard people speak for 90 mins about this topic and cover less content. great job fireship !
Go big, fireship!✊
spot on, imma get this last decades side hustle code come back to life
When you said "Get a whole bunch of people to sign up for it before you even build it" reminded me of what my friends used to joke about with game development. We were like, let's make the strategy guide first and sell it. That way people can have an indepth guide on what they are buying. We decided we were being too ambitious when we went to so far to say make the strategy guide for the DLC of the game before any of creating the game, DLC or original strategy guide.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience with us!
to much value on one video
Crushing as usual bro! ❤🔥
I’m a startup founder, and one of the most useful questions you can ask during an user interview for a new idea is “would you pay $____ to start using it right now?”
You’ll either get a future customer, or a good reason why monetizing your product is hard (e.g. free tutorials from competing UA-camrs is just as good and there’s no reason to pay)
It takes a lot of courage to try creating a great software service, and even more to openly and honestly talk about why you think it failed from your perspective. Great video, thank you for sharing your experience! :)
Fighting the good fight. Yall doing the Lord's work over here 🤜
The key is making a good product. That's where your passion should be.
"you took a risk and tried something that many people dream about but most are too afraid to ever try"
So true. Keep up💪
Nice to hear you speaking about entrepreneurship! 🎉 May open the doors to a lot of new videos on this topic 🙄
The reusable code part is so relatable. Even on my job I use past projects code and bill them the same hours, like selling a component
This was the best business video ever. No easy money blueprint. Just pute realism
The ending! Thanks for the video.