[raphaelb]

It's not always prototypes necessarily but mostly it's about reaching out to people you already know and letting them know you are helping people on the side with software work.

I was very lucky in that I happened to be good friends with a super-connector type person who always has people asking him for help. If you know other people who are doing consulting work, you can talk to them, if they are good they won't be particularly protective because good people always have more work than they can do.

In general, it can take time to build this up but in my experience it's valuable to see how you can help / give to others around you, and it will come back to you at some point. You have to learn to avoid the time wasting clients and people who look for you to do spec work, but after you've learned to spot them it's not so hard.

[vram22]

Good advice. What is spec work? Read the term somewhere recently, but forgot what it means.

[gbrits]

spec = specifications. This could be 1. requirements gathering (use case focussed in words of client) -> 2. functional specifications (use case focussed in terms of developer / exhaustive) -> 3. technical specifications (low level plan on how to implement). Often 3. and sometimes 2. aren't done explicitly, but are part of iterative / agile methodologies. 1. however, must still be done imho

[vram22]

Thanks. I did know that spec by itself is short for specifications - I'm a developer, and also have software engineering experience, so knew abut your points 1 to 3. My point was that spec work seemed like something else. Also see my other reply to a child comment to yours.

[moflome]

I think in this case, the parent meant working speculatively [0] which can be seen as risky for some, but also a way to get some reputation & awareness.

[0] http://www.nospec.com/what-is-spec

[vram22]

Thanks. Yes, I think this is what the original comment meant that I was asking about. Now I remember where I read the term "spec work" - it was some weeks ago on avc.com, Fred Wilson's blog. And someone gave the same answer there as you, IIRC.

[qohen]

It's not specifically a tech term, e.g. spec scripts in the entertainment business:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spec_script