[billN]

I disagree with most of the points.

1. People usually start a side project because they are unhappy at work. If they are unhappy, they are unlikely already giving their best

2. On another note, a side project often gives your a great deal of satisfaction, accomplishment, control and responsibilities that you wouldn't get in your daily job. This balances your morale and will make you perform better both at your daily job and at your side project

3. I worked on a number of side projects in the past. Some successful, some not. But in ALL of them the learning was priceless. I didn't start side projects because I wanted to start a business and go all-in. I did start them because I wanted to learn things that spaced beyond my daily tasks at work. And it worked brilliantly.

Also, if you've a mortgage to pay and a family to maintain, you have some responsibilities that make the "go all in" move quite a big risk. And I do believe it is possible to start a business starting as a side project first - it just takes much more time and energy and, most of all, patience.

[dh]

I find it hard to believe that everyone starting a side project is unhappy at work, I don't think the 2 are related. If you are unhappy at work you should leave.

I am all for doing stuff on the side so as not to get bored, to learn and 50 other things but then let's not call it a startup and a business. An entrepreneur takes calibrated risks and makes things happen when others can't or won't.

[Draiken]

Not everyone has the option to leave. Very few actually have the luxury of leaving their jobs because they "don't like it". From the way you're talking, it seems like you either have a pile of money behind you, or a family with a pile of money as a safety net in case everything else fails.

People with real families and real responsibilities normally can't quit. Doesn't matter how much they want to.

[billN]

Being unhappy at work can be one of the motivation. For certain there are many others (wish to learn something else, wish to become the next big entrepreneur, wish to go solo). Many people can't just leave what they have, and they have a skillset that may get them to create a business, but not the required resources / contacts. A side project may be one of the way to start.

Agree on your second point - it should be called a side project. It's a startup / business from the day it actually _does become_ a business.

[mindcrime]

An entrepreneur takes calibrated risks and makes things happen when others can't or won't.

Sounds exactly like the person who plows every cent of otherwise disposable income into a startup, while risking their employment by reserving a portion of their mental/creative energy for their own thing, instead of whatever shitty product their employer is churning out.

[ry0ohki]

I find the converse hard to believe, why would someone who is happy at work create a side project (unless they are just a tinkerer or are scratching a personal itch)?

[jdbernard]

You just listed two reasons that arguably apply to most hackers. 90% of my career I have been happy at work, but I have always had multiple side projects going on as well.

[ry0ohki]

Agree, but the author's point was you shouldn't work on a side project unless it's a "real business".