[thenduks]

I wrote a bug tracker called Bugrocket and convinced the owners of my employer to switch us over to it from Bugzilla.

After a while of using it and improving it based on real-world usage, I pitched launching it as a company. Drew up all the paperwork and incorporated as co-founders. I didn't leave the company, we just all did it on the side.

That was 2009. It's still kicking, but growing really slowly (who knew, bug tracking isn't very sexy :)).

Advice... that's trickier. Every situation is different. I think starting with an MVP and dogfooding is really important. But generally just go for it and see what happens. It will take up a lot of your free time, more than you think, so be prepared for that.

I also agree with a lot of the other advice in here about bringing it up with your boss - I don't think Bugrocket would be a company today if I hadn't 'pitched it' to my employer. Then again, in 2012 I started CourseCraft (an ecourse platform) with my wife and we've been bootstrapping it on the side. It's doing even better than Bugrocket. Like I said every situation is different :)

That original employer was later acquired and I have since left, but it wasn't because-of or related to the stuff on the side.