

Ask HN: Can I be a parallel entrepreneur? - sathishmanohar

I'm one of those guys, who gets new ideas frequently and gets excited about it. I have many ideas in my spreadsheet. Now, I've narrowed it down to two ideas. I want to use both of those products myself.<p>I hope most of you agree, the best way to know what works, is to launch it (if its possible), Both of my ideas are simple and powerful.<p>So, Can I build and launch both my products, to see what works? or, should I need to narrow down to one, and focus on it?
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Joakal
Make sure you have not only an idea, but an idea of how to execute those
ideas. I believe you should focus on one of them although this is based on my
preference for sequential-like implementation [0].

If you're still pressing ahead of parallel;

1) keep excellent documentation that even a hired programmer can follow.

2) ensure you don't forget to eat, drink, exercise, etc. Fixed habits help
tremendously.

3) have a plan to cope with information overload. eg, HN is full of links that
help your project and your project ideas. My plan is that unless the links are
very very good, you're already implementing it. You could bookmark it as
"Research later" (tip: ensure the bookmarks are descriptive. eg Nginx security
guide [1])

4) Adopt a 'write down and forget', eg logbook. A calendar is great for
events.

There's more tips but I need to get back on my project.

[0] I've attempted parallel implementation, the burnout and confusion comes
much faster for me despite all my tips above.

[1] <https://calomel.org/nginx.html>

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sathishmanohar
Thanks for the detailed comment. The first idea is a task management tool. The
tool I'm building is to solve a. info overload, b. task management, c. solid
reminder system etc. Current tools doesn't work for my needs. So, I'm building
it, so that I can maintain my sanity in future.

I have mockups done, also finished a small prototype, using that felt good.
So, I'm going on with it.

Second Idea is very big, but not tough to implement. So, I'm going to try this
too.

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NickNam
I say when you're starting, do as much as you would like to do. If you feel
yourself gravitating towards one project more. Then focus on that more
(meaning, be able to drop a project that doesn't interest you any more. Don't
feel obligated to follow through with it.)

At the beginning I feel it's more important to figure out what you like and
what's working more for you. (Kinda like dating.)

However once you figure that out. It's time to buckle down and go for the win.
It's much harder to execute than to talk about. But I'm sure you can do it.

~~~
sathishmanohar
Thanks for the kind words, I think both of these products are very meaningful.
Thats why I can't narrow it down to one.

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apsurd
I'd say go where your motivation takes you. Let's say you are burning to do
idea 1 - so do it! Then you may get burnt out for the weekend and not want to
do idea 1, so start idea 2.

Mainly keep it very focused, don't over-engineer, use the customer-development
framework and keep refining to the very simple core of the product.

I think these things take time so you will be glad that you flowed with your
momentum. In a couple months I'm sure you will gain the experience to answer
this question unequivocally.

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japhyr
You won't get far with a mediocre product, so you have to be able to do at
least one of them very well. That said, a second project can be a break from
the first one. Don't let doing both distract you from doing either one well
enough to succeed.

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abbasmehdi
Read Steven Blank's 4 steps to the epiphany. Then rethink.

