

Ask HN: At what point did you just start working on a prototype? - sown

I'm ready to quit and move to another job but I started to think about a prototype for an idea I have. I've worked on it off and on, and maybe I should try to carry it as far as I reasonably can. It'd be nice to have a change of pace.<p>Do I just quit one day and then start work on it? Will it sound OK to employers in silicon valley if I took 3-6 months off to work on it and had nothing to show for it?
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hansc
If you have some savings and are passionate about it: Why not? I have done the
same thing. Is it a success? Well, from an experience side it very much is,
financial or carreer: Don't know yet.

Two things I would advice: \- Give yourself somekind of milestone and target
date to help keep focus (for instance, working prototype and share with 10
bloggers in 2 months) \- Get out there: Go to meetups, etc. Not to sell your
thing, but to meet people and when they ask share your idea, progress,
experiences and see what questions and advice/ideas they have.

Good luck: It can be awesome!

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betaout
Prototype can be as small as Wireframes, Product Specs, HTML mockups. You dont
need to change/leave your job to do that.

If you have been living with the idea for few weeks/months are also very
passionate about it. Three four nights or weekends are sufficient to start
with the sketches and wireframes.

Once you have it ready, show it to few friends, industry experts you know and
iterate until you will confident to take the next plunge. Because after that
there is no going back.

~~~
sown
Perhaps my definition of prototype is wrong. I'm working towards a decent 1.0
version with very basic functionality that people might use.

I used to think that having a prototype was enough but now I hear that is not
enough to talk to investors or people. I dunno.

~~~
betaout
Why don't you outsource some of the work. At least version 0.1 - you will get
a working prototype and market validation as well.

~~~
sown
Perhaps but I think I would want to keep something like that close to my
heart, not because I'm paranoid but because I really want to learn the code
behind it so I know what's going on.

Besides, it's using technology I'm not used to and I need all the practice I
can get.

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adam1davis
Don't do it - unless you can find customers first. Read:
[http://blog.bufferapp.com/idea-to-paying-customers-
in-7-week...](http://blog.bufferapp.com/idea-to-paying-customers-in-7-weeks-
how-we-did-it)

------
hiphopopotamus
But you would have something to show for it. You'd have gained the experience
of actually doing it. And you'd be showing good decision making skills ;-)

