
Why I'm Building a Side Dish (and Maybe You Should Too) - noahbragg
https://noahbragg.com/blog/why-im-building-a-side-dish/
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lucb1e
Is there a reason the author uses the word dish instead of project? While I
suspected as much before clicking, it would clear up the title if it would
just say what was actually about.

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nicholaides
RTFA: it's not talking about side projects.

Side dish = product built on a platform the customer already uses. Example:
Streak (a side dish) is a CRM that lives inside Gmail (the main dish).

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cassiet
The opposing side to RTFM is for you to just “Answer the fucking question”. I
don't have issue with people that didn’t read or understand, but I do have
issue with your RTFA nonsense. What does this add? Far less value than a
question that everyone seems to want to know...

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nicholaides
Thanks for bringing it up. An underlying assumption here is that cordiality
should be the default, and I agree with that.

In this particular case, though, this question is essentially "TL;DR?", which
is also a question everyone wants to know, but not considered good etiquette
by this community.

The question was "Is there a reason the author uses the word dish instead of
project?" If the answer is yes, then, you can find out by reading the article.
If the answer is no, then a comment critiquing or clarifying would be helpful.

I could have been more cordial, but it's unsustainable (IMO) to counter low-
effort with high-effort. Acting annoyed is a convenient shortcut for
communicating etiquette expectations.

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cassiet
There are plenty of good reasons to start to read the article, not quite
understand the usage, and come to the comments for clarification. I don’t
assume, if I’m not following, that reading more will clear up the confusion.
If those reasons exist, as they plausibly do, then how do you ensure you
aren’t erroneous, and making an inaccessible community.

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pedalpete
What about a side-dish as a marketing tool, to get people interested in your
main-dish.

This is the approach we are taking with my current start-up. We have a simple
entry point, integrating with the apps, and wearables people currently use.
But we don't like anything in the market currently for really solving the
problem, so while we build out our own hardware, we're building the app, which
is a side-dish, but has it's own revenue stream too.

I'm sure there are other businesses that have done this, can anyone give
examples of side-dishes that turned into main-dishes?

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tixocloud
This is a valid approach and is commonly used even with large enterprises.
It's also the route we're taking with our startup as it lowers the initial
friction and allows you to build out credibility. This is also the approach I
used when working in consulting - effectively, you're looking for a small
ask/commitment before making the big jump. Good example could be Intercom
which is broadly expanding it's offering.

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Washuu
This is a great read for information on how to classify the scale of a
project. Being able to compartmentalize the scope is good for determining when
to execute and when to walk away.

I am currently working on a "main dish"[1] since it is for a smaller/niche
market of people that modify their cars. I consider it the "side dish" to my
day job, but with the goal of going full time with it if it takes off. If it
takes off then I can start creating my own side dishes, complimentary
products, to the main dish.

[1] [https://azxiana.io/2020/04/21/translator-gateway-module-
maki...](https://azxiana.io/2020/04/21/translator-gateway-module-making-
foreign-data-buses-work-together/)

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noahbragg
Glad you liked it! Looks like you have a good plan! Hope it goes well!

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frompdx
Thanks for sharing. This is a thought provoking article. I too have wanted to
build something and would be happy if it covered something like my monthly
rent. There are lot's of great side dish opportunities out there. Just look at
the many successful paid wordpress plugins, slack integrations, and so on.

To be honest I've always found myself focusing on what I can build as a main
dish for a niche market. This article has given me some new perspective.
Thanks for sharing.

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noahbragg
Glad to hear it! Yes there are lots of opportunities for side dishes. Because
all the big companies want to go for the big opportunities.

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transitivebs
This post resonated with me a lot.

It's similar to the distinction between VC compatible business ideas (main
dishes) and more niche, Micro SaaS products that are focused on profitability
instead of growth.

My main dish is Saasify.sh, a platform whose goal is to help other developers
launch and experiment with side dishes. In the context of this excellent
article, I'm focused on trying to make the process of creating your own side
dishes as easy and repeatable as possible.

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noahbragg
Glad it resonated. I like what you're doing with saasify. Making it easy and
quick to get businesses off the ground. Nice!

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cocktailpeanuts
Microsoft DOS once was a "side dish" to the "main dish" of IBM. You should
always strive to turn your side dish into main dish. Good luck!

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noahbragg
Thats a good point. I think there are lots of ways to turn side dishes into
main dishes. Really depends on what platform you start out on.

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tombert
I sadly work for a company that claims ownership of any kind of "technical"
thing I come up with. I have dozens of side-projects that I work on, but sadly
they're all kind of stuck running in my basement until I leave my current job.

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dudul
Have you ever checked with an attorney if the IP document you signed was an
overreached?

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tombert
I have, and it seems unlikely that I would win any court case if I were to try
and risk it.

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ultrasounder
I liked this idea at first blush. The only catch is that You give away control
of your customer interactions to the platform that You are hitchhiking on. If
that is not a deal breaker, side dishes are the way to go.

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uoflcards22
Thanks for this. Very fun and motivating to read.

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noahbragg
Glad to hear it! Are you building a side dish or main dish?

