From Zero to Business in 7 Days - Part, the Fifth
March 7th, 2008
Did I say seven days? Oh, eh. What I meant was 14 days. Uh. Heh.
I’m sad (and somewhat embarassed) to say that I won’t meet my self-imposed seven day deadline. There just weren’t enough hours in the day to get copy2web out the door in a week. While I’m fairly pleased with the progress I’ve made, the devil did in fact turn out to be in the details.
So what went wrong? I felt that I should have been able to knock this out without much trouble. In retrospect, I should have:
- Started getting the commercial and business requirements set up right away. While I may be willing to work all night to get this project going, processors, lawyers and banks aren’t. Letting this sit for five days was a huge mistake. Even if I was ready to sell, I currently have no good way to accept payment. I could just do the PayPal thing into my personal checking account, but that seems like a bad idea.
- Used a web site template right away. I burned a lot of time trying to find a template I liked. Nothing really caught my eye, so I decided to code my own. Mistake. I finally realized this and just picked a template that was ‘good enough’. A whole day was probably wasted on this alone.
- Avoided scope creep. I was determined to create a very simple application. No bells or whistles of any sort. But of course, I started adding things that I didn’t need, and tweaking the design when I really didn’t need to. Spending an hour tweaking icons in Photoshop just so they look a tiny bit better was a wasted effort.
- Taken some vacation time from my day job. The entire effort was done in the evenings or when I had a spare hour during the work day. In theory, I didn’t think this would be a problem. In practice, it was really difficult. After nine hours of hacking on something that I have no interest in, I tended to feel burned out and uninspired until late into the evening. By about 11pm I would start to get into a zone and really be productive until about 3am. But then the cursed morning came. A few nights like this and a few all-nighters really took a toll on my poor brain.
So while it’s disappointing to not meet my goal, it was actually quite a lot of fun. I haven’t pulled all nighters like that since I was a twenty-something. Also, I (re)learned some things about myself and how I work best, where my weaknesses are, and what distracts me from achieving what I want. It’s not the destination, it’s the journey. Right?
So what’s next for copy2web? Finishing. I’m giving myself another goal date of March 15th. One more week. And if I miss that deadline, I’ll set another goal. And another. And another. And another…
March 7th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Tina Russell
March 7th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Hang in there… perseverance is the most important thing!!
March 7th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
“And if I miss that deadline, I’ll set another goal. And another. And another. And another…”
Lool. A goal and a deadline aren’t really effective unless failing to meet them translates to “things are going to suck big time”.
Don’t get me wrong, if you’re fairly comfortably “settled in life”, that’s great. But it means you aren’t as terribly “hungry” as the twenty-something you mentioned, even if you’re pulling ridiculous hours. The same effect doesn’t mean the same cause is at work.
None of this should keep from imposing your own deadlines, of course, and from hanging in there. Just make sure you understand *all* variables in the equation. Rock on.
March 8th, 2008 at 7:43 am
I love your site’s tagline. I saw it as a result of using Google Alerts to watch for “Scope creep”.
When I worked as a coder in Colorado, I used to get in trouble regularly with the big kahuna (chief software engineer) for making tools that helped me code instead of actually coding.
Thanks for sharing your story of real life in the birth of a new idea. So many great things come from these “entrepreneurial seizures” (Gerber).
March 8th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Philipp - You make some good points. If copy2web never gets completed or is a total failure, that’s okay. Things won’t “suck big time”. But pain isn’t my motivator. I already have a good six-figure job, nice house, three dogs, blah, blah, blah. My real motivator is to just prove to myself that I can do it. To fall in love with coding again. And, to build something that I’ll actually use on a day-to-day basis.
Sure, these motivators aren’t as powerful as paying the rent or putting food on the table. But they’re what motivate me at this point in my life.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. - Brian
March 8th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Tina and Micheal - Thanks for stopping by. Perhaps I could have used your help in my little project.
- Brian
March 8th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Mathematician/philosopher Rene Descartes wrote “Meditations on First Philosophy” as if it were a conversation that took place in 6 evenings. In reality it took him something like ten years to write. You could always try a tactic like that next time.
Seriously, though, you’re probably a lot farther along than if you hadn’t publicly announced a tight time line. Plus, you’ve managed to drum up some interest.
Good luck and don’t kill yourself in the process.
March 9th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
“While I may be willing to work all night to get this project going, processors, lawyers and banks aren’t. ”
You actually needed a lawyer to get things going? I suppose it’s for the license. Isn’t ‘borrowing’ a similar product license acceptable?
Apart from that, keep up the good work! I’m anxious to know what will happen next
March 10th, 2008 at 3:35 am
Don’t worry, the same thing happened to me when I tried a similar stunt. The end result was it took a month to put out the software. But you know what? It didn’t matter because I released something quickly, and the original tight deadline really set the pace for the rest of the project.
People spend years before releasing a lot of stuff, so good luck on your release be in 14 days or 30
March 10th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
Martin - Well, probably not. But I want all my ducks in a row Just In Case. - Brian