Why My Side Hustle Is Failing: Brutally Honest Lessons from Building in Public
Written by Massa Medi
This isn't the blog post I thought I'd be writing today. If I’d stuck to the original plan, you’d be reading an epic tale about my daring escape from YouTube, the purchase of a catamaran, and the exodus to a life sailing around the world. Spoiler: my reality check bounced. Instead, here’s the unvarnished truth about why my side hustle is struggling—despite some promising numbers—and what entrepreneurs (especially developers) can learn from everything that’s gone wrong, plus strategies to actually validate your own ideas before things go sideways.
The Numbers That Don’t Tell the Whole Story
Let’s talk cold hard data. I managed to get 3,121 free-tier signups and sold 1,100,000 tokens. Infrastructure cost? A miraculous zero dollars, courtesy of Firebase’s generous free tier. Gross profit: $75.90. Pretty sweet—until you run the numbers and realize the hustle is still sinking.
On the first day, sure, $75.90 might look like it scales to a whopping $27,000 in annual cash flow, assuming every day is launch day (pro tip: it’s not). The beauty: the side hustle runs on autopilot. I haven’t touched the code since launch, so it’s on track to be my very own zombie project shambling along indefinitely.
But here’s the reason my optimism tanked: the conversion rate is a meager 0.3%. To get just one paid user at $6.90, I need 300 free users. My initial sales driven by YouTube exposure—a “gravy train with biscuit wheels”—quickly dried up after the first burst. Only two trickle-in sales followed.
The Problem with Paid Ads (When You’re Cheap)
Continuing the business? That means one of two things: pour my own time (a finite, precious resource) into organic marketing, or fork over hundreds of dollars to Google and Meta to nudge my tiny tool into your newsfeed. When your product’s lifetime value is high, paying for conversions can work. But when you only charge $6.90 per customer, advertising is like digging a deeper grave for your bottom line.
And, as every entrepreneur learns, time is vastly more valuable than cash. No way am I going to stand on a street corner, twirling a sign for this side venture.
Behind every small business that makes it, you’ll find a founder who’s all-in—driven, obsessed, possibly teetering on the brink of madness. If you’re going to go for it, go all the way. Otherwise, don’t bother starting.
A Moment of Poetic Realism: Bukowski on Going All-In
It could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives, maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. Jail. Derision. Mob mockery. Isolation… Isolation is a gift. All the others are just a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. Go all the way—there's no other feeling like that. You’ll be alone with the gods and the nights will flame with fire. You'll ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.
If that Charles Bukowski poem doesn’t ignite something inside you about your own project, maybe it’s a signal: find something you are passionate about.
When Passion Becomes a Constraint
Here’s the hard truth: I’d rather spend my time making content on Fireship than nurturing this half-baked voice cloning tool. So where did things go wrong, and what can I actually do differently next time?
Rapid MVPs Aren’t Always Enough
For starters, I only spent two days on the project. The landing page? Barely functional and visually underwhelming. Any meaningful “minimum viable product” will take more than a weekend, even with a rocket-fueled tech stack. In hindsight, instead of using bland, off-the-shelf IBM Carbon design, I should’ve invested in a unique look and a call-to-action with punch and clarity.
If your product can’t be explained in a handful of words, you have work to do.
Understand Actual User Behavior
Tracking how people use your app is vital. Users don’t always use things the way you think. Case in point: Firebase. It began as a chat widget (think Intercom), before the founders realized developers were using it for all sorts of unexpected stuff. That’s when they pivoted—and ultimately were acquired by Google for a fortune. Sometimes, luck follows those who pay attention (and are prepared to pivot their butts off, like Tarantino in the film industry).
To optimize, monitor analytics, run A/B tests with small user segments, and always discover the friction points in real life before making any grand launches. Especially if you’re considering paid ads; you must actively squeeze up that conversion rate.
How Do You Actually Validate a Side Hustle Idea?
Ideas come cheap. There are 100 billion people in the world (at least, if you count the “outer lands beyond the ice wall”). Odds are, someone out there is already making money with your brainwave.
Early Validation by Copycatting
Finding out that another person or company is already succeeding with your idea? That’s actually powerful validation. Big platforms like Meta make a habit of “borrowing” features from smaller startups. If there are already players in your space, that means people are spending on your concept. Your job: figure out what they’re neglecting or find a segment they’re underserving.
That’s exactly what I did with my YouTube channel. Were there millions of JavaScript tutorials before Fireship? Absolutely—oversaturated city! But I spotted a niche for snappier, shorter content that aligned with what I, as a developer, craved. It paid off.
Consider Figma: sure, their design tool was only incrementally different from what Adobe offered. But they nailed the pain points. Cue Adobe's $20 billion acquisition—just so they could make it “Adobe slow” again!
Build in Public and Get Real Feedback
Don’t wait until everything’s perfect. Shout your project from the digital rooftops—Twitter, LinkedIn, wherever your crowd gathers. Start sharing your process publicly before launch. You’ll quickly find indie makers who’ll give feedback, provide encouragement, or—even better—tell you why your idea stinks (and how you can improve it).
(And, yes, follow me on Twitter for behind-the-scenes content and real-time updates.)
The Power of Direct Validation
Early adoption is everything. Find your target users and talk directly to them. Let’s say you want to build a better Microsoft Word (universally hated, somehow universally paid for). Find those who actively complain about it—micro-influencers, forum dwellers, Twitter ranters—and engage authentically. Like their posts. Join the conversation. Eventually, reach out: “Hey, I saw you hate Word. I’m working on a tool that fixes those exact headaches. Want to be a beta tester?”
This so-called “highly surgical marketing” works, because it’s a win-win. Real solutions to real pain points? People gladly say yes. But be warned: I, for one, won’t click on your spam-ad.
If you drum up genuine excitement before launch, you’re on the right track—just know that rejection will be frequent and brutal even if you’re onto something.
Waitlists: Validate Without Writing Code
The waitlist isn’t just a Silicon Valley gimmick. It’s validation gold. Companies market first, build hype, and let a crowd of interested folks self-select by opting into the list. An email address is a much bigger commitment than a Twitter follow—no one signs up if they’re not truly interested.
Once you have an email list, invite folks to a Discord server for deeper conversations, early access, and the all-important feedback loop. Directly engaging with actual users uncovers what matters most—and builds a community invested in your project’s story.
When you make something people love, they’ll help you promote it, too. Sam Altman (Y Combinator, OpenAI) puts it simply: The single most important thing in a startup is to create a product so good that people will tell their friends about it.
Shipping Features vs. Shipping Value
Quick tip from the trenches: every new idea comes with one core feature—and the urge to pile on a mountain of extras. Resist! Ship the focused, lean MVP (minimum viable product) and see if users bite. Preferably, get just one real user who benefits… then grow from there.
Software development never goes as planned. The “final” product inevitably morphs in unexpected ways, shaped by actual usage. Plan for it to look a lot different than the initial vision. The leaner your launch, the faster you learn.
Platforms like Product Hunt are goldmines for exposure and fast validation—if people care, you’ll know.
From a Dev’s Perspective: Lower Friction Wins
Every point of friction costs you users. Consider this: if your app makes users sign up before letting them try features, you’ll lose more than you gain. For example, my own Firebase-based project could have worked better with anonymous authentication up front—let users have fun, then offer registration after they've experienced real value.
Trust me: if I had a nickel for every time I bailed from an app because of a sign-in wall, I’d be richer than Scrooge McDuck.
In the early days, focus on a minimal, free, and delightful experience. Monetization comes later, once you have a loyal user base. In the “mid-game,” start adding features your audience requests and consider charging for significant upgrades. If you ever reach “late-game,” start lobbying for regulations and crush the little guys… (kidding, mostly).
Success, Failure, and What You Really Gain
Let’s be real: most side hustles flop. But every attempt comes with a portfolio of invisible wins: new contacts, a supportive mini-community, a standout project for your resume, reusable code for next time, a slightly lighter bank account, and most importantly—pride. Pride because you took the risk and chased what most only dream about.
So, here’s to learning (sometimes the hard way), iterating, and—above all—shipping. Thanks for reading, good luck with your hustle, and see you on the next adventure.