Is it okay to pause one idea in pursuit of another?
Solo developer here. Ever had one of those moments when you should be focused on your primary project, but a shiny new idea just won't let you be?
That's how I've ended up building Cue.Video over the last few weeks.
I wanted to demo some progress of my main project, only to get side tracked by how difficult it was to create a nice screen recording for social media. So off I went building a second product.
I may have strayed off my initial project for longer than anticipated (three weeks longer, to be exact), but I knew it would be useful to a few people at least and it was fun to build.
I guess my dilemma boils down to whether I should have prioritised completing the primary project first.
Is it okay to pause one idea in pursuit of another? Or is that just a recipe for not finishing anything?
If you are doing it again for one more time, it could be just a recipe for not finishing anything.
I would recommend you to pick a simple SaaS idea from here and start with that especially if this is your first time.
Also, I recommend you to start with a landing page, build waitlists, talk to signup people 1:1 or get a vibe from signups instead of building full blown products.
Being a notorious procrastinator, I often find myself creating new ideas whilst 'waiting for the right moment' with a current project. Something im having to make a conscious effort to reign in. So I sort of relate to this post in a way.
What you're looking for is conviction: Confidence that what you're building is useful and desirable to customers.
Talk to target customers 1:1 to understand their problems deeply. Show them a prototype or describe a feature set and ask willingness to pay questions (what is an acceptable price for this product? what is expensive? what is prohibitively expensive?).
Then get pre-orders going or run a paid beta. You can always offer full refunds in case you aren't able to deliver the product on time.
Just to put some numbers to it:
If you've spoken to 5 customers per target segment, built relationships with/made yourself credible to them, understand them deeply, have shown them a prototype, asked WTP questions, and nobody signs up for your paid beta, then maybe it's time to pivot.
I generally agree. However, in the case where my first product isn't a particularly new idea, there are already numerous successful competitors with established price points etc. Do you think the same approach applies?
I know I still need to engage early with customers, and I've had a few positive conversations already, but I'm not really focussed on the validation part. What you said about pre-orders seems solid also, I wouldn't be getting distracted so easily if that was in place. Thanks Icy.
This is great advice and something I need to remind myself every now and again. It’s easy to get caught in a thought loop and lose conviction on an idea without external validation. Validation can come from assurances of the user that the problem is correct, the solution you’re building will be beneficial, and your implementation is useful. It’s really difficult and time consuming to build the first implementation, so without talking with users it’s easy to be discouraged.
This is me exactly right now. I actually had an initial idea and then the sudden Twitter API change kinda limited me, so I went and built another project first.
But I think now is the perfect opportunity, so I kinda want to get on it asap.
So here's what I'm gonna do:
👉 Build my first SaaS to the point where minimum maintenance is required, and only do marketing from that point on. Most of it is done on Twitter anyway. So in a way I'll be pausing it to focus on the other idea.
👉 Start building the second project and try to grow it as fast as possible, focusing fully onto it.
So I really think it's okay and not the recipe for failing IF you pause at a point where you already have something running and it doesn't require much of your attention for development anymore.
It's also important to note that most of the successful startups / projects had to iterate a few times before reaching the product market fit 👍 so I'll say go for it, only good things can happen.
Your plan sounds solid Gal. I think mentally I was also a little burnt out from the work on the first project and just needed a break working on something else.
Lots of stories out there of a founder's second product/project finding customers just because it solves their own problem from the first project (and usually it's a common problem with a surprising lack of solutions).
I think what's important is that you shipped something and that you keep shipping things! Just keep the momentum going.
If you had a pattern of making it 80% of the way through every project and then starting a new one, never releasing anything, then sure—you could benefit from forcing yourself to finish a project before starting the next one.
However, in this case you took a break from your main project and shipped a whole other project. That's great!
I found myself in the same position some times.
The last time i tried to analyze the circumstances:
If youre struggling with the question on which project you should invest your time, you should ask yourself the things above. And be honest.
For myself i found out that it is a focus thing. If you didnt have a focus on that one main project or a strict plan on which you can hold on to, its easy for your brain to distract.
"I wanted to demo some progress of my main project, only to get side tracked by how difficult it was to create a nice screen recording for social media. So off I went building a second product."
I think this may be part of the problem. What's to say that once you get far along with the 2nd project you won't abandon it due to the social media marketing being boring.
Making the things is certainly more fun than creating a marketing plan for the things. However, it needs to be treated with the same level as importance as the implementation process itself. If you can't bring yourself to effectively advertise your product, how will anyone ever discover it to buy it?
It's a fair point and hopefully I can avoid that trap of neglecting the marketing plan. Thanks for the reminder!
I agree with Upenv, if you are doing it again and again then you will never build a great product. Most successful business owners worked 5-10 year on single idea
I'm currently in the same state. I am wondering if I should pause one
idea in pursuit of another
I think it's okay to get sidetracked a bit sometimes, as long as it doesn't become a habit. Also not bad to have two potential revenue sources instead of one.
You're always going to hear conflicting advice when it comes to this. Either that you should focus on one project for 12-24 months or build small projects.
From personal experience, if I had doubled down on my first venture, I would have wasted a couple of years. Hedging myself over small projects was the right move for me. Your mileage may vary.
Thanks Jonny, it's good to hear that the approach of a few small projects can work for some at least. My main project is a big one, so I think I needed a small one just to reset my brain a little. I think I can manage both in the long run without too big of an impact. P.S I'm in rainy Preston, just up the road :)
I think it is important to stay consistent with your primary project, as you are more likely to finish it that way. However, if you felt like you could multitask another project without it dampening the progress of your primary one, then I don't see any reason why you couldn't pursue both ideas.
Just be aware that this will become a habit "always chasing a new idea"