The difference between a startup and side project

Nike started out as a side project. Projects evolve. It's really hard to put a ceiling (or a floor for that matter) on a business.

Startup founders are like "Hey we're really, really, super serious about making money off this new technology, and oh we have an office ping pong table, look at us were so cool". Business founders are like "We're going to succeed somehow, someway whether the work is incredibly boring or exciting look somewhere else unless you want to buy something we're busy". I appreciate both approaches myself.

Sideproject could be something that you build to solve a problem that you face.

Guess what? That is often the best "startup idea". Not the one you get while searching for "best startup ideas"

"Side-projects can evolve into startups! Many products were started after hours and grew into something big with time, but it’s unusual for a startup to scale down into a side-project."

This is key!

You point out some key things that really differentiate the two, and it's important to be clear whether it is a startup or a side project because it could be the difference between failure and success. When I first started my startup, I referred to it as a side project/hustle because I didn't want to make a big deal out of it if it failed. What I was really doing was giving myself permission to fail and it not be a big thing when I did. That wasn't the right attitude to have. Go into business knowing you are going into business. That's my advice.

In my case, Codis is started as a side-project, but at some point you need to go to the next level or change the idea.

Most projects start out as side projects unless you have the capital to give it 24/7 attention which most people won't have.

www.survey101.io is a side hustle. But like most people, everyone has dreams of making it all full-time!

I am currently a side hustler and am facing this dilemma too. Still some benefits of a side business I found
a. Initially, the work is less as you go bit by bit for making something from scratch
b. You can fund your Idea by cutting down on some expenses and small savings from salary
c. It takes time before the actual Idea comes to life to an MVP. A lot of refinements are there, most of the times ,the original thought will never prevail
d. You will get time to work on the business model and understand revenue streams
e. Get to validate the idea from early adopters to boost your confidence

I did this for a year or so and am able to get early feedback and product validation without going full time.

One of the best moves in expanding the side project into a startup is adding another founder and creating a team.

Whether it is the side project or startup project, I believe, they may share the similar origin - someone has some interesting discovery. So, the next decisions & events founder made now create 2 different paths - a side project & startup project.

Side project involves a smaller scope of goals & decisions & commitment.
Startup project involves a larger scope of goals & decisions & commitment.

This article is right on "Growth" as a goal or not.
This is definitely a level or an area depending on how you evaluate your hypothesis on investments & gains.

The truth is...
Projects come & go.
There are winning projects & dead projects.
Months & years are well spent or wasted.

The real focus is to increase our likelyhood of personal growth & project growth.

Started to scratch an internal itch and am now focussed on the custdev side to figure out how much this is just "my own itch" (that just some folks find interesting) or whether this is a real problem. Got to keep the lights on for my staff and myself without VC cash so perhaps we have an even bigger drive due to the existential risk at play.

Not sure I would consider side projects runners less committed if they kill projects to then focus on something that for which they find better PMF-related traction. An investor would have expected a "startup" to pivot just the same (instead of just burning cash on a dead idea). Knowing when to bury one idea to make room for the next is a hard call.

Lastly, not sure if it has to be full-time as some can't afford this for family, financial, health or other reasons may would still have a drive and perspective that should that would be a pity to have filtered out from the founders pool.

I don't really know, but i believed that both have the same goal which is to solve problems, but the difference is that one looking for an foreign investment and another not, sometimes yes.

The way you described your article is more attractive

Startup is working in fulfeldged and side project is working for the extra income

money