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WeAreDevelopers LIVE • Dec 16, 2024

Learning From My Side Project Mistakes

Jonathan Fielding

Why do most developer side projects end up as abandoned codebases? Discover how to beat tech stack paralysis, avoid scope creep, and finally ship your MVP.

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#1 about 3 min

Reflecting on personal engineering side projects and initial creations

Exploring how the desire to build helpful tools sparks side project ideas that sometimes fail.

#2 about 2 min

Establishing clear purpose and measurable project goals

Starting a side project without a firm goal or concrete use case often leads to abandonment.

#3 about 2 min

Prioritizing minimum viable functionality over flawless aesthetics

Obsessing over minor details like perfect login pages prevents real progress and valuable user feedback.

#4 about 2 min

Managing personal scope creep to complete side projects

Inventing unvalidated requirements derails the core focus and significantly delays project completion.

#5 about 2 min

Filtering user feedback to avoid excessive project bloat

Implementing every requested feature complicates the interface and distracts from the project's original vision.

#6 about 2 min

Overcoming technology choices and framework decision paralysis

Over-analyzing choices between popular deployment paths delays development and diminishes project enthusiasm.

#7 about 2 min

Avoiding proprietary technology lock-in and potential security risks

Adopting unfamiliar third-party platforms increases learning overhead and introduces hidden code vulnerabilities.

#8 about 2 min

Controlling unnecessary financial costs on unvalidated side projects

Delaying the purchase of domain names and premium cloud tools saves money and mitigates sunk cost traps.

#9 about 1 min

Summarizing key takeaways for successful software side projects

Prioritizing progress over perfection and utilizing familiar technologies creates a more sustainable project workflow.

Matching moments

3:10 min

Actionable advice for navigating the AI software development ecosystem

Edith Harbaugh Edith Harbaugh +3 · WWC Europe 2026

6:17 min

Shipping side projects and overcoming the last mile problem

Edith Harbaugh Edith Harbaugh +3 · WWC Europe 2026

3:34 min

Combating burnout through unproductive side projects

Ana Rodrigues · LIVE

2:30 min

Overcoming the human challenges of software maintenance

Robby Russell · Coffee With Developers

54 sec

Overcoming analysis paralysis in software projects

Mustafa Toroman · WWC 2021

4:44 min

Balancing multiple side projects versus long-term product commitment

Dan Mindru · Coffee With Developers

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