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Ask HN: What did you learn from your recent project failure?

• ben_w 1y ago
  That there is no correlation at all between (mobile app) code quality and business success. Not an anti-correlation: I'm not saying bad code is a good business; I'm saying it's no correlation, that it doesn't make much difference either way. The worst code you can imagine and then some? Business awards and acolades in one case, business went under in another. Latest design pattern, CI, code review? Too slow for market in one case, strong market position in another. https://benwheatley.github.io/blog/2025/02/26-14.04.07.html https://benwheatley.github.io/blog/2025/02/26-14.04.07.html
  • raydenvm 1y ago
    At some point, I also learned that code quality does not really matter. Product quality has an impact, but not code quality. With AI, it will likely matter even less because code quantity dramatically increases at the expense of quality.
    • cpach 1y ago
      I can see how this can be true for commercial products. Would you say it also applies to open source projects?
      • raydenvm 1y ago
        You mean non-commercial open source, right? Well, perhaps... I can't say with certainty because I was never involved in one.
• aristofun 1y ago
  1. There is no link between quality and popularity of the product. As long as the product is just good enough - it is only a function of marketing. 2. There is no universal lessons to learn, or wisdom to apply in every situation. Including the point above. Every complex enough situation is unique. “bad generals prepare for the past war” as someone said.
  • raydenvm 1y ago
    1. What about the concept of minimum loveable products (MLP) versus minimum viable products (MVP)? They say go for MLP and that with MVP, your chances are much lower due to the excessive product and information noise.
    • aristofun 1y ago
      It’s just bunch of word fluff for people to show/think they are smart. In reality money or/and luck usually wins.
    • ben_w 1y ago
      I say that everyone doing a startup needs to know what the actual minimum in the "minimum viable product" really is for them. The idea of the MVP is there to say "publish this as soon as you can, don't wait because the market will have moved on and you'll run out of money if you wait for perfection". MLP is a reaction against this, but I don't know if it's a reaction by perfectionists (who are wrong because then you go bankrupt), or a reaction by people who've tried one too many buggy and unready alpha products that was shipped to test the market before it was ready (who are correct, I'll let you think of your own example here).
• deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
• eyesofgod 1y ago
  To just not bother with side projects. Got too costly too quickly.
  • raydenvm 1y ago
    Have you ever felt tempted to drop your main job because your side project was growing?
• yamirghofran 1y ago
  Use dev containers and try to deploy a toy system (all the components but toy code) early on in the project. We did a lot of work and couldn't deploy Qdrant, even though it was working on localhost.
  • raydenvm 1y ago
    How much time/money would you save then?
• account-5 1y ago
  I learned I hate docker and elastic stack.
• apineda 1y ago
  even small projects cost a lot of time ( marketing !! ), better to focus on something you really care about rather than opportunistic items
• whatamidoingyo 1y ago
  That payment providers label certain projects as "high-risk"*, and will refuse to allow you to use their platform. For example, supplements. Stripe and PayPal will close your account. You're left with providers like CCBill, which require a $1,450 fee to setup Visa and Mastercard. So, always read the terms of service of platforms you intend to integrate into your projects. And do it before you spend weeks or months developing the project :'). * - High risk involves dating, supplements, CBD, and various other things.
  • chistev 1y ago
    What makes them high risk
    • whatamidoingyo 1y ago
      I think this article will give you a better idea: https://stripe.com/resources/more/high-risk-merchant-accounts-explained https://stripe.com/resources/more/high-risk-merchant-account... This one is worth checking out as well: https://stripe.com/en-mx/legal/restricted-businesses https://stripe.com/en-mx/legal/restricted-businesses I missed this the first time around, but it looks like they've also banned "Get Rich Quick Schemes": "Get rich quick" schemes, including investment opportunities or other services that promise high rewards to mislead consumers; schemes that claim to offer high rewards for very little effort or up-front work; and sites that promise fast and easy money Interesting.
      • chistev 1y ago
        Why don't they approve it? Because of potential scam?
        • whatamidoingyo 1y ago
          Yeah, pretty much. But they indeed approve some companies. I guess if you have a clean, well-established business, it won't be a problem. If you're a fresh startup, you're in trouble. The only options left are paying the $1,450+ fee, or accepting crypto currency payments only (which I think most people won't bother going through the trouble of this to purchase creatine, lol).