I think people get confused by the wide spectrum of businesses that the word "start-up" represents. You can't build a VC-backed 10-person B2B company as a side gig. You can build a small profitable SaaS business on a few hours a week.

>> You can build a small profitable SaaS business on a few hours a week.

Sure but that’s a wide spectrum too. How profitable? Do you want to make $200/mo profit, $2,000/mo or $20,000/mo? You can do the first with a few hours a week. The second, maybe if you’re lucky or have a wide network you can sell to. The last one? I doubt it’s possible with anything less than 20-30 hours a week, at least upfront.

The second definitely doesn’t require luck. I built a $3k/mo app in a couple hours a day for a few weeks.

People think it’s all luck because they build things just hoping someone will buy it and when they don’t “ah well, bad luck on this one”.

Instead you need to find a problem people actually have first and then build something to solve that. Then its much more likely that someone will pay for that solution.

It is not luck when you hear several people say something like, “I really wish it was easier to do x” and then you build a solution that makes doing x easier.

It most certainly is luck if you just think of a random cool idea and it happens to be profitable.

Correct! I may have forgotten to include a disclaimer that I am only referring to first time builders, those who want to build a lifestyle business or just test the waters with a new product idea.

What I don’t not get is that people are often way more productive in their job than when they are trying to do something on their own...

I don’t get it insofar that the latter (your own goal, e.g. becoming a writer or your own business) has way more potential in the long run than the former.

One thing might be: In a paid job you can focus on your job. As founder/freelancer you have to handle everything. Some people are good in diving deep but slow to context switching.

In best case they can pair with a co-founder that has a good intuition about „good enough“ and handles all the chores. But then a co-founder also adds its own set of problems.

Most people are more motivated by external factors than internal ones, so they simply work better when they are accountable to someone else. When you are working on your own, there isn't usually anyone making sure that you are actually getting things done.

It’s easier to risk failure at things that aren’t important to you is one example. A great book explaining all the reasons why is War of Art by Steven Pressfield.