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Re:Start Something Small by ChuckMcM on Friday November 02, 2012 @11:31AM (#4733083)
This is excellent advice. One of the challenges is that really big things can become overwhelming and intimidating, but small things are quite doable. When I was writing a column for JavaWorld I remember how 'hard' it was to write a 1500 - 2000 word column, but 'easy' to write a 2000 word email. Michael O'Connell, my editor there, suggested that I just write an email and let the editors make it into the column. I decided that was stepping too far back, but I could effectively break my writer's block by emailing myself the question I wanted to answer and then approaching the first draft as an email.

I would expect that much the same happens between 'startups' and 'weekend projects.' If you build a small project for the weekend you don't really care that you will be done on Sunday (or Monday perhaps :-) and that will be that. A 'startup' on the other hand that is the first step and then you have to drive traffic, and get buzz, raise funding etc etc. So it stops being a 'weekend project' and becomes the start of huge pile of work. Yuck!

Re:Start Something Small by rcarrigan87 on Friday November 02, 2012 @02:43PM (#4734121)
This is so true. Just last week I was struggling with writing a press release and couldn't get started. While staring at my screen an email came through from an old friend asking what the scoop was on my new project. I immediately dove into the email and began writing what would later become our press release. At the time though I was just responding to a friend. Funny how that works.
Re:Start Something Small by nckbz on Friday November 02, 2012 @01:23PM (#4733709)
Seconding this. :) Definitely an excellent advice piece. I think we all overestimate the skill and time a project or an idea will take.
Re:Start Something Small by edwinnathaniel on Saturday November 03, 2012 @10:30AM (#4736680)
You're spot on with weekend projects vs startups. I was fighting that mindset when I developed "nbaschedulesapp": drive traffic, get buzz. But lately I managed to escape that thought and the weekend project slowly becomes just that :).
Re:Start Something Small by loceng on Friday November 02, 2012 @09:36PM (#4735607)
There's an advantage you gain when you work on something really big, and that is that there aren't many people doing it.