There were so many things that killed Vocalix that that's kind of smeared across multiple blog posts, like:

http://inter-sections.net/2008/05/07/13-tips-for-creating-a-...

http://danieltenner.com/post/32887444139/0005-starting-up-wi...

http://swombat.com/2011/3/14/fit-your-product-to-the-right-m...

Both ended in a somewhat messy way (in fact, Woobius is still not quite ended) so I didn't feel like there was a clear point to draw a line and write a post-mortem.

Thanks for writing the article and for sharing what went wrong. I really love your advice for not taking funding and connecting with mentors and peers.

I'm sitting in my comfortable chair so I don't know what the other side of the field feels like but I am curious about the advice regarding not setting plans or deadlines. This might be a personal thing but I always found myself more focused and more likely to do something if I have a plan and/or deadline.

Does your advice specifically mean don't go back to the corporate world by X months or does it extend to all aspects of trying to find that right idea?

The advice there is specifically about not setting a plan that "if it's not successful in 6 months, I'll go back to this other job in a corporation" - because I can practically guarantee you the deadline will pass without the desired success and it will just make you feel bad, or worse, you might have made a public commitment and then maybe you'll actually go through with it.

So, do make plans about what you'll achieve, but don't make plans to "achieve it in X months or go back to the corporate world".

I can see the relevance in that. Thanks!