Why Developers Are Building So Many Side Projects | Future

From unleashing creativity to mitigating risk, Ben Stokes of Tiny Projects shares some of the main reasons why developers are building so many side projects.

Over the last two years, I’ve built and launched eight tiny internet projects. From apps to websites, most of them have flopped — but together, my ragtag group of projects might be considered ramen profitable. My last project, Paper Website , lets you start a blog using pen and paper. It was a weird idea, but it has found a few die-hard fans paying to use it each month. A side project is usually a hobby programming project that a developer builds alongside their job (my day job is co-founder and CTO of a fintech startup) — like a Raspberry Pi robot, a to-do list app, or an iOS game that

related reading

• How I side project | thesephist.comthesephist.com
• blakewatson.com - Finishing side projectsblakewatson.com
• I Spent 2 years Launching Tiny Projects | Tiny Projectstinyprojects.dev
• Just for Fun. No, Really.justforfunnoreally.dev
• Don't End The Week With Nothingtraining.kalzumeus.com
• Please Build More Silly Things - by Varun Shenoyvarunshenoy.substack.com
• The power of side projectsverifiedinsider.substack.com
• Mediumliou28335.medium.com
• How To Become A Professional Software Developer — EA Forumforum.effectivealtruism.org
• Reflecting on My Failure to Build a Billion-Dollar Companysahillavingia.com
• MAKE: The Indie Maker Blueprintreadmake.com
• My Approach to Building Large Technical Projects – Mitchell Hashimotomitchellh.com