2 builders who never spoke to each other

Check you can live with the work, not just the market

Commercial success inside a business you dislike does not feel like success, and disliking the marketing a product requires is a legitimate reason to hand it to someone else rather than keep it and let it decay. The inverse holds too: a project that feeds your appetite is worth leaving unmonetised, since the pressure that arrives with money eats what made it good.

The method

1. 01

   Check that you can live with the product itself, not just its market, because commercial success in a business you dislike will not feel like success.

2. 02

   Disliking the marketing that a product requires is a legitimate reason to hand it to someone else rather than to keep it and let it decay.

3. 03

   Leave the project that feeds your creative appetite unmonetised on purpose, since the pressure that comes with money eats the thing that made it good.

What it returned

• 2015

  Marco Arment reached the top paid spot in the App Store with his iOS ad blocker Peace in September 2015, enjoyed none of it, and pulled it from sale; Justin turned down a lottery-industry opportunity worth millions because gambling clashed with his values.

• $1,000

  Place Card Me paid Zue about $1,000 a month passively while he disliked marketing to the wedding and events industry; he believed the right owner could double or even tenfold it and looked for a partner or buyer.

Sources

• You want more than product/market fitJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Why product/founder fit matters · undated
• Discontinuing the Yo! Podcast supporters club - Rob HopeRob Hope · robhope.com · 2. Monetization vs Creativity · 2021-05-21
• Narrowing FocusCory Zue · coryzue.com · Place Card Me · 2024-01-24