While I am firmly established as an entrepreneur, having started one company of my own (skeevisArts) and been CTO of a now-acquired startup, I know that the business that I’m in is a means to an end. As much as I love to work with awesome clients and grow my roster weekly, this is not what I want to do long term. My dream is to build products.
I’ve been lucky enough to surround myself with other experienced professionals who have made the switch from client services to products, and they constantly goad me to start focusing on my own product. I’ve realized, with more and more certainty, that now is the team. And I start ideating.
Then I look up at the list of active, on-deck, and potential projects. And I get back to work.
A local developer compared client services to a cheap drug – it’s easy to get high. And skeevisArts is going well, but I must keep fighting and re-focusing myself to build out a product (or products, to satisfy my multi-track mind).
After the Google style of working – I’m currently gearing myself towards an 80%/20% solution. 80% devoted to running skeevisArts, and 20% devoted to my own ventures. It’s more challenging than I thought, as I never imagined myself being this heavily in demand and having so little extra-curricular time. Others have said “well, just take on fewer clients.” Yeah right 🙂
Hey, I know where this is coming from! 🙂
Kind of been thinking the same thing as you have been. I’m still working at my day job full time, but have eight different web applications that need to be built and have narrowed them down to just one to get started.
Over the last month or so have been typing notes into my iPhone of the five different persona’s that the application will have when completed and what functions they will need to start the product. So it is now looking like a 40 hour a week normal work week at the day job, with 10 – 20 hours a week working on the web application.
Now need to find that time with running a monthly accessibility event and a bunch more in June for Digital Capital Week, like I need to tell you this is going to cut into web application building time. Plus, I’m gone for a week at an accessibility conference in beginning of May.
Guessing it’s going to be less TV and sleep to get more work done if I ever want to be able to do my own thing anytime soon.
Good luck with your product.
Anton – Yes, you do!
John – I’m glad to hear that you’re working on something. It’s definitely a challenge working on something while having a full time job, having done that as well. Good luck!
When you have a successful product, or even the beginnings of a successful product, aren’t your customers a bit like clients? My experience as an entrepreneur is limited, but it seems like you can continue to have the frequent communication and gratification that client relationships offer but with your customers. If they help you guide your product development, then you improve your product and gain more customers. And on it goes. That seems like the harmonious path.
Michael – Completely agree
Catching up on some RSS here…
Yes, I’m finding that I have to specifically carve out time for non-client work, otherwise you never get to it. You essentially have to treat your product like a client with deadlines. While my “product” at the moment is an open-source release due any day now (:P), I still find that I have to schedule time to work on it; otherwise, it never gets done.