Hi all,

I’m a software developer and I’ve been in IT for over 20 years professionally. I want to focus my weekends and time when I’m not at work building a company but I wanted to build a piece of software that I can focus the company around.

The problem is I have no creativity, I don’t know what to make. I do however intend on spending the next 20 years everyday adding to this software. Where do I start? If nothing else, if I can build something that would allow me a 100k income then I’d be happy to do it full time for those 20 years as well.

Any comments/recommendations/flames welcome :)

  • appleseedjoe@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    most people aren’t guna give you a good free idea that will make money or they would just do it themselves… find a problem that software can fix, or look at other software your interested in but can make better.

    just me 2 cents

    • Electrical-Pickle-10@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Ok good point, I’d be willing to help them with the right path though. Finding a problem that software can fix is a good path, I think that is what I really needed to be honest. Thanks.

  • naripan@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Twenty years is quite a long time. Turnover for games is like 3-5 years. Software is longer, but within ten years, it’s difficult to stay. Metaverse has a chance to be quite long, but it’s also very seasonal.

    For twenty years, it should be something more like an ecosystem. If you want to build one, I think you should consider IoT. Start simple from place that you like in your house like toilet, terrace, basement, etc.

  • Fragrant-Solid6011@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’m trying to come up with a systematic approach to this. So for this is what I have from several sources:

    1 Start with a broad search: Conduct a broad search for topics related to an industry or market. Read news articles, blog posts, social media posts and industry specific website that discuss current trends and issues.

    You can also: Scratch your own itch, Find a problem at your day job, Solve a problem of someone you know, look at what products your company or you use.

    1. Research competitors: Once you found an issue find out who is solving that issue. Analyze the competitors website traffic. If it’s a public company in the US look up there annual report. If it’s a private company in England use the website company house to learn more. You can listen to talks with the CEO to find out what problems they are currently facing in that market. You can also find out what’s going on inside by using Glass Door, LinkedIn.

    2. Find a differentiator: Use forums like Reddit and google review to find out what people dislike about there products which you can fix. You can also target it to a different market.

    3. Can you build it: Do you have the skills required to build it? Can you get someone with industry knowledge to help you?

    4. Validate / build: You can build an MVP or create a landing page to collect emails. You can also sell it before it’s build and offer those who buy it a special offer. If you can talk to customers read the book “the mom test” to know what questions to ask them.

    • IndependentClear6268@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      This seems pretty nice. Funny enough I am also struggling a bit as well in regards of finding my next thing.

      I have been looking to a pretty popular app but it has like very bad reviews. A photography edit app. (2.8 on google play.)

      Would it be an idea to make this app better by looking to the reviews?

  • tangpanqing@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Try doing something small first, small goals? This will provide good focus.

    After all, not everyone is Steve Jobs, Altman

  • XIVMagnus@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Software ideas are overrated, I say focus on the business side.

    Enter an existing market, if you need help with this you can send me a DM. I’m basically a biz dev nowadays.

    I also can get you connected with another biz dev that focuses on idea validation to PMF

  • Beginning_Reality205@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’m in construction… estimating/takeoff software project management software CRM (geotagged, canvassing, etc) Lidar architectural cad AI based product matching and pricing…

    I could go on for days.

    I also have an app I started to build (that I have a lot of passion for) if you want an equity share hobby.

  • 0xWILL@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    You know, software/technology/business is about solving a problem. You need to have a problem to solve. Solving someone else’s problem will just be “employment” to you.

    You know when you’re stuck on a software bug, you stop working at the computer and go for a walk or take a shower? You probably need to do something similar, but at a bigger scale.

    Go outside without any tech. Bring paper and pen. Maybe your phone, on silent. Buy a coffee or beer with cash. Just sit and watch life.

  • Dry-Competition8492@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Every product you build should start with satisfying a need. In software there is always something to improve.

    How frustrating is fixing bugs, errors, testing someone else’s code that doesn’t have unit tests? How hard is to make estimates for feature development?

    Last week happened to me that all of the features I built stopped working on the sandbox env.

    As said there is always a way to create a product for developers

  • Treethatgrows@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Some of the most pressing issues of our time: Climate change, Democracy, Biodiversity Loss, Wealth Disparity, and Hunger.

  • Fair-Distribution-51@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Keep in mind you’ll need to do marketing once it’s ready or find someone who can do that for you. So might be a good idea to look for cofounders