Spent 2.5 years trying to turn an idea into a business. Only took 2.5 months to turn a side project into a business when I wasn’t even trying. Solve your own problems and a business will find you. – @danerobert, SA

Is SA your “side project”? What happened to chasm.io?

Anonymous says:

April 30, 2014 at 9:43 pm

Oh yeah what problem were you solving for SA?

Reply
- dana says:
  
  April 30, 2014 at 9:51 pm
  
  SA is my side project. Chasm.io is still alive and well.
  
  SA started as a completely self-serving platform to share my own stories and ask questions without my identity being tied to it. Turned out that I wasn’t the only one that needed/wanted it.
  
  Reply
Anonymous says:

April 30, 2014 at 9:44 pm

lol, I thought the SA meant San Antonio.

Reply
- Anonymous says:
  
  May 1, 2014 at 10:59 am
  
  LOL I thought you meant South Africa
  
  Reply

I had a similar experience. I spent almost 2 years working on a business, and achieved press attention but never made any real revenues. I had been supporting myself with a low paying job, just until my startup generated enough money for me to not have to work.

So, here I was feeling sorry for myself, working a shitty job and my startup not having succeeded. It was one of those pivotal moments in my life and I’m sure that many people have had moments like that, where they feel like a failure and it doesn’t seem like life will get any better.

So, while I was working at this “shitty job” I overheard two customers talking about a problem that they had, and after doing some research I realized that no one was addressing this problem, so I decided to create a business that would.

Since then I’ve bee enjoying lots of success. I wasn’t solving my own problems, but rather I was just keeping my ears open, listening to other people’s concerns. The lesson is, even if you’re working on one project, keep your eyes and ears open for other ideas that might potentially be better.

Many of the great discoveries of science came from scientists trying to pursue one project only to realize something else along the way, like for instance the discovery of penicillin

Yes, this! Cool idea will always lose to an actual problem that needs solving. 99% of the time, anyway.

Congrats Dana!

James Jiggins

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