Ever felt like giving up?

Yes, of course. I've quit a thousand times, I just can't stay quit.

Ray Kroc didn't discover Mcdonalds (and thereby begin one of the most significant cultural revolutions ever -- in some ways good, in some ways bad) until he was 53.

Perhaps the reason your software side business didn't pan out wasn't because there was no demand, but because your understanding of market research was weak, and when you realize the importance of that, you'll realize how to do it right next time.

>>1835406
Don't go where the competition is fierce.

VR is the next frontier, if you don't have the resources or man power to compete, you'll get left behind.

If you can write software, go for the niche markets were there's only one or two options being offered. Study the competition, see where you can improve then start selling that feature.

It's easier to stand out in a 3 way race versus a marathon.

The hope is that one is successful before failure drives one to suicide.

>>1835406
Yes. I gave up doing my PhD after 2 years. I could have finished it in 1 more year if I worked at the pace I was at for the first year, but the 2nd year I lost all interest and it took me that entire year to decide to throw in the towel.

>>1835425
Thats absolutely true, I went in blind on that. Build it first and they will come, its not a good approach. Lesson learned I guess. How do you actually do market research? I mean at the basic level I can make a survey monkey sheet and send that out, but theres gotta be more to it than that.

>>1835440
It may be naive, but Im entertaining the idea of making a minimalistic indie VR game or kids product/learning software. I feel for the next few years it may be the same situation as the early app stores - anything goes, and if you got some quality, thats even better. I may be wrong of course. If it makes me an extra 1k/month it would already be an accomplishment.

>>1835457
You know man Ive looked through a book called "The other hundred entrepreneurs" which describes how people hustle in the worst shitholes on Earth to make a decent living, and compared to them I got it easy. But failure does bring a man down.

>>1835467
What's the plan now man?

>>1835470

I think this is a really good start: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product/market_fit

Basically, all the answers to what kind of product (software or otherwise) people want are out there somewhere: on forums or in user patterns that you can notice if you look or just start using it and writing down what you wished it could do that it doesn't. Figure out where that audience is (subreddits? in the comments or bad reviews of a competitor's product?), make a basic concept program to show to those people, and now you have an audience. Get some feedback, improve on it, and try to ultimately make what people want but doesn't exist. This way, you don't have to hope people will find what you made, you're going to where they already are and giving them what they already wanted.

The advantage you have over bigger companies is that you may be more agile and can afford to cater to smaller audiences to start, and they'll appreciate that level of attention and customization.

>>1835406
bump