Market SelectionProven Pattern

Start as a side project with income from day job

Insight from Jason Grishkoff

When to use

When choosing which market or niche to target

Don't do this

Targeting too broad a market without clear differentiation

6 Founders Who Did This

1
VEED.ioby Saba Kened

After running out of money, both founders took jobs but religiously invested half their salaries back into the company account every month. Used this to hire two engineers to maintain development momentum.

Result:De-risked personal finances while maintaining product development velocity, eventually reaching 30K users and enabling monetization
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2
Finn versus Finnby Alex

Worked at larger fintech company with true 9-5 hours (not early-stage startup demanding founder mentality) while building side project, closed work laptop at 5pm to side hustle

Result:Had consistent time and energy to write 60 articles himself, reached $150K revenue before quitting day job
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3
Jotformby Aytekin Tank

Started JotForm as a side project while holding a full-time developer job at a NYC media company, investing 2 hours before work daily plus weekends for 5 years.

Result:Built product to revenue-exceeding-salary level before quitting, eliminating financial risk of the transition.
4
Iupilonby Angus Chang

Started Iupilon as a side project in 2015 while running Hextto Digital agency, using agency income to fund the content site's gradual organic growth

Result:Iupilon became a significant revenue contributor, playing an important role in the financial growth of his business
5
DesignJoyby Brett Williams

Ran DesignJoy as a side project for 3.5+ years while working full-time as UX designer at Transdev. Only went full-time when monthly revenue exceeded annual salary.

Result:Zero financial risk during transition. Business was already generating $60K+ MRR by the time he went full-time
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6
IACreaby Pauline Clavelloux

Built IACrea as a side project while working as data science manager at IBM for over a year, only quitting in June 2024 after reaching EUR 8K/month in revenue

Result:Side project approach provided financial stability; IACrea grew to EUR 10K+ MRR after going full-time
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