When I first started as a developer, I thought I had it all figured out. I felt like I was ahead of the curve—smart, skilled, and ready to build amazing things. But there was one big problem:
My bank account said otherwise.
For six months, I made exactly $0 from all my side projects.
At that time, I was working a stable developer job with a regular salary. But I had a lot of ideas. I built:
A task manager app
A SaaS dashboard
A Chrome extension
But after six months, the total revenue was still $0, and my audience? Zero.
I kept thinking, “The market’s just not ready for my ideas.” That was my biggest mistake.
The Problem: Too Much Ego, Not Enough Action
I was focused on building “big” things—complex architecture, microservices, and unnecessary features. But nobody was using my projects. Meanwhile, my coworkers, Richard and Ronald, were quietly doing real work.
Richard was freelancing on small projects.
Ronald was contributing to open-source projects and writing blog posts.
I was building products to impress myself, not to solve real problems.
The Moment of Truth
One day, during lunch, Richard asked me, “So… how many users now?”
I confidently replied, “It’s not about users. It’s about architecture.”
But Ronald, with his calm demeanor, said:
"If nobody uses it, you are the architect of an empty building."
That line stuck with me. I realized I wasn’t building products; I was building validation for my ego.
I was avoiding marketing and refusing feedback. I thought I was too good for small projects and feedback, but the truth was, I wasn’t solving real problems.
The Change
That night, I decided to change. I wrote my first article about a bug I fixed. It wasn’t perfect, but it was real. To my surprise, it got over 300 views, and I received comments from real people thanking me.
From that point on, I started focusing on small, consistent improvements instead of building “big” projects. I started listening to users and asking for feedback.
I began:
Sharing small lessons
Asking questions
Helping others
The Results
Over the next two years, I sent 100+ freelance proposals, got 80+ rejections, and worked through many failures. But I also started getting real clients and real users. My code improved, and I stopped focusing on looking smart and started focusing on being useful.
The Key Lesson
The market doesn’t care about your confidence. It cares about the value you bring. People don’t pay for fancy code or complex architecture. They pay for:
Problems solved
Time saved
Revenue increased
The journey to becoming a senior developer wasn’t about mastering every framework. It was about:
Shipping small things consistently
Listening to feedback
Solving real problems
If You're Just Starting Out
If you’re in the “I’m a genius but nobody pays me” phase, keep going. You’re learning. Just don’t stay there too long. Focus on:
Building small
Listening to users
Shipping quickly
Asking for feedback
Helping others
And remember, listen to those who are willing to challenge your ego—it might save you time and help you focus on what truly matters.
Top comments (2)
That's very interesting
Good.