Thoughts on "B2B" side projects?
I've seen Taro's videos on building side projects, and Alex's advice was to not monetize and focus on getting users.
Prior to joining Taro, I've been running a B2B startup for almost half a year. Recently, I've been able to get clients who are multinational corporations. Think of places like the Four Seasons group, Coca Cola, Mercedes Benz, etc (and I got clients just by cold emailing). If I keep pushing, I should be able to rake in at least (this is conservative) 50K in ARR by the end of the year. My startup also got interviews at YC and Sequoia Arc - I got passed on since the market I'm working in is quite small despite having everything else right (funny that both Sequoia and YC gave the exact same feedback).
So essentially, I've done the complete opposite of what Alex advises - build a product where big companies are willing to pay you big bucks for your product. I'm wondering if this would still be as impressive as something like Alex's random name picker? What percentile of applicants would this project place me? Is it good enough to stand out? If not, should I change my approach (though my gutfeel is to keep doing what I'm doing)?
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Discussion
(11 comments)- 2
6 months agonew gradIf it's original, functional, and something someone can play around with or see it has users, I think it'd have value on your resume. Plus it's a great way to learn how entrepreneurship works.
Also, what process did you use to find leads and send emails? Currently trying to do this myself. Using Apollo for sending emails but idk if they are best bang per buck, using the free trial rn.
- 16 months agoSoftware Engineering Intern [OP]Taro Community
The question is more how does this project compare to others. Of course, having a project is better than having nothing, but the question I'm asking is compared to projects that Alex and Rahul have made (and to a larger extent, everyone who is applying for jobs), how does this one stand up? Would it set me apart from other applicants? What percentile of applicants would this project land me in?
To answer your question, I use linkedin sales navigator to find leads. There's a feature to load everyone's email into a spreadsheet. I then use Google's mail merge to mass send emails. Google's mail merge is free but you can send up to ~500 emails/day and it's a little finicky to use sometimes (the mail merge "feature" is actually just a script someone made).
https://developers.google.com/apps-script/samples/automations/mail-merge
- 2
6 months agoThoughtful TarodactylTaro CommunityHonestly I would not consider this a side project. This to me seems like proper work experience given that its generating revenue and I would put it in the experience section and call it founder. Work experience is always better than side projects!
Be cautious with this because you might be asked to stop when you work full time due to conflicts of interest
- 06 months agoSoftware Engineering Intern [OP]Taro Community
Thanks for the answer. I do list this as work experience but to extend the conversation - where do you draw the line between work experience and side project? When you generate a significant amount of revenue? When you acquire a ton of users?
- 0
6 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course HeroThis isn't completely scientific, but if you make more than $10,000 doing something, that feels more like work experience to me.
- 1
6 months agoFounding ML Engineer @ Lancey (YC S22)Another litmus test is if you have any external stakeholders/obligations/contracts. For side projects you can always just stop and its ok. But if you cant just stop or have a contractual agreement for providing a service I would be ok calling it work experience
- 26 months agoTech Lead @ Robinhood, Meta, Course Hero
Uhh, this is better than a side project 😂. As others have mentioned, this is straight up work experience (and I would label it as such as work experience > side projects on your resume). $50k ARR is incredibly meaningful, especially for an intern.
The reason I talk about making apps free and ad-free for side projects and building side projects overall is because 99.9% of interns (and 90%+ of SWEs overall) can't do what you accomplished. Building a meaningful side project is already incredibly hard, especially for junior engineers who need it the most to get hired, which is why they need the free/ad-free buff just to get raw users to make the project look impressive on their resume.
Of course, if you can build a side-gig that makes 50 grand and builds software for Fortune 500 companies, obviously do that haha. But that's not achievable for the vast, vast majority of interns. So congratulations to you for being able to do that - Your career prospects going forward are incredibly bright!
- 06 months agoSoftware Engineering Intern [OP]Taro Community
Thank you so much for the high praise!!!
- 16 months agonew grad
(replying to your reply)
imo, having any original side project that's deployed puts you in the top 10% of applicants. Most of my friends don't have an original, deployed side project on their resume. They just say x project but there's no link to it.
- 16 months agoTech Lead/Manager at Meta, Pinterest, Kosei
What is your goal with this project? Use it as a stepping stone for a job or continue to grow revenue until it becomes self-sustaining?
Since you literally applied to programs like YC/Sequoia, I agree with Thoughtful Tarodactyl that this feels less like a side project and more like a startup. I'd represent it as such if you are working on this full-time.
In either case, whether you're doing it as a job or side project, getting to $50K ARR on your own is extremely impressive. If I were evaluating you, the main thing I'd want to figure out is how much of the sales you received are for your time or your product.
If these multinational companies are paying for a pure software solution, that's even more impressive, and I'd encourage you to pursue this full-time. If you're a glorified consultant, your viability as a startup is jeopardized (but this is still valuable as a side project for your resume).
- 06 months agoSoftware Engineering Intern [OP]Taro Community
Thank you all for the insights! Here are my responses to Rahul
What is your goal with this project? Use it as a stepping stone for a job or continue to grow revenue until it becomes self-sustaining?
I've been treating this startup more like a side-hustle. In school and even in my current internship, if I'm not working my primary job, I'll be working on this startup. For now, I see my startup more as a stepping stone for a job rather than growing revenue until it becomes self-sustaining. The reason being that I don't see this becoming a unicorn given how small the market is (the market is around 1-2bn).
In the next 1-2 years, my vision for this startup is to be a profitable side-hustle. My hope is to use the profits to bootstrap another startup that has a legitimate chance of becoming a unicorn (which I can then pursue full-time). In the worst case, it can just be an extra source of income. (more later on whether to pursue this full-time)
If I were evaluating you, the main thing I'd want to figure out is how much of the sales you received are for your time or your product.
The sales I receive are primarily for my product more than than my time. There is an onboarding process (setting up the accounts, having a call to walk through how to use the product and set up expectations etc.), but after the setup, these companies are paying for a pure software solution. On a resume, can you give a few guidelines on how to emphasize this point?
If these multinational companies are paying for a pure software solution, that's even more impressive, and I'd encourage you to pursue this full-time
This is one thing I've been considering but not sure if it's the right move for my career. I think there are two factors influencing this - mainly the risk-reward ratio isn't good enough:
- Market sizing isn't big enough (reward): As mentioned before, the industry I'm in isn't huge, so there's a limit to how big my profits can be. With a lot of hard work and many years, I can see this startup hitting 10mm in ARR, but that's a long long way and I don't think these returns are good enough for me (one of my life's goals is to build a unicorn).
- Lack of venture funding/prestige (risk): As you know, 90% of startups fail, and this one is no exception. Suppose I did fail, then the question is how will I fare in the job market as a failed founder? I likely won't have any brands associated with me (ie can't call myself ex-YC or ex-Sequoia) since it's hard to attract investor interest. In that case, I think it'll be hard to break into big tech without any brand names associated with me (I only have a chinese big-tech company on my resume).
Rahul - you started Kosei after graduating. Can you share more of that experience? What compelled you to exit to Pinterest, and why not keep building? Did you have a backup plan if Kosei didn't work out?
