My first startup attempt was a indie game right out of university. In hindsight, I was too inexperienced, and as the only programmer on the game; it failed.
I got a job and worked there for ~3 years to gain experience, learn, and make some money. About 2 years into that, I started working on a side project with my lead and we left about a year later to work on it full time.
https://www.stroom.live started out as a live streaming video "social network for local happenings". Shortly before we launched, Facebook Live/Meerkat/Periscope were launched, and we could not gather any traction. We took our base tech and pivoted, turning it into a low cost, high quality (allowing the user to plug their professional camera into a cell phone) professional live streaming platform for video and broadcast professionals. After 2 years, we are finally starting to gain traction and customers.
My founder and I were able to pay for it through savings, me sucking it up and living at home, side contracts, and a Canadian government research program IRAP.
I got a job and worked there for ~3 years to gain experience, learn, and make some money. About 2 years into that, I started working on a side project with my lead and we left about a year later to work on it full time.
https://www.stroom.live started out as a live streaming video "social network for local happenings". Shortly before we launched, Facebook Live/Meerkat/Periscope were launched, and we could not gather any traction. We took our base tech and pivoted, turning it into a low cost, high quality (allowing the user to plug their professional camera into a cell phone) professional live streaming platform for video and broadcast professionals. After 2 years, we are finally starting to gain traction and customers.
My founder and I were able to pay for it through savings, me sucking it up and living at home, side contracts, and a Canadian government research program IRAP.