008 — A Focus on Interest

All Play w/ Ryan Hefner

Just a quick one on a mindset that I have been trying to apply to the things that I have been working on, or committing to, in 2024. The concept revolves around two requirements to meet when committing to a project/client/etc. Those two requirements are, the project either has to be interesting, whether that is interesting to work on, an interesting topic, or potentially an interesting technical challenge. Or, alternatively, but not mutually exclusive, would embarking on this project/collaboration/client engagement generate interest (ie. make money/margins) both in the short-term, but also potentially in the long-term or over time.

In a perfect world, the project(s) would both be very interesting, while also providing the potential to earn a healthy level of interest over time. At least, that is my goal with the personal projects that I am working on, and plan to work on in the future.

Another thought that comes out during this episode is some reflection on the debate of working on multiple things, or going all-in on a single project. I am of the mindset that the people going “all-in” on something are potentially leaving money and some optionality on the table when they abandon an existing user base to pursue a new niche customer market that no longer aligns with the initial product offering. A few questions that I have been debating as I hear people weigh-in on this topic are:

• Would potentially maintaining that existing product, while exploring a new target customer with an altered, or new product, really impact the success of the new initiative?
• Would maintaining the existing customers, even if growth is plateaued, allow for you to retain them and the current MRR while supporting the development of the new product?
• If the new initiative is not a success and you potentially want to re-engage with the previous customers that you abandoned, is there even a pathway back to your previous state?

I hope to be able to explore and play with some of these questions as I am building and growing the projects I am working on. And I look forward to sharing those insights and internal debates in future episodes of the show.

To follow along, you can find me at ryanhefner.com, follow me on Twitter @ryanhefner, and keep up with the show on allplay.fm and @allplayfm.

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