Shipping solo: how I scope side projects so they actually launch
Most of my side projects died at 80%. These are the scoping rules that finally got apps into the store.
I have a folder of abandoned projects that would embarrass me in front of any recruiter. Every one of them got to roughly 80% and stalled. The last 20% is where the boring, unglamorous work lives: onboarding, empty states, error handling, store listings.
Rule 1: Define “done” as a list, not a feeling
Before writing code I write a launch checklist with no more than ten items. If an idea does not fit on the list, it goes into a separate file called later.md, which I never open during the build.
Rule 2: One core loop
Every app I have shipped does one thing in a loop. PinnyRemind lets you pin a reminder and get nudged. That is it. Features that do not serve the loop wait.
Rule 3: Time-box the boring parts, do them early
I schedule onboarding and error states in week one, not week six. Boring work done early is cheap. Boring work done last is where motivation goes to die.
Rule 4: Ship to ten people first
Ten real users find the embarrassing bugs faster than any amount of self-testing, and they make the project feel real, which fuels the final push.
What I give up
Solo scoping means saying no to ideas I like. I treat that as the actual skill. Building is easy now; choosing what not to build is the whole game.