In 2018, I started building Harmonizely while working full-time as a software engineer. It was hard, messy, and absolutely possible. This is a cleaned‑up version of an old Indie Hackers post, rewritten for my own blog.
I’m not a robot. This happened over many evenings, a few weekends, and a lot of persistence.
The idea
After more than five years of professional work, I wanted to build something that:
- didn’t reinvent the wheel (an existing solution, but improved)
- solved a problem I personally had
- helped me learn new technologies
- could, one day, bring in passive income
I already had a small scheduling app I built to practice. It supported CalDAV. I noticed that most scheduling tools either didn’t support CalDAV well or not at all. That felt like a real gap and a good starting point.
I also kept a running list of ideas in my notes. For a couple of weeks I forced myself to write 10 business ideas a day. It gets harder fast, but it’s a great exercise for creativity.
Validation
I put up a simple landing page with an email sign‑up form. No fancy stack—just basic HTML and a bit of JS. I bought the template for $10.
With the landing page live, I shared it on Reddit, Hacker News, and Indie Hackers to see if anyone cared. That first list of emails was small, but it proved there was interest.
MVP
It took about four months to build the first version of Harmonizely. I usually spent 1–2 hours in the evenings and a few hours on weekends. I worked remotely, so the time I didn’t spend commuting went straight into the project.
Balance mattered. I ran every other day, slept around eight hours, and still made time for movies and normal life. That kept me from burning out.
I also sent regular updates to the mailing list (around 30 subscribers at the time). I wanted people to know this wasn’t just an empty signup form—progress was real.
Private beta
Once the product was working, I shared it with a few developer friends to test. They caught minor issues I hadn’t noticed and I fixed them quickly.
Around that time, a friend of mine, Maciek, joined to help with the frontend. I knew he wanted to learn React and that he had some experience already. Having him onboard saved me a lot of time and pushed the project forward.
Finding the right person to collaborate with is huge.
After that, I invited the mailing list to try the private beta and asked for feedback. We processed it and shipped improvements.
Public beta
The app wasn’t perfect, but I wanted real users and real feedback.
A quote that stuck with me:
If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late. — Reid Hoffman
BetaList launch
I launched on BetaList. They featured Harmonizely on May 7, 2018 and it landed in their newsletter the next day. The traffic spike was real, and the feedback was immediate.
Here’s the Google Analytics screenshot from that day:
I personally emailed new sign‑ups to ask what they liked, what was missing, and what they expected next. That process exposed a lot of bugs and assumptions.
The first paying customer
The first paying customer arrived about six months after launch. I still remember their message:
I’ve gone ahead and activated my billing subscription early as a token of my appreciation for the great support I’ve received.
What I learned
- Don’t expect instant success. This is a long game.
- Rest and balance matter. Burnout will kill your momentum.
- Ship fast and get feedback early—your MVP has to work, but it doesn’t have to be perfect.
- Hard work is unavoidable. A product nobody uses is nothing.
- Patience wins. Consistency beats bursts of motivation.
- There’s always more to do: docs, support, SEO, content, onboarding, and sales.
- Talking to users early is the fastest way to understand real problems.
Summary
Starting a side project while working full‑time is difficult, but absolutely possible. It’s about being consistent, protecting your energy, and staying close to your users.
That original day ended with a Product Hunt launch. If you found this helpful, I’d love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading.