What is a Pet Project? How to choose the right theme? What does the "right" theme mean? How to succeed? How to fail? If you want to get answers to the listed questions or dispute with me - please attend the talk "Pet Project for Fun and Profit". We will discuss time management, common pitfalls, pains, and fun. The talk will not do the Pet Project for you but might give you some sparkles of inspiration and save you from some failures. PetProject for Fun and Profit might be interesting for beginners or those considering beginning a pet project.

1. PET
PROJECT
For Fun and Profit

2. Pet Project
Requires
•Your time
•Care
•Love

3. Instead
•Lots of fun
•New knowledge
•Or even turn it
into the unicorn
(not promising)

4. About
Me
• Vitalii Ruban
• Competence manager in
Itera
• Love #webperf and
#websecurity

5. Angular
Template for
Visual Studio
• Got around 30k
downloads
• Doable, but people
doesn’t read description

6. NPM
package
• One-line NPM package
• More than 40k
downloads and 2k
downloads per week
• Even simple things
might bring some use

7. Chrome
Extension
• Chrome Extension to
enhance UX for the IT
Web Portal
• Design and some
functionality done by
the community

8. But much more
of my projects
was abandoned
Especially game like things

9. What is the
Pet
Project?
•Pet Project is not a
learning project
(however you will
learn something new)
•Pet Project is not a
demo project

10. Pet Project
• Fun
• Released

11. “Right” theme is super
important
• Source of inspiration
• Attract other people

12. Option1
Fun
• Hobby projects
• chucknorris.io - free
JSON API for hand
curated Chuck Norris
facts

13. Option2
Pain
Anything that you want to
automate

14. Never pick a theme that doesn’t
resonate with your ❤

15. Planning

16. Pet project –
race against
yourself - until you
get bored and tired

17. Do only what
your app
doesn't make
sense without

18. Only must
• Set one (maximum two) goals
• Categorize all work as must have (the solution is
useless without such features) and nice to have
• Implement only must have features
• Note nice to have features somewhere just not
to forget

19. FOR THE
FIRST 2-3
PROJECTS
• Not more than 16-20
hours
• Not more than 2-3
weeks

20. TIME MANAGEMENT
TIPS

21. Dedicate the
time
Pet project is not
something unserious

22. REGULAR
BASIS
Two hours per day is
better than 6 -> 2 -> 0

23. PITFALLS

24. UNDERESTIMAT
ES
Don't try to create a new
Facebook (at least from
the first attempt)

25. AVOID
ADDING
NON-
CRUCIAL
FEATURES
Implement only the
features that are
absolutely needed for the
project

26. MINIMIZE
INFRASTRUCTU
RE WORK
• For the small projects,
hard automatization
takes more time than
coding
• Release should be your
primary focus

27. ABANDONIN
G
Abandoning project
might lead you to the
lack of self-esteem

28. Takeaways
• Pet Project is a great thing, but it
requires efforts from your side
• Pet Project = release
• First project <= 16 hours of work
• First release - only must have
features
• Working day by day