How did this programmer's Amateur project get bought?

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I started this project in May 2012 Asterank. Earlier that week, Planetary Resources announced plans to extract water and valuable raw materials from asteroids. Like everyone else, I was aroused by curiosity. This is an inspiring long-term vision that is hard to achieve.

My project started as an idea experiment: How many asteroids are really worth exploring? The news released by the media is sketchy and not scientifically based. No one has organized a catalogue of the content and value of asteroids. So on an idle weekend afternoon, I wrote the first version of a café in the Mall of Mountain View.

13 months later, when Asterank was acquired by Planetary Resources, it was more than just an asteroid value calculator. It is already a complete asteroid toolkit that includes a Web scrapers, a data channel, powerful data visualization, and the ability to discover new asteroids.

I have no idea how I did it, but along the way, I learned something:

Lesson one: "Harass" others.

Keep in touch with those who can give you substantial criticism or help.

The key is patience and despair. If you have short-term contact, follow up every two weeks, if not once a month.

email to WHO

Wide net. Contact anyone who can provide you with expertise, advice, or publicity, including:

Contact Planet Resources Inc.

Contact with many other space companies or organizations

Scientists from research institutes

NASA scientists

Space Blog Author

Astronomy Course Profile 100 Professors

Think my data visualization interesting technicians

First mail Guide

Email needs to be as brief as possible:

Describe what I've done and what I've accomplished (users, news reports, etc.)

Tell them what I'm aiming for.

Consult them about something that will help me achieve this goal.

Do not exceed two or three short natural segments. Subsequent follow-up emails should be shorter:

Project Updates-Recent achievements, functions, etc. (if it's the update they've promised, skip this part)

Ask them something else.

Don't be sentimental.

Most of the emails you send are not read. This may make you feel insulted and stressed. Hold on a second and don't take these as personal.

Boomerang for Gmail is a good email reminder tool. I use a free version and send emails to people I'm interested in every month.

After a while, they stopped ignoring me and started to connect, and my network grew. Persistent mail links are the biggest contributors to Asterank success

Lesson Two: Social content is useful, but a time trap

The only hacker I've ever done was a post that only got 2 points on News. (as a bad headline party, which I deserve)

Fortunately, someone picked up the post, and Asterank in universe today-a popular space blog. I was contacted by several people, including the leader of the planet Resources company. Traffic has been stable since then, with occasional peak traffic from social aggregation and news reporting.

This caused my site to crash on Christmas Day.

If no one is paying attention to your project but it's really interesting, go and post it until someone notices. I posted Asterank Discover on Hacker News and got 5 points. Then I wrote a post on the blog post and it went on the homepage.

It's important to note that the flow of social networks is quickly fading away, and most people are not interested in your actual product. It helped me to get started, but marginal benefits were rapidly diminishing. Don't get caught up in it.

Lesson Three: A simple feedback form is necessary

Some of my best contacts were built from the Asterank about page. I provided my email address and added a feedback form. I suggest both to be added (the feedback form is more indirect, but some people prefer to communicate directly).

It took only a few minutes to add a basic form.

I also added a subscription update, but in fact it just sent me their email address. I use it as an indicator of interest, and it makes no sense to build mailing lists before I know someone will use my project.

No matter what you do, an easy to find contact information is necessary. It can bring you some job opportunities, meeting invitations and media interviews.

Lesson FOUR: Your analysis may find clues

Scan your analysis from time to time, especially the source address. I just built a valuable connection by noticing a link in a company email. I contacted them without having to go through the source address, which made it easier to connect with people you know who are already interested.

When I send emails, I sometimes pass links

Http://asterank.com/?f=n

to track. n is the only string. In this way, even if they don't reply, I can also know who is interested enough to click on this link.

Lesson Five: LinkedIn sometimes works.

LinkedIn is frustrating for software engineers, but it's important if you're dealing with an industry outside of technology.

The downside is that LinkedIn brings in a lot of mail.

I know a lot of software engineers who question the value of LinkedIn. LinkedIn may cost you some sanity, but maintaining a basic, up-to-date profile is worth it.

Lesson Six: Open source all the things you can open source

Most people are surprised when I tell people that Asterank is basically open source. It prefers to create a transparent atmosphere and invite collaborators. Finally, the project received useful feedback and insights.

Publishing technical questions on your blog is a good way to get your project exposed in the open source community. Technicians are often interested in how specific technologies are used in some applications. Asterank is known in the WebGL community through its use of visualization techniques. You can get the attention of intelligent and communicative people by showing interesting technical applications.

Lesson Seventh: Hold On

I have 5+ an amateur project. I want to commercialize them, but I often lose interest in a few weeks. Asterank is the only project I've been insisting on for more than a year, and even if it doesn't have a clear monetization path, it's already getting costs back.

I should go out more.

As an amateur project, what is valuable will be hard to predict. For hobbies, doing your most passionate work is the best way to get paid. Otherwise you will be very difficult to implement.

Lesson Eighth: Learn to appreciate

I made a tough decision and gave up a few good opportunities to end the project. I am fortunate to have the choice to have the support of friends, family and collaborators.

I accepted the position of software engineer at Planet Resources, and started work in November.

Via Ian Webster