Justin Kistner

Unthirsty guys discuss their project at a Portland Web Innovators meeting

Last night I attended a Portland Web Innovators meeting where the guys behind Unthirsty presented the site as an example of using a side project to land a full-time job. I’ve known both of these guys for some time and didn’t expect to learn as much as I did. They facilitated a great group discussion and I thought I’d share a few of the things I took away from the meeting.

Choose side projects that you want to work on

Sometimes we decide to work on something because we believe it will be big. Matt and Jason started this project because they wanted to use the tool themselves, and everyone they told about it was excited about the idea. Makes it easy to keep the passion going when you like doing the work.

Find people you want to work with

Seems like a no brainer, but it is important to make sure you like and respect the people you’ll be working with.

Define roles, responsibilities, and ownership early

They shared that they had worked out upfront a deal to cover anything they work on. They also worked with another person on the project and didn’t have as a clear of an agreement with that person, however, in the beginning they didn’t have any money and were stoked to receive his killer work. On the one hand they wished they’d made a clearer agreement, but on the other they weren’t in a position to bargain and benefitted greatly from the contribution.

A great side project can land you a great job, but then you won’t have as much time for your side project

Jason and Matt were both hired based exclusively on the work they did on Unthirsty. Having previously been freelancing, they found that it was harder to put time into their side project. This actually became a great discussion about the balancing act web developers face in their lives. Paid work vs. side projects that could payoff huge vs. relationships vs. hobbies, etc. Basically, it’s an internal exploration that decides how much time one spends on working on these things based on your values. It was cool to hear everyone’s perspective, though. It was also cool to hear an employer hired them based on their side project. Justin from Instrument was there and he shared that Unthirsty demonstrated the kind of passion and skill he wanted from his employees. He also went on to say that if his people are excited to work on their side projects, they’ll bring that learning and excitement into the office as well.

As far as Unthirsty as a specific project, here are a few things to note:

• Unthirsty was the first happy hour locator. Mappy Hour stole their concept and even scraped their content (including comments). Others have sprung up since.
• Unthirsty has a Facebook app and an iPhone version of the site.
• Unthirsty has recently released version 2.0 of their site, which added a grip of cool new features such as user accounts.
• They offer 10 tips to get the most from your Happy Hour. If you like the tips, give the brothers a Digg.

Here’s a few of the rad folks that were there:

• Jason Glaspey,  Unthirsty co-conspirator
• Matt King, Unthirsty co-conspirator
• Justin Lewis, Interactive Director at Instrument
• Adam DuVander, creator of wifiPDX
• Paul Biggs, at Anvil Media
• Kevin Scaldeferril, programmer at Yahoo
• Sean R., a Geek With a Laptop

Big thanks to Adam for organizing the event. I’ll be attending more of these in the future. Also a big thanks to Instrument Marketing for hosting the event and providing beer and eats.

What side projects are you working on? What advice do you have to offer?

08/02/2007 Jason Glaspey, Matt King, Portland Web Innovators, Unthirsty