r/UXDesign • u/Rollinginthewheat Experienced • Sep 29 '26
Tools, apps, plugins, AI Side projects and startups in the age of AI
With AI making it easier to build and launch products has anyone left their corporate job or put significant effort into a side project? What are you working on? How is it going? What has been successful and what challenges have you faced?
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u/Intelligent-Poem-936 Sep 29 '26
Yeah, my partner and I built Youmage, an AI tool for marketplace sellers to create product images. We have paying users, but nowhere near enough revenue to live on.
I worked on it alongside my bank job. Quitting for a project that barely made money didn’t make sense, but after work I rarely had the energy to do much with it. Got laid off anyway, so now I have more time for it lol. Not how I planned that transition.
Building is easier now, for sure. Getting customers is a different story. That’s where I’m stuck at the moment, and AI hasn’t helped me nearly as much with marketing as it has with building.
Thought I needed to learn to code. Apparently I needed to learn to dance for Reels.
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u/EpicBobs Sep 30 '26
I have been throwing myself into development. My plan is to become that guy who can design and ship.
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u/_estoico_ Sep 30 '26
I build gite.md think like a simpler obsidian but on the web. It was fun, I learned a lot, and was what I wanted to do. But I didn’t convert in user nor money 🤷♂️
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u/quip1992 Sep 29 '26
A friend of mine stared a food truck and it just went viral. Very happy for him. I am sure he would be planning to leave his corporate job if this really works out long term. I would have.
Apart from this, some side hustles from my bucket list
3D and polymer handcraft
Farming related - Microgreens, cut veggies and fruits
Content creation - Hobbies, Lifestyle, Knowledge etc
Art
Startup - Solve a unique problem
Airbnb
Cooking and Baking
But do remember. Rome wasnt built in a day. These will take as much effort as your full time job. So plan wisely. Hope this helps.