Ask HN: 10-year dev, tried earning on the side for a year – lost $2,200

Description

I'm a full-stack developer (Python backend + Flutter mobile/web) working in the AI/LLM space. I'm working at Beijing China, And my day job pays about $2,500/month. I've built AI systems for companies in finance and healthcare — RAG pipelines, knowledge bases, AI agents, the whole stack. I can ship a complete product solo, from backend to deployment. Last year I decided to seriously try making money on the side. Here's what happened: *Attempt 1: Built a prod