Most side projects die from 3 failed tweets, not bad ideas

Most developers I know build something decent, share it once or twice, get silence, and quietly move on.

I’ve done this too. Built something I thought was genuinely useful. Posted it a couple of times. No comments, no feedback, nothing. I almost shelved it. The only reason I didn’t was stubbornness, not conviction.

What keeps bothering me is that the failure point often isn’t the product — it’s the silence. Building feels productive. Sharing feels awkward. Marketing feels like noise. So when there’s no response, it’s hard to tell whether the idea is bad or whether I just didn’t give it enough chances to be seen.

It makes me wonder how many useful tools die in week two, not because they’re broken, but because the feedback loop never really started.

For those who’ve been through this: how do you personally tell the difference between “this isn’t working” and “I haven’t tried long enough yet”? Do you have any rules, signals, or time boxes you rely on before deciding to stop?