Shutting Down Fornjot

Seeking Sponsorship Too Early

This would be my concern on any project that started traction. I'd feel really obligated to follow through once I started getting paid by people but it would be so hard, with competing interests, to know that I could consistently put the time aside to give them their value early on. One still has to make a living and make time for living.

The author received psychic damage from some large sponsorship that got pulled away. Twice! They were able to recover the loss though: a strong signal. But it clearly hurt their relationship / motivation with the project :(

Customers will come and ago, even whales. It will sting to see cancellations, but understand your customers are generally fickle (don't tell them that!) and the reason is surprisingly almost never personal. A couple more thoughts:

There's nothing wrong with selling a dream with a working prototype, and building your way towards a stable release. You communicated clearly it was an early-stage project. So my two suggestions for your next project are:

1. Don't attach yourself too strongly to customers. Thank them, obviously, but keep it chill.
2. Avoid whales. Fight for small donations across a large body of people.

Finally, keep in mind the last 10% of your project will feel like that first 90% all over again. It's definitely a real thing: price it in early!