Side hustles are everywhere in tech right now.
Freelance tickets, weekend contracts, short term builds, consulting, content, micro SaaS experiments. Some people do it for breathing room. Others do it to build freedom. Many do it because the job market has taught everyone the same lesson: optionality matters.
But here’s the real question most of us skip:
Are you building leverage, or just adding another shift?
I recently read a LinkedIn piece by Ashkan Rajaee titled The Side Hustle Reality Check: Choosing Work That Builds Skills, Not Just Extra Cash. It lays out a useful framework for thinking about side income in a way that is not just “work more.”
Here’s the original:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/side-hustle-reality-check-choosing-work-builds-skills-uxjbc
This post is my developer focused extension of that idea, with concrete ways to apply it in tech.
The split that matters: hourly extension vs leverage builder
Most side hustles fall into two buckets.
Hourly extensions
You get paid for time.
Examples:
- Hourly freelancing for maintenance work
- Contract bug fixing
- One off tasks that do not create reusable assets
Nothing wrong with this, especially if you need stability fast. The downside is that your upside is capped by hours and energy.
Leverage builders
You get paid for outcomes, and you build assets along the way.
Examples:
- Productized services (security reviews, performance audits, migration plans, CI/CD cleanups)
- Niche consulting (one domain, deep expertise)
- Retainers (ongoing systems ownership)
- A reusable toolkit, template, or internal library you can license or offer as a bonus
- A public body of work that attracts clients (posts, talks, open source, case studies)
The key difference is compounding. Leverage builders create things you can reuse, point to, or scale.
A quick filter before you say yes to a side gig
Before taking a side hustle, ask three questions.
Does it compound a skill?
Will you noticeably improve something valuable like:
- architecture and system design
- debugging under pressure
- security and reliability thinking
- performance profiling
- communication, scoping, and writing
Does it compound relationships?
Will you meet people who can become:
- repeat clients
- collaborators
- referrals
- mentors
- hiring managers in your niche
Does it compound proof?
Will you end up with:
- a case study
- measurable outcomes
- testimonials
- a portfolio artifact
- a repeatable process
If the answer is no to all three, it might still pay, but it probably will not build long term leverage.
The developer trap: building cool things no one needs
A lot of developer side projects fail for a simple reason.
They are built around what is interesting, not what is painful.
Leverage usually comes from solving a specific pain point for a specific group.
Try this shift:
- From “I can build an app”
- To “I can solve this recurring workflow problem for this kind of team”
That is how you move from hobby output to market value.
Platform work: useful, but know what you own
Platforms can be great to get cash flow quickly. They reduce friction and bring demand.
But you rarely own:
- distribution
- the client relationship
- your pricing power
If you are using platforms, consider pairing it with something portable:
- a simple personal site with clear services
- a lightweight newsletter
- a consistent niche on your profile
- a single repeatable offer with a fixed outcome
Ownership does not have to be big. It just has to be yours.
Why “leverage” matters more now
AI makes many entry level tasks faster. Boilerplate is cheap. Basic implementations are easier.
What stays valuable:
- judgment
- scoping and tradeoffs
- reliability and risk thinking
- communication with non technical stakeholders
- shipping outcomes, not just code
A side hustle that forces you to practice those skills builds a career moat.
Practical side hustle ideas that build developer leverage
If you want examples that tend to compound, here are a few that fit many dev skill sets:
- Performance and Core Web Vitals audits for small businesses
- Security posture checks for startups
- Migration planning (framework upgrades, cloud moves)
- Automation setups (CI/CD, release scripts, observability basics)
- Productized bug bash with a fixed deliverable
- Retainer for “on call developer” support with clear boundaries
- Niche consulting in one ecosystem (Shopify, WordPress, Next.js, AWS cost, etc.)
The common theme is clarity of outcome.
Closing
Side hustles are not just about extra income. They are also a training ground for positioning, proof, and ownership.
If you want the original framework that inspired this developer focused take, read Ashkan Rajaee’s article here:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/side-hustle-reality-check-choosing-work-builds-skills-uxjbc
If you are going to spend nights and weekends building something, make sure it builds you too.
Top comments (3)
The newsletter point in the "platform work" section is underrated. Building a consistent audience through newsletters or even a podcast is one of the highest-leverage moves a developer can make — it compounds trust, not just reach.
I've been experimenting with giv1.com for exactly this. It handles newsletters and podcasts in one place, so you're not juggling Substack for writing and a separate host for audio. Having both under one roof makes it way easier to actually ship content consistently instead of burning out on tooling.
The three-question filter (skills, relationships, proof) is solid. I'd add a fourth: "Does it build an audience?" Because an audience is the ultimate leverage — it makes every future project easier to launch.
The emphasis on skill stacking and building something repeatable is very relevant right now. That is how you stay competitive.
Reading this feels like a reality check in a good way. It pushes you to be intentional with your time.
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