The illusion of self employment is always an interesting motivation. The simple reality is you are not "self employed" as you are beholden to the customer, they are your boss. You have all the insecurity of being fired constantly. What you get in the end is not really self employment, but rather more meritocracy. Even then as you grow politics will come into play as you start to partner and do biz dev.
The ability to pick your projects is a dangerous red herring. You want to focus on what the customer needs rather than what you want to do. The "I made this" attitude works against you.
What makes your projects successful is listening to customers and solving their real problems and executing with optimal velocity. Not being a super programmer doing cool things.
The real motivations I see that is unique to these side projects is more participation in the upside. Even side income is dangerous as it distracts you from your career.
On the other hand, if success is not a motivation (and why does it have to be?) than ignore everything I said.
The ability to pick your projects is a dangerous red herring. You want to focus on what the customer needs rather than what you want to do. The "I made this" attitude works against you. What makes your projects successful is listening to customers and solving their real problems and executing with optimal velocity. Not being a super programmer doing cool things.
The real motivations I see that is unique to these side projects is more participation in the upside. Even side income is dangerous as it distracts you from your career.
On the other hand, if success is not a motivation (and why does it have to be?) than ignore everything I said.