Websites come and go. The top five websites I visited ten years ago are far from the same websites I check in with daily, today. What you may or may not know if I have run several successful websites of my own in the past. Every so often, I’ll get somebody asking me, “What happened to…” and I have been a little ashamed to give the answer.

Past Projects

These projects were fun to create, run and grow. I would rather remember them for what they were than think of them as failures.

Firefox Facts

This project started as an ebook idea provided to me by Chris Pirillo. I was doing some writing at LockerGnome (look, another old website mention!) and the ebook evolved into a website and the website was pretty popular. After time, you can only love a browser so hard and there are only so many features you can cover before you get bored.

The Web Hosting Show Podcast

Another “claim to fame” I can say I’ve had is being the self proclaimed web hosting industry media rock star. I started the Web Hosting Show podcast and website when podcasting first become a “thing”. Each week I’d cover hosting industry news, tech help and my own thoughts on the industry, in general. The pro wrestling fan that still lives deep inside of me wanted to be a big “personality” in the hosting industry – and I got to do that for a few years before my interest and drive just sort of went away.

Mitchelaneous

There was also my Mitchelaneous blog, but it more of the catch-all, junk drawer of my network of websites and projects. It was cool, but nothing ever really happened or caught on there.

Advice for Future Entrepreneurs

None of my projects were ever businesses. They were always passion projects. Step away as soon as your fun side project turns into a task you have to do rather than a task you want to do.

What would I consider my passion project at the moment? That would definitely be my YouTube channel. It serves as a great low-stress and creative outlet for me and I plan to keep it that way. I’ve also get a great job, a wonderful family and plenty of things to do.

These past projects continue to play a part in my life, even though they have been long gone for years now. They opened new doors for my career and might have even landed me a job a time or two. So, that is what happened to that project.