How to Keep Student Side Projects Alive Long After Demo Day

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Most student projects are abandoned shortly after demo day, often when free hosting tiers expire, according to GenAI engineer and campus mentor Pranjul Rathour. Drawing from his own experience building projects like Annapurna and SCULT Studio, Rathour outlines practical steps to keep side projects running long-term. He recommends securing at least one real user, using affordable and reliable hosting, setting up health checks, maintaining database backups, and storing secrets securely. A monthly one-hour maintenance routine — covering dependency updates, log reviews, and changelog entries — can signal active development to recruiters. Rathour argues that treating a side project as a product with a real user, rather than a demo for an audience, is what ultimately turns student projects into career opportunities.

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