I think it makes sense to get a lawyer at some point, but right now this would divert your attention away from your product, especially as you're bootstrapping it. As long as you have clear terms/policy statement outlining the usual (plenty of templates online) I think you'll be fine for now. Focus on the product, then worry about legals when you're ready.
I think that nearly all good developers feel their code isn't "good enough", so its nothing to worry about! This search for perfection will drive you to constantly improve and practice, which can only be a good thing!
Keep coding, and as always ask the developer community for help and advice, stackoverflow has certainly helped me a lot.
This is pretty awesome! Love the design, the docs in particular. We've been building something similar at slidereach - http://slidereach.com but the focus is on import from ppt/keynote/pdf rather than a markup-based presentation. Is this a more preferred route?
I'm glad I'm not the only one. Its far too easy to want to play with the latest and greatest tech, especially when you're already dealing with a bleeding-edge framework. And you're right, I did spend a long time setting up my 'perfect' project with automated deploys and tests...but that's for another post :)
Great article Joel. It is hard to get into that way of thinking when you're being a perfectionist over things, but you're right. Getting validation early and often will drive your featureset and refinements going forward.
I'm currently in the same boat, working fulltime for a UK accelerator/incubator project, and then working on SlideReach (http://slidereach.com) in my evenings and weekends. The big challenge I'm facing is of choosing what to work on in my limited time, but thats where getting feedback early and often should help.