6 years software engineer based in Tokyo. I know 6 years is not much compared to other people here but I want to share it anyway: 1. Push private projects thro

6 years software engineer based in Tokyo. I know 6 years is not much compared to other people here but I want to share it anyway: 1. Push private projects through. Instead of having a playground to use new technology, actually push it to a initial release. You never know what happens to the project and you have something to show. 2. Create more companies. One of my projects went off and turned into a small company that got me a good amount of $$$ until I sold it even though the market wasn't that big for it. It made me realize that there are so so so many people on the planet. The chances of just getting a subset of that as your customers is extremely high. Assuming you have a service that costs $5 a month and maybe 10.000 users (which is not much at all), it already means that you earn 50k/mo that you can re-invest. 3. Do more remote work. The best time I had in my entire career (so far) has been the time where I was able to work literally everywhere I want. That time also turned out to be my most productive time so far. I love my office and I love my coworkers but events come up all the time. What if I want to be in X for a month to experience new year? Or see my family? Or explore another country while I'm young? Remote work is so important for me these days, I would without hesitation give up a good chunk of my salary to be able to do it. (Plus I love working from cafes) 5. Hop less between companies. I was very unfortunate with the companies I picked. My past 3 companies either failed or turned into a management hell that I tried to leave as soon as possible. Now my 3 previous companies are all under 1 year (luckily contract based though) which is extremely bad for my current job search. 6. Don't do everything alone. If you work on something in your own time and it looks crap, just spend money and hire a designer. 7. Don't focus only on Google, Facebook and co. Yes, it would be cool to get into these companies but you might earn a lot more money with more freedom and more impact at smaller gigs. Ignoring these kind of companies is a huge mistake. 8. And lastly: Don't be afraid of being jobless for a few months. It's actually great to have some time instead of directly starting the next thing.