4 ms·
I quit my job to start my own company last January. Its been fairly successful so far. For somebody like me, and probably a lot of HN readers, its _actually_ a
by fergie 9y ago
I quit my job to start my own company last January. Its been fairly successful so far.
For somebody like me, and probably a lot of HN readers, its _actually_ a fairly low risk proposition because qualified, experienced software engineers are so sought after. Whatever you are doing, you will always be able to pick up a $1000-$1500 a day gig when you need to bootstrap your actual project.
My old boss has contacted me a few times to see if I want to come back- definitely do not want to.
You talk about "fear", and you talk about a "successful" startup. Here's the thing: You never know if a startup will be successful, and you just have to give it a go for the love of it, rather than any expectation of success. Don't be afraid- there are plenty of worse things in this world than a failed company.
Have learned a lot about bookkeeping.
- afpx 9y agoHow do you find your day gigs? I've tried to do this, but the time required to do it (via reaching through my network) has really been a lot. More than expected. And, then I tried to go outside of my network, and I was just overwhelmed with the repsponses. I couldn't easily discern which opportunities were worth the time. Is there someone I can hire to be my freelancing mentor?
- ryandrake 9y ago> For somebody like me, and probably a lot of HN readers, its _actually_ a fairly low risk proposition because qualified, experienced software engineers are so sought after. Whatever you are doing, you will always be able to pick up a $1000-$1500 a day gig when you need to bootstrap your actual project. What on Earth are you talking about? If it were possible for most experienced software engineers to simply snap their fingers and get "gigs" like this, everyone would be doing it. Leaving full-time employment is extremely risky--that's why most people are not entrepreneurs. It's why financial advisors recommend you keep 3-6 months of expenses in an emergency fund, because it can take that long to find a new job should you find yourself in need of one.
- sgberlin 9y agoYes! I will probably quit my pretty well-paid job at the end of the year to (slow) travel and work on some SaaS ideas. Basically the worst case is that I have to call it quits and get a another job (if I'm unlucky with less pay). So if you don't have a huge family and/or literally no savings the risk is super low.
- eeZah7Ux 9y agoCare to share some tips on how to find gigs?