5 ms·

You don't have to work for someone else and be an employee your whole life, it's not the only way. There are other choices available to you. You can also be yo

by vfc1 7y ago

You don't have to work for someone else and be an employee your whole life, it's not the only way. There are other choices available to you. You can also be your own boss too and have other people working for you, or at least help you out occasionally on a part-time basis. You can easily rent an office in a shared space if you don't want to work from home and go there a couple of times a week. Also, you don't have to focus only on your current project if it's not your thing. You can start something else that you would like to create while living off the income generated by your current project. But I get it, the social expectation is that you have an office job, its what almost everyone does. But think about this: someone at your company at a given moment had to quit their job to create the company you work on, right? Otherwise, your current day job would simply not exist.

PakG1 7y ago
All those things require certain skills and whatnot though. If someone has a good thing going and doesn't want to plunge into the abyss, I'd say good on them. The abyss is full of pitfalls and ways to lose life savings and go into major debt when the lucrative side gig can no longer pay for the vision. Employment is at least guaranteed no debt, especially while the lucrative side gig is going. Correspondingly, when they have this good thing going, they're not being a drag on society. Their employer is still finding value in them too. To those who want to take the plunge and risk it all, that's cool too. On HN, even honourable. But it doesn't have to be the only way.
- vfc1 7y ago
  There is not much financial risk involved in his case, and it looks like he already has the skills needed. He already makes over 10 times his salary. In one year of employment, he spared the equivalent salary of 10 years. I think people exaggerate the dive into the abyss thing and risking it all. If you have some savings, you can try to launch a business and if it doesn't work you can always go back to work for someone else. At a given point, someone is going to give you another job as a sysadmin again. He can even work remotely and easily make more than $400 a month. If you are not hiring other people and purchasing equipment, starting a Saas business as a sole founder has minimal financial risk involved compared to almost all other types of businesses, it's really not that risky. I think what holds a lot of people back is the fact that they come from an employee background probably at the family level, and they see the world through the eyes of an employee. They don't even remotely consider the several options that they actually have available.
  - tasuki 7y ago
    Perhaps he genuinely enjoys his job? Why should he have to launch another business? He already started one and it's very successful! Let the man enjoy his freedom and have a regular job if he so pleases!
    - vfc1 7y ago
      That is highly unlikely, such a mundane job as a sysadmin compared to having your own online business. If he liked it that much, then probably he wouldn't have started a whole side project that must have consumed evenings and weekends for years. If he would have found professional fulfillment in his job, he would not likely have started a side project in the first place. As he mentions in his own reply, he stays because he feels that his job defines him as a person, and he would lose his social identity if he left. This is a surprisingly lucid reply, he can do whatever he wants and I wish him the best, but it's clear to me that he has other much better options available.
      - shrimpx 7y ago
        Your reply seems rooted in the fairly widespread assumption that having your own online business that makes solid "mrr" is some kind of supreme achievement and you should relish in it solely. Some people have higher-dimensional desires and interests in life.
        vfc1 7y ago
        I have a simpler explanation, what likely happens is that most people don't even try to do it (even though they could do so like the case here) because it's different than the social norm, which says that you should be an employee working for someone else. I'm saying that there are other dignified ways to live that are different, you don't absolutely have to be an employee at all costs. Independent work, running a small business, those are other alternatives to live that are equally valid.
        7y ago

by vfc1 7y ago

PakG1 7y ago

All those things require certain skills and whatnot though. If someone has a good thing going and doesn't want to plunge into the abyss, I'd say good on them. The abyss is full of pitfalls and ways to lose life savings and go into major debt when the lucrative side gig can no longer pay for the vision. Employment is at least guaranteed no debt, especially while the lucrative side gig is going. Correspondingly, when they have this good thing going, they're not being a drag on society. Their employer is still finding value in them too. To those who want to take the plunge and risk it all, that's cool too. On HN, even honourable. But it doesn't have to be the only way.

vfc1 7y ago
There is not much financial risk involved in his case, and it looks like he already has the skills needed. He already makes over 10 times his salary. In one year of employment, he spared the equivalent salary of 10 years. I think people exaggerate the dive into the abyss thing and risking it all. If you have some savings, you can try to launch a business and if it doesn't work you can always go back to work for someone else. At a given point, someone is going to give you another job as a sysadmin again. He can even work remotely and easily make more than $400 a month. If you are not hiring other people and purchasing equipment, starting a Saas business as a sole founder has minimal financial risk involved compared to almost all other types of businesses, it's really not that risky. I think what holds a lot of people back is the fact that they come from an employee background probably at the family level, and they see the world through the eyes of an employee. They don't even remotely consider the several options that they actually have available.
- tasuki 7y ago
  Perhaps he genuinely enjoys his job? Why should he have to launch another business? He already started one and it's very successful! Let the man enjoy his freedom and have a regular job if he so pleases!
  - vfc1 7y ago
    That is highly unlikely, such a mundane job as a sysadmin compared to having your own online business. If he liked it that much, then probably he wouldn't have started a whole side project that must have consumed evenings and weekends for years. If he would have found professional fulfillment in his job, he would not likely have started a side project in the first place. As he mentions in his own reply, he stays because he feels that his job defines him as a person, and he would lose his social identity if he left. This is a surprisingly lucid reply, he can do whatever he wants and I wish him the best, but it's clear to me that he has other much better options available.
    - shrimpx 7y ago
      Your reply seems rooted in the fairly widespread assumption that having your own online business that makes solid "mrr" is some kind of supreme achievement and you should relish in it solely. Some people have higher-dimensional desires and interests in life.
      - vfc1 7y ago
        I have a simpler explanation, what likely happens is that most people don't even try to do it (even though they could do so like the case here) because it's different than the social norm, which says that you should be an employee working for someone else. I'm saying that there are other dignified ways to live that are different, you don't absolutely have to be an employee at all costs. Independent work, running a small business, those are other alternatives to live that are equally valid.
        7y ago