4 ms·
Why wait 4 years? Why not join a startup (or technical company) now and start doing the things you want full-time instead of fitting them in around a job you do
by babul 18y ago
Why wait 4 years? Why not join a startup (or technical company) now and start doing the things you want full-time instead of fitting them in around a job you don't value? You can learn a lot getting hands-on at the ground level, and if you want a mix of tech skills and business savvy then why not work at several startups (over time) and help grow them - you may get to do everything and anything from software/service design to marketing and PR. It is probably the best experience you can get if your aim is to start your own startup and will also equip you well for applying to places like Google.
If you really have to stay at the job for some reason, then I'd say in your spare time practice programming and building web apps around what you are interested and that solve problems you face. Launch them and see what happens. You may suck/fail at first, but over time you will definitely learn a lot, and will get better with each iteration you take - you never know one of them may really take off. You can practice business skills in growing your apps and once you have done it a few times, try doing it for other businesses (ideally in other fields too for some diversity to other markets). There are many courses/books that can teach you the skills, but if possible, find someone whose expertise you respect to mentor you.
Many successful businesses were, and still are, started by people in the same boat so please don't let worries about lack of skill/experience stop you from starting.
- jamongkad 18y agoWow here I am oscillating between leaving my day job and joining a startup. I want to start a company of my own. Yet I can't shake the feeling that I should at least work in a startup to get the feel and learn what is to be in one. It's akin to saying that programmers who want to start their own games companies work in places like Blizzard for a few years (which the creators of Guildwars have done). Thank you
- g9 18y agoThe problem is to find a startup since almost all of them prefer to work in stealth mode and second is to convince them that you're right guy. So for example, I realy would like to work (even with $0 salary) on interesting project/startup, but all attempts to find something literally failed. Just for the record, I was looking for Python/C++/Java/Erlang (one or all languages) startups.
- hv23 18y agoAre you still looking? We should talk soon, get in touch with me at harish[at]techcrunch.com
- babul 18y agoWhat type of attempts? Have you tried going to events, meetups, and (un)conferences etc.? It is a great way to start. Meet people, learn what they do, let them learn about you. Once people see you at several events over time, and you get a chance to bond with one another, they are more inclined to take you on, especially if you can demonstrate skills/portfolio (even if, for example, it is just your own personal projects on a blog). If you are in London, email me and I'll see what I can do to help. There are several startups here that can always use extra hands.