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I really like this post. I've been noodling over a lot of similar career questions myself in light of the pandemic. All of a sudden, it became clear that I coul
by yowlingcat 6y ago
I really like this post. I've been noodling over a lot of similar career questions myself in light of the pandemic. All of a sudden, it became clear that I could just...bootstrap. With the rise of networks like Toptal and Facet, I get access to pretty high quality contracting opportunities and I don't need to commit to a "job" to pay the bills and make my money, which by proxy means I have much more time available than I used to.
Which means I can noodle around on that side business which all of a sudden...costs a lot less than it used to. Wonder how many other folks are in the same boat?
- SaltyBackendGuy 6y ago> Wonder how many other folks are in the same boat? In the same vain. The time saved from my commute, I've been able to use those 2 hrs a day bootstrappig a low risk business opportunity at night. It's honestly worked well for me personally.
- yowlingcat 6y agoAwesome, congratulations! What kind of business is it -- micro-SaaS or something different?
- exdsq 6y agoI handed my notice in at my current job and ended up arranging a flexible ~2-3 hour a day contract with them. I used to commute for an hour both ways so I thought my day isn't actually any longer, but I get an extra chunk of money which helps a lot. If I was to leave my new job I could still afford to live on those hours a day anyway, so it's a nice backup if things don't work out.
- yowlingcat 6y agoThat's pretty neat! Definitely buys you some optionality. Is there a minimum availability in days/week you need to make available?
- exdsq 6y agoSorry I just saw this! Yeah we agreed a minimum average over a sprit of 1 day a week, but more likely 2 a week - I’ll see how I get on, I don’t want to overdo it
- ystad 6y agoJust Curious: How has your experience with Toptal or Facet been, and how long have you been doing this (since the Pandemic)?
- yowlingcat 6y agoIt's been pretty good so far. You still have to do the hard work with waiting for/choosing the right clients, but if you do that well, you get a lot of nice optionality from the network. I'd say it's well worth the time investment to join. I've been doing this for a couple of months right now from the consultant's side, but I've patronized their services on the buyer's side before, which was part of what got me interested in the model to begin with.
- scrimbuous 6y agoFacet is a joke. It's just two guys with a mailing list re-sharing job listings from companies they have absolutely no relationship with whatsoever. Ask any question about the source of the listing and you'll receive either a "Great question! I'm not sure." or total silence in response.