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For me, it was having that first $10k in the bank. That, combined with knowing I could pick up another dev gig quickly if needed, was my safety net, used in li

For me, it was having that first $10k in the bank. That, combined with knowing I could pick up another dev gig quickly if needed, was my safety net, used in lieu of inherited wealth or whatever else. But you’re right, it takes a few years to get to that point. I was happy ditching work for a year at a time to travel by my late 20s, but I didn’t commit to relying on the product stuff to live on until most of the way through my 30s. It seems a lot easier to pull off today, in a world with google/Facebook total comp packages for those first few learning years while building up the net.

71a54xd 5y ago
Agreed, I'm a solidly above average engineer. However, even as interview loops have been easier I still worry that for my age / YOE I'd be leaving valuable money on the table to go and try to start a business that at best would break even. Thinking about a 2-3 month interview loop is pretty dreadful. At some level I'd need quite a bit of confidence in my idea and more than decent seed funding to leave my job. Basically, being very honest about how good I think I am vs what I could actually deliver. As I get older, playing the "beg rich people for money game" is getting less and less appealing. Of course, many would describe this as just working or "wage c*cking" but IMO the latter is far more degenerate since by feeling you can only drive value by starting something you inevitably become more of a slave and create worse odds to a) enjoying life or b) being reasonably financially stable
- jasonkester 5y ago
  Yeah, I did it by working short contracts to sock away personal runway, then using that to sprint on product stuff for a while. (Which was an easy transition since I was already doing the same thing, just using the downtime to climb rocks in Thailand). I never fully stepped away from “work” to do a startup. I just built SaaS stuff while still keeping one foot in the corporate world. There’s no rule that says you can’t come back, by the way. I took a 30hr/week contract for five years when my first kid was born to stash away an extra house and college education while the business ran itself in the background. You can keep that brass ring within reach, and even give it the occasional tug if you want. All the best!

71a54xd 5y ago

Agreed, I'm a solidly above average engineer. However, even as interview loops have been easier I still worry that for my age / YOE I'd be leaving valuable money on the table to go and try to start a business that at best would break even. Thinking about a 2-3 month interview loop is pretty dreadful. At some level I'd need quite a bit of confidence in my idea and more than decent seed funding to leave my job. Basically, being very honest about how good I think I am vs what I could actually deliver. As I get older, playing the "beg rich people for money game" is getting less and less appealing. Of course, many would describe this as just working or "wage c*cking" but IMO the latter is far more degenerate since by feeling you can only drive value by starting something you inevitably become more of a slave and create worse odds to a) enjoying life or b) being reasonably financially stable

jasonkester 5y ago
Yeah, I did it by working short contracts to sock away personal runway, then using that to sprint on product stuff for a while. (Which was an easy transition since I was already doing the same thing, just using the downtime to climb rocks in Thailand). I never fully stepped away from “work” to do a startup. I just built SaaS stuff while still keeping one foot in the corporate world. There’s no rule that says you can’t come back, by the way. I took a 30hr/week contract for five years when my first kid was born to stash away an extra house and college education while the business ran itself in the background. You can keep that brass ring within reach, and even give it the occasional tug if you want. All the best!