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How much risk have you taken?
A bachelor friend of mine, who comes from affluent background left his job at Microsoft and joined another established start-up(which was about to get acquired) and his facebook wall reads "It was a very tough decision".
I thought "Really"?
Entrepreneurs take much bigger risks when they leave their full time corporate job to chase start-up dream and plunges into unknown with the hope that he would be able to raise money in next 3 months and everyone would be fine, including wife and kids (who would no longer have best medical coverage) and are not going for vaccation this year..and not sure when they would next. Maybe they would have to leave the country if nothing works out...
Whats your story? Want to share how much risk have you taken and what was the lowest point from which you came back?
- jeffool 15y agoI borrowed many dozens of thousands in student loans. I did not graduate, and on top of that, let my skills deteriorate. The come back is something of a work in progress. I think it's in that "getting worse before it gets better" phase of the film. I hope. I share not because it's an insane story, but because I'd love to hear others' answers.
- TheRealmccoy 15y agomay be you can share sometime. Keep the faith, I am also struggling to keep my faith at present.
- dangrossman 15y agoWith a CS degree and a bunch of work I could show off, I don't really consider anything I do a risk. Even if I completely utterly fail at growing my own business, I'm still better off than so many who could be fired at any time and have a much tougher job search than I expect. My mother's sending out resumes every day and never hearing back while recruiters are calling me, and any other competent developer with a resume on the net, all the time.
- znt 15y agoI served around Northern Iraqi region as a infantry squad leader. Our primary mission was looking for road side bombs and securing routes for military convoys. Other squads had some casualties due to ambushes or IEDs. I survived, as all my men. By the way this was obligatory service, we didn't ask for it.
- beachgeek 15y agoThe risk you took makes everything else seem very mundane in comparison.
- TheRealmccoy 15y agoHello, 18 months back I quit the job second time to take a shot again at entrepreneurship. I failed fist time 4 years back. In my last organisation I was leading a national team of more than 400 persons. Almost got my promotion letter (If I hadn't quit for 2 more weeks). Have almost lost my immediate family due to this decision of mine. 18 months and I have still not given up.
- keeptrying 15y agoIts a bitch. :) Hang in there.
- bodegajed 15y agoI work at home doing freelance work full time for the last 5 years. Everyday is a risk as I don't have a stable income. I have a family to feed too. I guess am an optimist that's why I can live like this. The good news is that I am able to build my own side-project which I hope will gain traction in the near future.
- polyfractal 15y agoI went to college for CS, but quickly switched to biology. I worked in a neuroscience lab for three years as an undergrad and was a co-author on a Human Molecular Genetics paper. Post-graduation, I worked at MIT in another neuroscience lab for 1.5 years. I'm co-author on another paper which is going out for review soon. Despite my nearly six years in research, I've decided getting a PhD in biology is a fool's game - I'm quitting in two weeks to become a freelance developer. I've squirreled away $7k in savings (~20% of my yearly salary) which should give me about a 6-8 month runway to get this freelance thing off the ground. Doesn't seem that risky to me, but everyone thinks I'm goddamned crazy for doing it.
- keeptrying 15y ago$7K is not much. You'll find it burns up way faster than you think. I would definitely save up more before going fulltime. Get another higher paying job. Eg: tutoring kids. You can make a lot of money that way. $100 per hour easily. (I'm now an entrepreneur after quitting my job 6 months ago.)
- polyfractal 15y agoTutoring is a good idea, thanks for the tip. I live in Boston, so there is bound to be plenty of parents or college kids around needing tutoring. Worst comes to worst, I'm prepared to work at a coffee shop or some other part time job as well. Just need to get out of my current soul-crushing position! :)
- keeptrying 15y agoI know the feeling but it's not the smartest idea - unfortunate as it sounds. Look at your present job as funding for your future life. Do everything you can to get your next life going without losing the money from your present job. If you dislike your present job then more the reason that you optimize fir your next job and let your boss worry when to stop your "funding". :) ... Seriously look at your present job as funding for as long as you can.