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I keep telling senior people to switch to entrepreneurship via freelancing or a startup/business, but they don't listen. The startup can ideally be self-bootstr

I keep telling senior people to switch to entrepreneurship via freelancing or a startup/business, but they don't listen. The startup can ideally be self-bootstrapped or otherwise VC funded. They have become too comfortable with jobs and have lost their power to innovate.

tdeck 2y ago
I've been thinking about doing this recently for the felxibility. But I feel like it requires a whole set of extra skills I never developed. How do you recommend getting started with freelancing for those engineers who have always worked at companies?
- mediumsmart 2y ago
  Back to school working on the side for a freelance company like upwork until you have that extra skillset maybe. Full acceptance no guitars.
  - tdeck 2y ago
    > Full acceptance no guitars. I've tried in vain to find any reference to this being an expression in English.
marshmellman 2y ago
I recently tried the freelancing thing for a couple years, and I’m not sure about this as general advice for experienced engineers. I found it difficult to find gigs paying similar to what I had been making as a FTE, and I found it stressful to frequently negotiate contracts and sell/market myself.
- smackeyacky 2y ago
  I am doing this at the moment. I am very lucky to have a few contacts around places I used to work that are offering short term contracts. So i'm good for the moment but if that dried up I would be struggling. Breaking out of the "I know a dude who knows a dude" circle is actually a lot harder than people think. I'm going to give it a crack though. And if you're reading this and have some unsolveable problem to crack around the .NET, node, Unix space, hit me up. I may be the most stubborn man on the planet when it comes to hard problems.
ygouzerh 2y ago
Everyone doesn't excel at every skills. The person needs to be great at coding + marketing + business management... In a society, everyone should do what they are good at, and help each other. This is why we invented companies. One that is good at marketing, one good at business management, one good at coding will work together. And hire other people to come to help them... We are going back in circle here
- OutOfHere 2y ago
  Good items sell themselves, so I don't agree at all. Even if they didn't, basic digital marketing isn't rocket science. As for business management, that's just parasitic work.
  - yetihehe 2y ago
    > Good items sell themselves, so I don't agree at all. Without marketing only the best of the best sell themselves. > Even if they didn't, basic digital marketing isn't rocket science. Yeah, but most programmers prefer to do 8h programming instead of 4h programming + 4h marketing, or even worse, now they have to do 6h programming + 4h marketing. Most programmers are bad at marketing, it's like painting and making music. There are people who can do everything, but it's not common.
    - OutOfHere 2y ago
      If something needs 4 hours of marketing, it is a pretty bad item, very possibly a scam. The key is to make things that people need, also relying on virality to let your users do the marketing for you. Moreover, to some extent, marketing through APIs can also be programming.

tdeck 2y ago

I've been thinking about doing this recently for the felxibility. But I feel like it requires a whole set of extra skills I never developed. How do you recommend getting started with freelancing for those engineers who have always worked at companies?

mediumsmart 2y ago
Back to school working on the side for a freelance company like upwork until you have that extra skillset maybe. Full acceptance no guitars.
- tdeck 2y ago
  > Full acceptance no guitars. I've tried in vain to find any reference to this being an expression in English.

marshmellman 2y ago

I recently tried the freelancing thing for a couple years, and I’m not sure about this as general advice for experienced engineers. I found it difficult to find gigs paying similar to what I had been making as a FTE, and I found it stressful to frequently negotiate contracts and sell/market myself.

smackeyacky 2y ago
I am doing this at the moment. I am very lucky to have a few contacts around places I used to work that are offering short term contracts. So i'm good for the moment but if that dried up I would be struggling. Breaking out of the "I know a dude who knows a dude" circle is actually a lot harder than people think. I'm going to give it a crack though. And if you're reading this and have some unsolveable problem to crack around the .NET, node, Unix space, hit me up. I may be the most stubborn man on the planet when it comes to hard problems.

ygouzerh 2y ago

Everyone doesn't excel at every skills. The person needs to be great at coding + marketing + business management... In a society, everyone should do what they are good at, and help each other. This is why we invented companies. One that is good at marketing, one good at business management, one good at coding will work together. And hire other people to come to help them... We are going back in circle here

OutOfHere 2y ago
Good items sell themselves, so I don't agree at all. Even if they didn't, basic digital marketing isn't rocket science. As for business management, that's just parasitic work.
- yetihehe 2y ago
  > Good items sell themselves, so I don't agree at all. Without marketing only the best of the best sell themselves. > Even if they didn't, basic digital marketing isn't rocket science. Yeah, but most programmers prefer to do 8h programming instead of 4h programming + 4h marketing, or even worse, now they have to do 6h programming + 4h marketing. Most programmers are bad at marketing, it's like painting and making music. There are people who can do everything, but it's not common.
  - OutOfHere 2y ago
    If something needs 4 hours of marketing, it is a pretty bad item, very possibly a scam. The key is to make things that people need, also relying on virality to let your users do the marketing for you. Moreover, to some extent, marketing through APIs can also be programming.