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I think many entrepreneurs here can attest to similar stories of failures after being in the job market. I was fortunate I have an engineering background, but

I think many entrepreneurs here can attest to similar stories of failures after being in the job market. I was fortunate I have an engineering background, but my skills were very deteriorated .. due to the fact that being a founder pulls your focus, skills and attention in many other areas. I did feel like I took a giant step down from where I was when I left my engineering position to becoming a founder and back. Was it worth it, NO

infinitone 13y ago
Wait, was it what worth it? You stepping down to become a founder?
nostrademons 13y ago
I wonder if you'll feel the same way in 5 years. My startup failed about 5 years ago now, and I went and got a real job that was fortunately a step up from where I was before a startup. But for about my first year or two on the job, I felt like I was behind everyone who had joined straight out of college and now knew all the ropes much better than I did. That flipped after about 2 years at the company, though. By then I knew the company's internal systems as well as anyone else, but I also had this great skill base on how to build things from scratch, how to identify problems that needed fixing without anyone telling me, and how to take initiative and plan out a solution. Many of those skills became invaluable later on, as I started tackling harder problems, while my peers often became frustrated because they were 5+ years out of college and the only thing they'd ever known was how to fix bugs and implement features in one server of one company.
- learningram 13y ago
  What do mean by the skill base ?
  - nostrademons 13y ago
    "Skill base" as in all those things you can do but don't even think of as skills, either because you're not using them on a daily or because you assume everyone can do them. I listed a bunch in the post - "how to build things from scratch, how to identify problems that needed fixing without anyone telling me, and how to take initiative and plan out a solution". Most people who have built things on their own before assume "Duh, anyone should be able to do that" - but the reality is that most people cannot, and there is a painful learning curve and a lot of feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy when they try. The first time I tried to build something on my own, back in college, I certainly floundered around for years until I persevered through and launched it. Many people have not had that experience, and when faced with it, they shy away.
- angryasian 13y ago
  You're possibly right in that I may feel different a few years from now, but going back on the job market was a nightmare. As much as you can prepare theres just a lot that you can't account for from being an engineer working full time on it vs trying to manage people doing it while working on networking, marketing, organizing, etc as well programming with any available cycles left.

infinitone 13y ago

Wait, was it what worth it? You stepping down to become a founder?

nostrademons 13y ago

I wonder if you'll feel the same way in 5 years. My startup failed about 5 years ago now, and I went and got a real job that was fortunately a step up from where I was before a startup. But for about my first year or two on the job, I felt like I was behind everyone who had joined straight out of college and now knew all the ropes much better than I did. That flipped after about 2 years at the company, though. By then I knew the company's internal systems as well as anyone else, but I also had this great skill base on how to build things from scratch, how to identify problems that needed fixing without anyone telling me, and how to take initiative and plan out a solution. Many of those skills became invaluable later on, as I started tackling harder problems, while my peers often became frustrated because they were 5+ years out of college and the only thing they'd ever known was how to fix bugs and implement features in one server of one company.

learningram 13y ago
What do mean by the skill base ?
- nostrademons 13y ago
  "Skill base" as in all those things you can do but don't even think of as skills, either because you're not using them on a daily or because you assume everyone can do them. I listed a bunch in the post - "how to build things from scratch, how to identify problems that needed fixing without anyone telling me, and how to take initiative and plan out a solution". Most people who have built things on their own before assume "Duh, anyone should be able to do that" - but the reality is that most people cannot, and there is a painful learning curve and a lot of feelings of hopelessness and inadequacy when they try. The first time I tried to build something on my own, back in college, I certainly floundered around for years until I persevered through and launched it. Many people have not had that experience, and when faced with it, they shy away.
angryasian 13y ago
You're possibly right in that I may feel different a few years from now, but going back on the job market was a nightmare. As much as you can prepare theres just a lot that you can't account for from being an engineer working full time on it vs trying to manage people doing it while working on networking, marketing, organizing, etc as well programming with any available cycles left.