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Interesting article, with some useful insight, but I don't agree. I had talked about creating a startup for a while, but it was hating my job that pushed me ov

by arohner 17y ago

Interesting article, with some useful insight, but I don't agree. I had talked about creating a startup for a while, but it was hating my job that pushed me over the edge. Yes, starting a company is hard. Yes, it can be boring and frustrating and the only thing preventing you from going out of business is your own will power. I'm not profitable yet, but even dealing with everything the author mentions, I'm still happier than working for untalented managers at a bureaucratic corporation.

BrandonWatson 17y ago
It's an interesting point you raise about being happier than if you were at a large corporation. I can totally understand that, and in fact my point was don't have the fact that you hate your job be the reason. For you, it was one of the reasons, and in fact appears to be the tipping point. My experience with some entrepreneurs is that they didn't really understand some of the pain and suffering that comes with running their own gig. Because of this, they get disenfranchised.
- staunch 17y ago
  I think you're right to warn people, but I don't think you're right to equate the two very different kinds of pain. When you are "forced" to do something for someone else you feel not only the pain of the task, but bitterness and indignation as well. When you're doing it for yourself all you feel is the pain of the actual task, which is not nearly as bad. The difference between wiping your own ass and being forced to wipe your boss's ass.
  - abalashov 17y ago
    That having been said, the pain of the actual task can be very acute if the task is not interesting.
  - DougBTX 17y ago
    It might feel like those accounts and tax returns are done not for yourself, but for some paper-pushing bureaucrat. Bitterness and indignation could easily bubble back to the top - running a business is not a way to run away from arbitary demands from others, only your particular boss at the time. Getting away from a bad work situation could be done by working somewhere else, not necessarily in a bran new business.
abalashov 17y ago
Yes, but it sounds like your desire to start a startup preceded your acute dislike of your job. That's a different scenario than the one the author is targeting. I had the same thing happen; I had various business ideas and was increasingly getting the itch to go out and do my own thing, and carried that itch through three more jobs. It is absolutely certain that the dislike of the jobs and the entrepreneurial yearning fed back on each other; although I'm quite certain I would have disliked my jobs for the same fundamental reasons anyway, feeling less invested in them because really, inside I wanted to go out on my own no doubt made me even more miserable than I otherwise would have been if I had no such compulsion whatsoever. Conversely, innate dislike of the jobs helped bring me closer to the jump-off point. Even then, I didn't have the balls to walk away from a secure, steady paycheck. Instead, I just started performing worse and worse; I was up till 5 AM working on my own stuff, and, well, very obviously not showing up at 9 AM or what have you the next morning, and seemed kind of preoccupied and distracted at work too. Eventually, I ran into my last employer who was very (understandably) demanding and had no tolerance for that kind of crap, and was summarily fired. That's what gave me the kick in the ass I needed, because at that point I had a choice before me: Do I look for my 7th job in 3 1/2 years, or do I grab this thing by the horns and find my own way to pay the (large) bills next month? I went for the latter, and that's how it's been ever since. But the thing is, before I got fired, I don't think there's a way I could've done that. Sure, I dreamt about getting fired or laid off on innumerable occasions and halfway wished it would happen, but there's a long psychological gulf between that and just walking into your boss's office and saying you don't want the comparatively large, steady paycheck anymore. Obviously, the gulf narrows if you have substantial savings and/or a cash reserve and/or low living expenses, but I had none of these, so, there's no telling whether I would have left eventually--I just sort of sabotaged myself into being kicked out onto the street.
- BrandonWatson 17y ago
  This is an awesome personal account. Thanks so much for sharing it here.
- wglb 17y ago
  A great personal story. It seems like you had both a push and a pull. Circumstances finally got you to leap off a cliff, so to speak.

by arohner 17y ago

BrandonWatson 17y ago

It's an interesting point you raise about being happier than if you were at a large corporation. I can totally understand that, and in fact my point was don't have the fact that you hate your job be the reason. For you, it was one of the reasons, and in fact appears to be the tipping point. My experience with some entrepreneurs is that they didn't really understand some of the pain and suffering that comes with running their own gig. Because of this, they get disenfranchised.

staunch 17y ago
I think you're right to warn people, but I don't think you're right to equate the two very different kinds of pain. When you are "forced" to do something for someone else you feel not only the pain of the task, but bitterness and indignation as well. When you're doing it for yourself all you feel is the pain of the actual task, which is not nearly as bad. The difference between wiping your own ass and being forced to wipe your boss's ass.
- abalashov 17y ago
  That having been said, the pain of the actual task can be very acute if the task is not interesting.
- DougBTX 17y ago
  It might feel like those accounts and tax returns are done not for yourself, but for some paper-pushing bureaucrat. Bitterness and indignation could easily bubble back to the top - running a business is not a way to run away from arbitary demands from others, only your particular boss at the time. Getting away from a bad work situation could be done by working somewhere else, not necessarily in a bran new business.

abalashov 17y ago

Yes, but it sounds like your desire to start a startup preceded your acute dislike of your job. That's a different scenario than the one the author is targeting. I had the same thing happen; I had various business ideas and was increasingly getting the itch to go out and do my own thing, and carried that itch through three more jobs. It is absolutely certain that the dislike of the jobs and the entrepreneurial yearning fed back on each other; although I'm quite certain I would have disliked my jobs for the same fundamental reasons anyway, feeling less invested in them because really, inside I wanted to go out on my own no doubt made me even more miserable than I otherwise would have been if I had no such compulsion whatsoever. Conversely, innate dislike of the jobs helped bring me closer to the jump-off point. Even then, I didn't have the balls to walk away from a secure, steady paycheck. Instead, I just started performing worse and worse; I was up till 5 AM working on my own stuff, and, well, very obviously not showing up at 9 AM or what have you the next morning, and seemed kind of preoccupied and distracted at work too. Eventually, I ran into my last employer who was very (understandably) demanding and had no tolerance for that kind of crap, and was summarily fired. That's what gave me the kick in the ass I needed, because at that point I had a choice before me: Do I look for my 7th job in 3 1/2 years, or do I grab this thing by the horns and find my own way to pay the (large) bills next month? I went for the latter, and that's how it's been ever since. But the thing is, before I got fired, I don't think there's a way I could've done that. Sure, I dreamt about getting fired or laid off on innumerable occasions and halfway wished it would happen, but there's a long psychological gulf between that and just walking into your boss's office and saying you don't want the comparatively large, steady paycheck anymore. Obviously, the gulf narrows if you have substantial savings and/or a cash reserve and/or low living expenses, but I had none of these, so, there's no telling whether I would have left eventually--I just sort of sabotaged myself into being kicked out onto the street.

BrandonWatson 17y ago
This is an awesome personal account. Thanks so much for sharing it here.
wglb 17y ago
A great personal story. It seems like you had both a push and a pull. Circumstances finally got you to leap off a cliff, so to speak.