What helped me was: 1) I had saved a year's living expenses, 2) I left my job after the end of a project, rather than in the middle, 3) I had a specific idea th

What helped me was: 1) I had saved a year's living expenses, 2) I left my job after the end of a project, rather than in the middle, 3) I had a specific idea that I wanted to pursue, and the idea was not in the same area as my old company. I am perhaps more risk averse than some people on HN, so I thought carefully about my plan while saving money. I realized that when I quit, that my company might not succeed and that I may either need or want to work for someone else again. Therefore, I wanted to be able to tell to a future potential employer a story I would be proud of: "Yes, I did quit a job to start a company, but when I left my old job I showed professional responsibility by finishing my project. I'd didn't quit in the middle and I didn't quit because I didn't like working or because I hated my job, I left to do something positive and start a company doing the following carefully thought-out idea. Also, I did not steal this idea from my old company. Even though the idea did not work out perfectly, I learned a lot, and now I can be a more valuable employee to you."