I'm an senior undergrad student at a top school in India. I have an offer from a top company in India. I'll be totally free during my upcoming semester. I'm not sure if I should spend time on competitive programming and improve my algorithm skills or work on a startup. I have a SaaS idea that I'd like to work on. Which one do you think will payoff better later? I'm not able concentrate on either of these as I keep swinging between them. Any reasoning would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
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Re: Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
#2Don't do either. Go and see places you've never seen before. The reasons are two fold; this is probably the last time in your life you will have the opportunity and it will benefit you later on as you'll be able see how other people live and perhaps be able to empathise more easily with other points of view.
Re: Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
#3All depends on what are really willing to do? If you have some spare money that can supports you for a while, why don't you run after your dreams. You can try to build a MVP, apply some local incubation center, try to convince people for funding your product. It will provide you a lot of experience even though you cannot make it.
Again, it depends what you want from life.
Re: Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
#4Don't do either. Go and see places you've never seen before. The reasons are two fold; this is probably the last time in your life you will have the opportunity and it will benefit you later on as you'll be able see how other people live and perhaps be able to empathise more easily with other points of view.
Thanks! But, let's just say, the conditions I'm in, I can't afford to spend time on anything else other than shaping my career. What would your advise be?
Re: Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
#5Ultimately we are not you. What might be best for us might not be the right thing for you.
So accept that you might take the wrong path, it will certainly not be the last time it happens to you ;-)
Re: Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
#6So basicly, your question should be: "What would look best on my resumée?"
Re: Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
#7Don't do either. Go and see places you've never seen before. The reasons are two fold; this is probably the last time in your life you will have the opportunity and it will benefit you later on as you'll be able see how other people live and perhaps be able to empathise more easily with other points of view.
Thanks! But, let's just say, the conditions I'm in, I can't afford to spend time on anything else other than shaping my career. What would your advise be?
Work for a charity for 6 months. And not in a back office role somewhere spending each day at a computer. Go and work directly with the underprivileged, the homeless, the sick or the poor.
This will shape your future career by providing a solid foundation of empathy, leading to stronger relationship building skills and hopefully an ability to better communicate with people from diverse backgrounds in a wide range of professional situations. You will be much better placed to succeed than the graduate who has never taken time to explore life and themselves, outside their immediate surroundings and social circles.
Re: Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
#8% of algorithm skills needed that you already have: 90
% of startup skills needed that you already have: 10
Do the startup.
Re: Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
#9The startup, obviously. You may not have the same opportunity twice and you will improve your skills anyway while working on your project.
Re: Ask HN: I have 6 months. What should I do?
#10try meth