Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#21

Post by umjames » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 8:27 PM UTC

edw519 wrote: post #11

My experience: | % of time | % of time | % of time mode | working on | cleaning up | wasted on | my own stuff | others' crap | other B.S. --------------+--------------+--------------+------------ a. 9 to 5 | 10 | 40 | 50 b. consulting | 30 | 40 | 30 c. start-up | 100 | 0 | 0 The winner: c.

Having done mostly 9 to 5 and only consulting once, I'm convinced that working on your own start-up provides the best chance for happiness. I think this is mostly true because in a 9 to 5 and consulting, the primary metric is time instead of productivity.

Most 9 to 5s are about face time (or butt-in-chair time) and consulting is about billable hours. If you can do your job more efficiently (better job done in less time), a 9 to 5 says you still have to be at work looking busy until a certain time and in consulting, getting the job done faster can result in less money earned (if you're charging by the hour).

In your own start-up, finding more efficient ways to get things done benefits you directly. You now have more time to complete the next task. The sooner you finish, the better.

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#22

Post by billpaetzke » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 8:30 PM UTC

michaelhalligan wrote: post #4

Personally I seem to be reasonably happy when I'm consulting 2 hours a day and working on my new startup 6-10 hours a day. However, I'm happiest when I'm spending 4 hours per day down at the swimming pool flirting with my cute neighbors. That's what I mostly do since selling my last company, I highly recommend it.

Where do you live?

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#23

Post by umjames » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 8:31 PM UTC

lee wrote: post #15

I haven't worked full time on my owns startup before. But I have worked at 3 different startups in the period of 3 years as an employee before landing a cushy job in a big corporation. Working at the startup before having my first child: not too bad, sometimes stressful, but I could handle it well. The work was always engaging, and it was hard to separate work from life. Working at startup post-child: stressful, beca…

Out of curiosity, is the big corporation a software, or at least technical, corporation, or are you working in an IT department in a non-technical corporation?

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#24

Post by umjames » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 8:35 PM UTC

petervandijck wrote: post #3

Regular job, but working from home and with no fixed hours. Consulting is nice but a little stressy in that you always have to find clients. Haven't done a real startup.

Your job sounds like a ROWE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROWE). Do you work for Best Buy?

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#25

Post by michaelhalligan » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 8:41 PM UTC

billpaetzke wrote: post #22

michaelhalligan wrote: post #4

Personally I seem to be reasonably happy when I'm consulting 2 hours a day and working on my new startup 6-10 hours a day. However, I'm happiest when I'm spending 4 hours per day down at the swimming pool flirting with my cute neighbors. That's what I mostly do since selling my last company, I highly recommend it.

Where do you live?

SF

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#26

Post by jlees » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 9:04 PM UTC

Working on a startup gave me extremes of happiness and stress.

Working at a 9-5 -- sorry, 8-8 -- is like Prozac. It dulls the extremes, and sometimes that can be a good thing.

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#27

Post by bmelton » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 9:05 PM UTC

omarish wrote: post #16

jackowayed wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From what I hear there's a lot of BS to deal with when you run a startup. You have to run the business, so there's accounting stuff to deal with and such. There's support. Eventually there's raising money and hiring people, both of which often take way longer than they should and are frustrating, but they're both very important. Sure, it may not feel as unproductive as sitting in meetings all day and not accomplishin…

it's not really BS because it's your BS. I think the issue is motivation.

Depends on what the BS _is_ I suppose. For me, I'd categorize almost all of the time I spend on HN that I should otherwise be working as BS.

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#28

Post by icco » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 9:18 PM UTC

Working in a technical position at a startup has been the best experience for me. Although I haven't done much consulting, it is a definite improvement over working a 9 to 5 at a fortune 500 company. I feel like everything I do is worth my time, which is all I really need.

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#29

Post by jacabado » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 9:21 PM UTC

michaelhalligan wrote: post #4

Personally I seem to be reasonably happy when I'm consulting 2 hours a day and working on my new startup 6-10 hours a day. However, I'm happiest when I'm spending 4 hours per day down at the swimming pool flirting with my cute neighbors. That's what I mostly do since selling my last company, I highly recommend it.

But my company is worth nothing and my dog is cutest than my neighbors!

Re: Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy?

#30

Post by jlongster » Wed, Sep 08, 2010, 9:25 PM UTC

I have been consulting for the past 6 months and the transition from the 9-5 job to this has been horrible. It has taken a while to get some good projects and I have almost run out of money (I've had several sleepless nights over these months), but I'm starting to see the rewards. I'm starting to get some pretty high paying jobs and I totally work for myself from home/coffee shops.

I have a love/hate relationship with contracting. I love the actual work and the dynamics involved, but I hate not having a monthly fixed budget and always having to fight for high-paying projects. A lot of business/administration is taking up my time which I could by spending on my own projects.

I think I'm most happy at a small company which is just emerging from the startup phase. I like flexible hours, working from home sometimes, dynamic and intense environment, a salary, an office to go to, etc. Best of both worlds I guess.