Yes.
You need to distinguish between burnout and working at a dead end job (Sorry to say FAANG are dead ends)
Take three months off, companies allow this. Once your burnout is reversed after a month in, you will get your answer
Ask HN: Covid Burnout – Quit FAANG to found a startup?
21–25 of 25 posts
Re: Ask HN: Covid Burnout – Quit FAANG to found a startup?
#22I wouldn't quit without an idea or plan.
I've been working in a soul crushing job for the past 4 or 5 years. I feel burnt out. Sometimes I get a brief respite when I switch to new project or team, but I quickly become disillusioned as I realize the new team/project has the same issues as the past ones. I just grit my teeth, hate my life from 8 to 4, and continue on.
I would only quit if you have a good plan or idea, or if a new job becomes available.
Re: Ask HN: Covid Burnout – Quit FAANG to found a startup?
#23I was in your exact position including having worked at a FAANG last Oct. In Silicon Valley still, I quit before the pandemic to be a fulltime dad to a newborn, thinking after about a yr I can go back and find something. ack. then the pandemic hit. Now...I'm contemplating your exact situation of starting something.
I have too many ideas, all great, but seem to lack focus and motivation although running out of money should be enough....but aint?
I guess "startup" isn't what I'm after per se but more of some simple very vertical SaaS I could code up myself like time sheets, scheduling, proj mgmt, journaling etc.. why? I can't deal with deal people/employees at the moment for many obvious reasons. I should be able to create something where I could launch and maintain myself.
I'm looking for something that is.. 1. minimal administration w/o needing a physical location 2. self servicing platform where content is user generated 3. fee based, no ads
I'm trying to get motivated by watching these adventurous people: https://www.indiehackers.com/businesses
Time is of the essences so I need to get moving on it. however, hard when I only have a 1-2hr window max a day after 10pm provided he sleeps through the night :(
My current and possibly the idea I may implement: A private social network, necessity is mother of all inventions. I'm need a way to share my kid with extended family that isn't IG/FB/Whatsapp etc.. I want something more closed, personal, grandmother tested and very private. The common denominator is it needs to work on very under powered tablets running Android 4.0.
Writing up a mini bizplan then wireframe then proto it as a PWA. No one these days uses a PC.
Hit me up for mutual motivation? lakota @ gmail
Re: Ask HN: Covid Burnout – Quit FAANG to found a startup?
#24Not from FAANG, but based in the Bay Area and been working at Tier2/3 companies for a few years now. Initially was going to pivot to LC->FAANGMULATAD. Even had Google remote interview setup. That was BC(Before COVID). AC(After Covid), I dropped it like its hot to focus on personal development and clear my mind. And now that I am clear on what I really want with my life, I am doing some Idea validation/ Invalidation in my spare time(WFH). I am not 100% WFH due to work constraints but certain days of the week I get the entire day to myself. So working and refining my idea and learning Laravel/Alpine/Tailwind/Livewire to launch my MVP. BUT, I know the MVP is at least 6 months away involving days of customer development. I am not even talking about launching a moonshot, but a B2B SAAS that I can start selling from day one. Scratching your own itch, IMHO is a bad idea. You need to solve someone else's need or want. The only way to do that if You are in FAANG is befriend someone , an outsider who is exposed to other non-faang problems. Do You want something in B2C, then ask around and see what consistent problems your friends have? If You want to do B2B, then look in Your LinkedIn circle and find out people in Your network who are non-faang and see what task could be automated for them, saving them time and getting them a raise. Or you could try and run a FB Ad campaign(there was a thread on that a few weeks ago), where a FB PM ran Ads to validate his Virtual Workout idea. Again its Your idea and not guaranteed to get traction. Lastly, don't quit Your day job to start something. Again, if You go through the idea generation/validation process as an "Indiehacker", takes months. Better be prepared for a lot of "busy" days of absolutely doing nothing in the initial phases while You hit PMF(Product Market Fit) and having a job provides that launchpad and motivation. Feel free to email me at vsap78 at gmail email service.
Re: Ask HN: Covid Burnout – Quit FAANG to found a startup?
#25Honestly, if timing had been different I would've waited six months longer to take a five month hiatus prior to looking for work again.
I'm at a fantastic startup after leaving amazon and couldn't be happier about what I'm working on or the people I work with.
However, if I was facing burn-out currently and had $10-20k in my emergency fund I'd 100% just wait out covid for at least a year.
Leaving FAANG was the best thing I've done in the past 4 years, best of luck recovering and re-charging from your burn-out my friend!