Public sector employee plus FIRE sounds like a great combo to try.
Maybe freelancing too but I think that’s closer to entrepreneurship than some here are willing to admit.
Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
31–40 of 209 posts
Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
#32I felt similarly often, even though I was working for a great company with great products and with a very humane way of working. At some point I just could not stand the worker-owner fundamental power imbalance. There is a lot of pretending in our industry that this conflict does not exist, which often ends up in quite schizophrenic logic. I had to go. And Since I don't want to inflict such pain in other people, become the typical entrepreneur (i.e. a capitalist) was not an option either.
My solution for now is to freelance and consulting. It comes with a hole different set of contradictions, but it is a good learning experience and great way to experiment and explore what you want to do. It also buys me time to do open-source and research, but it requires more self-motivation.
My long-term dream is to start a worker-owned coop with other people in the future.
Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
#33I have some experience with this feeling and for me it comes from mismatched expectations. I believed that simply getting into the workforce was my goal, the proper goal, and that would be a satisfying end.
At some point in the working life some people (you!) become acutely aware that satisfaction and purpose matter. Now you have to reach outside of everything you have tried and everything you were taught to find something you actually care about.
Take up hobbies, personal projects, travel, and through trial and error find a way to connect your talents with a meaningful end.
Most importantly, you will have to solve this yourself. Friends online can't tell you what you want any better than your boss can!
Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
#34You're probably looking at the wrong thing here.
People who enjoy what they're doing typically look past how mightily life, the government, and the suits are screwing them. In my own business, I absolutely hate the admin tasks, but the people and the actual productive work more than make up for it.
Try to find something that you actually enjoy doing. The rest will probably take care of itself.
Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
#35> This thinking is hurting me though because it makes every job I ever had barely tolerable, slowly creeping towards miserable after enough time.
Profound changes in life are not easy, and feeling miserable is a sign that you probably have to change something.. Personally, I believe that people that are willing to change their lifes when circunstances ask for it are courageous. Most people will keep feeling miserable by inertia and fear of change.
As a little bit of more practical advice, have you considered going freelance or teaching? Something similar to what you're feeling now also happened to me, then I went freelancing and am currently teaching. I'm immenselly happier and get to learn lots of new things so I can be a better teacher..
Wish you good luck!
Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
#36Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anyone who thinks this is a great idea should take a trip to Cuba. Seriously. I had the same affliction and about 8 days into Cuba I was totally cured.
Cuba is a cherry-picked example and is misleading. Other socialist countries that are doing better: China; Denmark; Finland; Netherlands; Canada; Sweden; Norway; Ireland. Don't forget Cuba has been forced into economic isolation by the US. And places like Venezuela and Detroit were overly dependent on too few industries and are plagued by massive wealth inequality. You can also find persistent systemic poverty in cap…
How do you define a socialist country?
Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
#37You make yourself unhappy by focusing on what your boss or company owners are doing. Don't think about them, they are external to you. Focus on what you want or like to do.
You can try starting a consultancy business. Start as a freelance and grow that. Anything you do you must work hard and create value for others. If you do this consistently you will eventually move into a position where you are comfortable. The best way is to start by doing what you like and engages you, and at the same time the resulting work creates value for others. This doesn't have to be a startup with a product, consulting is always easier to start.
Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
#38This leaves you with a few options that haven't been brought up.
Have you considered working for a nonprofit or a governmental agency? The pay probably isn't there, but some people wouldn't want to work anywhere else. It can be tremendously rewarding fighting for your favorite causes rather than your boss' latest second house, as you said.
Not all big company corporate cultures are created equal, either. A lot of people love working for the big 5 and even though you're still making a boss rich (as in, richer than anyone else in the history of time rich), these bosses don't waste their time flaunting their wealth in front of you and demoralizing you. Change the world, do interesting work, and get rich far faster than an average startup.
Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
#39Congratulations, you have discovered socialism. Most people find extreme injustice in seeing the value of their labor being stolen by the capitalist class. Socialism is an economic system that does away with the employer-employee distinction and allows all workers to take ownership of their own labor. In practice, this means the democratization of the workplace, and the end to the autocratic workplace. Edit: To actua…
Most people find extreme injustice in seeing the value of their labor being stolen by the capitalist class. Nonsense. Most people don’t think their labor is stolen or find extreme injustice in getting paid for their labor. You need to get outside your bubble.
To elaborate: it's not stolen if you previously signed a contract that the employer can have it.
Otherwise every trade would be theft right?
Re: Ask HN: What to do if you hate working for someone else and arent an entrepreneur?
#40Congratulations, you have discovered socialism. Most people find extreme injustice in seeing the value of their labor being stolen by the capitalist class. Socialism is an economic system that does away with the employer-employee distinction and allows all workers to take ownership of their own labor. In practice, this means the democratization of the workplace, and the end to the autocratic workplace. Edit: To actua…
Anyone who thinks this is a great idea should take a trip to Cuba. Seriously. I had the same affliction and about 8 days into Cuba I was totally cured.
There are arguments against socialism, but pointing to a small country who's been embargoed by a local juggernaut for decades is not a strong one.