51–60 of 71 posts
If you have put away enough money to fund your own idea or live salary free for a year (or amount of time you're comfortable with not earning) then go for it. If this is just some itch you're looking to scratch try changing team in your company first and see if you still want to leave.
This question depends on so many variables that you can't possibly expect someone to give you a clear answer.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, there's two types of money, aren't there? "Real" money comes after product development, market fit testing, market penetration, iteration, supporting early adopters, building market presence, etc. "Virtual" money comes after product sketching, roadmapping, pitching to VCs, and cashing out (ideally before the 'market fit testing' stage.) Edit: Oof, unpopular opinion apparently.
Ha ha! I've sometimes joked that when you start a startup you have to decide who the "customer" is -- the person using the service or the VC. I've definitely worked at startups that were milking VCs. I don't really recommend it as a thing for technically minded people to do because you end up doing a lot of crazy stuff that has nothing to do with making a good product. But it definitely happens.
Validate demand: You should understand whether you can launch a very crude version/maybe no product but customers lined up to pay you for your thing which'll become ready soon and get some validation from the market. If you can't do this, what makes you think that you can do it after you quit? Stay at your job if customers are not ready to throw money at you. If you can see solid demand, you should validate yourself.
Validate yourself: Do you think you are mentally prepared? Do you have enough savings? You probably have the skills to create a product, but do you have the skills to create a company? Will you enjoy working on this for the next 5-10 years?
On savings: Do the math for yourself, but in order to be able to work without financial stress, you should have enough money for = ((number of months you foresee your startup to take off) x 2.5[correction for you optimism] + 3-6 months[It'll become hard to work stress free and irrational to continue if you don't have something solid, so better go get a job now]) * (amount you think you'll need in a month * 1.3-1.5[you are also optimistic about your expenses])
I left Facebook 3.5 years ago to start a startup and I'm quite happy. Software engineer and founder are two different roles, and it takes time to transition. Don't expect to be wildly successful in any short period of time. Launch quickly and try to get users and talk to them. Try to make your first dollar quickly. This will help you learn about business, marketing, product market fit. I believe that starting a boots…
easy to build means easy to replace. is it true?
I have a friend who has been at 3 startups in the last 8 years and he regrets being in the startups immensely, because of how much money he has left on the table not being at Apple and Google (he was at both previous). He probably missed out on multi-millions of dollars in stock/RSUs and none of his startups panned out at all. So, your mileage may vary. Me personally I've done both, and I think I prefer a small, publ…
However, I've had lot of fun and mostly enjoyed my career being kept on my toes.
Been at bigco, did a few startups, a couple paid out, most did not. As an option, I'ld explore a side-hustle first, see if you like doing that enough before going all-in. Your goal for side-hustle, 20k MRR or gross margin monthly (ecom). Choose a metric that's real. If you can't hit it on a part time basis, you probably won't make it on a full time basis (for venture style startups that is. If you're targeting lifest…
I've seen many many of my friends try the side hustle, and none succeed. Mostly they burn themselves out from working so many hours and then stuff gets tough, as it does, and they bail. I think a better approach is to make some savings and take a sabbatical to test out what it's really like. If your day job is cushy and unstressful then maybe that's a different story...
My entire career has been startups. On average, your startup will be a failure. If you want to create one, then it should be for an idea that you really believe in and that has value. Because you're going to have bad days--lots of them--and want to quit. And if you don't believe in what you're building, then you will quit, and it'll all be for nothing. (Plus, if you believe in what you're building and it fails, you w…
This. The probability is that your startup will fail. However, you would not have failed as an individual if you're passionate about what you're building, and enjoyed building it, whatever the eventual outcome.
My entire career has been startups. On average, your startup will be a failure. If you want to create one, then it should be for an idea that you really believe in and that has value. Because you're going to have bad days--lots of them--and want to quit. And if you don't believe in what you're building, then you will quit, and it'll all be for nothing. (Plus, if you believe in what you're building and it fails, you w…
If you want to learn, grow, and be a big fish in a small pond, go for a startup. It's fun, frenetic, stressful at times, and you can have as big an impact as you want. If you have dreams of $$$, stay at a public company that can shower you with cash and RSUs.