As someone who tried to do exactly what you are suggesting, but with considerably less runway, find a job and start the business while you have the job. It was a disaster for me trying to go all in at once. Especially in one of the most expensive cities in the world, NYC. An I was 30 when I did it. I ran into all kinds of issues that I didn't foresee. Health issues, money issues, etc etc. Now I have a job while also starting a business and its running a lot more smoothly.
Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
51–60 of 125 posts
Re: Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
#52I think "runway" (i.e. your personal savings) is a terrible idea that should be debunked and dropped by the entrepreneurial community. You don't have runway - you have the savings to buy a house, or form the foundation for the next stage of your life. If you build your business whilst you have a source of income then you have infinite runway - you can keep trying until your dying day or you give up. It's only after y…
I’m working and doing a side project and there are some more advantages:
I work as a web dev. I can legitimately learn on the job. That learning then benefits the side project. Example: typescript, shell, k8s, css etc.
I have less time on the side project so there is less fluffing. No docs, no unit tests, no Haskell, just getting it done with what I am proficient at. This might ironically mean I get more done than if I was full time as I’d be tempted to gold plate.
I’m exhausted when I get home and the code I write then just (about) gets the job done. It’d fail interviews big time though.
Re: Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
#53I think "runway" (i.e. your personal savings) is a terrible idea that should be debunked and dropped by the entrepreneurial community. You don't have runway - you have the savings to buy a house, or form the foundation for the next stage of your life. If you build your business whilst you have a source of income then you have infinite runway - you can keep trying until your dying day or you give up. It's only after y…
> or form the foundation for the next stage of your life
What does that mean?
> you're really undervaluing that money if you use it just to live whilst creating a business.
What would be more valuable use of that money? Do you just mean keeping it in savings account or in index fund and let the interest build up?
Re: Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
#54You left your job because you were burnt out. I think you should also ask yourself what happens if you start your own project and get burnt out again before making any decision, and/or what can you do next time (either with another job or your own project) to avoid burn out.
In your shoes, I'd first get a job, possibly more sustainable than your previous one. Then I'd start working on my side project trying to make a second income stream. BTW, startup school is starting soon, you should definitely join in and test yourself for 10 weeks.
Re: Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
#55Working for yourself makes it very easy to burn out. I'd be wary of that as you described burning out already.
Re: Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
#56Work part time to pay the bills and spend the rest of your time working on your projects. The $60,000 of yours will disappear faster than you think. You'll eventually spend money on the business I assume.
Do you have recommendations on where I can find part-time work?
Either through your network or do some freelancing. If you go the freelancing route you'll have the extra benefit of having a relatively straightforward way of developing other business skills you'll need like sales. Just be sure not to let it take up all your time if you're going for a different business model :)
Re: Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
#57I'll vote for #1 and starting something on the side. The time constraint may give you more focus and you won't be gambling away more time and money on an uncertain path.
Some people seem to have a knack for getting right to the point of what needs to be done in hustling an idea and making money on it. For others, it's way too easy to spin the tires and get nowhere for weeks, then months on end. At a certain point, the feeling of getting nowhere becomes a drain itself and the likelihood of not finishing grows.
You don't want to find out which category you are in while burning through savings. Better to start with constraints which force that sense of urgency (lack of time.)
Re: Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
I totally agree with the risk comment. Also, my idea is to onboard small businesses slowly. Maybe, adopting and building out features/tools for one business at a time. Until the project is more completed and I can focus on scaling the onboarding.
The problem isn't onboarding. The problem is that without a pool of users, the site is worthless to businesses. The fundamental question you have to answer is -- assume you can friends and family a couple businesses, fine -- why does business 7 pay you money, or even do anything at all for you? Or business 8, or 9, or 10... Small businesses are barraged with calls from vendors like you.
Well it's not that black and white. Can op make the application/business appealing as a single sided marketplace to begin with? Maybe. If there is 1 side that can find value without having the other side onboard then there you go. Doesn't mean it's going to be easy. Still hard, but just address the challenges as they come.
op, take a couple months to build your product (considering this is a CRUD-like app) and then face the distribution problem.
Re: Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah. I spent the better part of two years building something I really wanted to build that I thought people would really want to buy. Turned out I was wrong. If you're burning through your own savings you need to find out as early as possible if there actually is any real demand for your product.
This is exactly what I'm afraid of. Sorry it didn't work out for you.
I learned a lot in the process. If I ever try anything like this again I'm going to focus on validating or rejecting the idea as quickly and cheaply as possible. There are some good resources online on ways to do this.
Re: Ask HN: Should I find a job or try to build a profitable project?
#60If you're serious about it, there is another option. You can move to Europe or Asia and live cheap while working on your business. I make ~$1,000 a month doing freelance work 30 hours a month. The rest of the time I spend working on my project ideas. My living expenses are ~$400 and I spend another $100-200 on project ideas.