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Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

sdk.org.nz

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Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#11

Post by gridspy »

Proud to see my blog post on HN.

It has been a tough slog working full-time while spending every other waking moment on Gridspy. It doesn't help that I spend every waking moment thinking about it, even when I should be applying myself to my full-time job.

Biggest challenges:

1) Starting work again at 7pm after dinner, and sticking with it as long as possible

2) Stopping at 10:30pm so I'm not dead after 2 days

3) Taking time off on Saturday, simultaneously fantastic + frustrating

4) Being an available father, giving love and attention to my kids

5) Knowing that I could do in one normal day what takes me Monday..Friday to do.

The second I can step up and go full-time Gridspy without going bankrupt in 1 month, I will.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#12

Post by gridspy »

scorpioxy wrote: post #10
nkh wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to hear about any techniques you have for overcoming mental fatigue at the end of your work day when you still have business work to do. Did you work on your business before the work day started? Or something different?

Seconded. It seems to me that whenever people tell you to keep your day job while trying to start a business, their day jobs are not related to programming.(so IT, analyst...) I would love to read something about how your code all day for your day job and then code all night for your business. That info, coming from somebody who has done it before would be a very interesting read. (Another interesting thing would be…

To code on both, do something you care about as your startup. _really_ care about. Also, there is lots to do. Do whatever seems most fun to you at the time. By the time you are forced to do things for clients, you'll have enough code and good habits formed to manage it.

To stay sane, set strict rules about time off. For me, Friday night and Saturday (all day and night) are family time. Sunday is totally Gridspy time. If I start to feel tired, admit it and remind yourself that you can ship one month later and take a few days off here and there.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#13

Post by gridspy »

davidedicillo wrote: post #6

I'm sure dedicating yourself to one single project may be better, but doing both is absolutely doable at the beginning. You can even go a little further. At one (recent) point of my career I had more full time employees than the company of which I was an employee at the very same time. Sometimes you don't have the option of risk it all, so you need to adapt, even if that means skipping your beauty sleep. It's all abo…

Thanks.

Honestly, what Gridspy needs is more of Me. I don't see myself paying other people to do work until I am running full-time because I am more dedicated (it _is_ my startup) and also I know the code better.

Interesting situation to be in, working elsewhere while your start-up employs others. I'd be jealous of my employees in that situation.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#14

Post by gridspy »

hugothefrog wrote: post #9
patio11 wrote: post #4

This is totally doable, although I don't envy him for trying to do it while also having a wife and kids. If your life situation allows you to play WoW, your life situation allows you to run a business. Heck, my business is considerably less complicated than the guild I used to run. I managed to cut my headcount by 39 and my hours by 75%. (You may have to stop playing WoW. Apologies in advance, but trust me, the loot…

I definitely would be. Any techniques you've developed for switching contexts would be greatly appreciated..

Check Hacker News, email, etc. Remind myself that I'm going to be a huge startup soon. Choose what excites me the most and bite of a tiny chunk.

If I'm having real trouble, I'll promise myself to do 30 minutes and stop if I'm not making headway. Most nights I continue after that for some time.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#15

Post by gridspy »

markkoberlein wrote: post #3

There should be a support group for over 30 startup founders that have families, bills, and full-time jobs. My advice to any one trying to do this is to be patient and find a time management system that works for you. Also, get used to the hours between 8pm and 2am. Those hours can be your best friend and worse enemy.

Yeah. Unfortunately I'd be a husk if I stayed up as late as I'd like and still had to get up for the kids in the morning.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#16

Post by gridspy »

sabat wrote: post #2

This is precisely my M.O., save for having an active project or a definite idea. :-)

Yeah. Don't bother until you have an idea that really fires you up. However, you might want to spend the time actively searching for that great idea (research into unautomated industries, say).

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#17

Post by donaq »

patio11 wrote: post #4

This is totally doable, although I don't envy him for trying to do it while also having a wife and kids. If your life situation allows you to play WoW, your life situation allows you to run a business. Heck, my business is considerably less complicated than the guild I used to run. I managed to cut my headcount by 39 and my hours by 75%. (You may have to stop playing WoW. Apologies in advance, but trust me, the loot…

You could play games like Jade Dynasty, which has botting integrated into the game. So you could do work while the game runs in the background.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#18

Post by snprbob86 »

I'm doing this now, but don't have a wife or kids to worry about. It's still HARD. Pacing only solves the burnout problem, but fails to solve the satisfaction problem. Only working 15 to 20 hours each week leaves a lot of gaps where we simply lose track of our short term goals and spend a lot of time re-orienting ourselves. When we actually have a productive day, it creates frustrating contrast to the unproductive ones. You constantly think "if only we had another 25 hours each week, we'd be so much further along".

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#19

Post by gridspy »

patio11 wrote: post #4

This is totally doable, although I don't envy him for trying to do it while also having a wife and kids. If your life situation allows you to play WoW, your life situation allows you to run a business. Heck, my business is considerably less complicated than the guild I used to run. I managed to cut my headcount by 39 and my hours by 75%. (You may have to stop playing WoW. Apologies in advance, but trust me, the loot…

I second you on the gaming argument. Before I got into business, I reminded myself about how much free time to work in if I stopped playing games and watching as much TV.

Re: Part time Entrepreneur, fulltime Employee

#20

Post by gridspy »

snprbob86 wrote: post #18

I'm doing this now, but don't have a wife or kids to worry about. It's still HARD. Pacing only solves the burnout problem, but fails to solve the satisfaction problem. Only working 15 to 20 hours each week leaves a lot of gaps where we simply lose track of our short term goals and spend a lot of time re-orienting ourselves. When we actually have a productive day, it creates frustrating contrast to the unproductive on…

Hear hear! I have exactly that problem. Also, Full-time Sunday (for me) is a bittersweet taste of what that would be like.
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