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Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

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31–40 of 118 posts

Re: Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

#31
post #29

I'm on my last day at my current job before taking the plunge to focus on my half successful startup! I'm going down in pay to about half, we're still losing money every month for me being employed. Our runway is ~6 months before our savings are out. Basically we have to double the monthly revenue that took 5 slow years to grow up to. Exciting and scary times!!!

Good luck! I hope it all works out. Scary times, indeed :)

Thanks! We were also able to cheaply rent a room at a shared office space, so it feels super real. :D

Re: Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

#32

I'm on my last day at my current job before taking the plunge to focus on my half successful startup! I'm going down in pay to about half, we're still losing money every month for me being employed. Our runway is ~6 months before our savings are out. Basically we have to double the monthly revenue that took 5 slow years to grow up to. Exciting and scary times!!!

All the best - do you have a link yet?

Re: Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

#33
I left my permanent position and was lucky enough to continue working on a contract basis to continue covering some of my bills.

I reached a point after about 4 months where I realised the journey to make the business profitable would most likely be a five year slog, and while the opportunity was there it wasn't a cause I felt I could devote 5 years of my life to.

So gave the software for free to the people that were helping with beta testing and went back to my job. I found the most positive thing was how it helped propel my career at my current employer as I got a better role, they seem to have more respect for me afterwards and I operate more independently now.

So I suppose if you can build some sort of safety net before quitting that helps.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

#34
This might be slightly offtopic but I've been thinking of working on my own ideas for a decade now. I tried working on projects in the evening and weekends but there isnt enough time. Not only does it effect your social life but also effects your motivation and drive in general. After looking at code on a screen for 7 hours, last thing you want to do is go home and look at more code [I guess this depends on your age, i'm 32 now - not an night owl no more]

Anyway i started contracting last year for this exact reason, at around £300-400 day rate and now i've saved enough to quit and follow my 'dream', my last day is JULY 7th. I have enough savings to last me 2 years, sustaining my current social life. no frugalness.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

#35

I'm on my last day at my current job before taking the plunge to focus on my half successful startup! I'm going down in pay to about half, we're still losing money every month for me being employed. Our runway is ~6 months before our savings are out. Basically we have to double the monthly revenue that took 5 slow years to grow up to. Exciting and scary times!!!

All the best - do you have a link yet?

Yeah absolutely. Our app is https://feeder.co. You can read a bit about our numbers on Indiehackers.com: https://www.indiehackers.com/businesses/feeder

MRR is ~3100 USD right now.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

#36
The way I did it was to start freelancing so that I could pay the expenses with less hours and then use the rest of the time for sideprojects. Finally, one of my sideprojects (https://everydaycheck.com) shows interest and traction, so it's easy for me to just do less freelance hours and put more time into it, hopefully I can get to a point where I can work 100% on it.

I guess the "quit your job" problem only exists if you have major responsibilities, like a family, or paying debt back. Otherwise, it makes no real sense to consider it, the opportunity is too big.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

#38

This might be slightly offtopic but I've been thinking of working on my own ideas for a decade now. I tried working on projects in the evening and weekends but there isnt enough time. Not only does it effect your social life but also effects your motivation and drive in general. After looking at code on a screen for 7 hours, last thing you want to do is go home and look at more code [I guess this depends on your age,…

Unless you catch lightning in a bottle, you'll need 4 years.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

#39
For me, and probably for most, it's not a matter of quitting your job in order to work on your "successful" startup - if it were already successful then there'd be no issue at all. Rather it's about quitting while the startup is just beginning to look reasonably good, _in order_ to make it a success.

Since I've been working as a mobile developer, and also management consultant (my other career), it's always been extremely easy for me to find a new job whenever I needed, so there has been very little risk involved.

Still, it did require some savings, since our startup is very research intensive and will take several years before we see any revenue. We secured some basic funding now though, and things are looking good for the next stage too so I will only have needed 6 months or so of buffer.

In summary, my view is that if you're a reasonably skilled engineer or have some other attractive occupation, there is nothing to fear. The worst that can happen is really that your startup doesn't work, you'll go back to what you did before with a few months of missed income but with plenty of useful experience.

I don't think there are many situations or cultures where a failed technology startup attempt on your résumé would count against you in any way, in most places quite the opposite.

Re: Ask HN: What was it like to quit your job and focus on your successful startup?

#40
post #38

This might be slightly offtopic but I've been thinking of working on my own ideas for a decade now. I tried working on projects in the evening and weekends but there isnt enough time. Not only does it effect your social life but also effects your motivation and drive in general. After looking at code on a screen for 7 hours, last thing you want to do is go home and look at more code [I guess this depends on your age,…

Unless you catch lightning in a bottle, you'll need 4 years.

4 years for what? To find product/market fit? To become profitable? I presume you are referencing some rule of thumb that is not familiar to me...?
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