I am considering it right now for exactly the same reason. I'm almost your age, but I don't have a family. I don't have anywhere near your savings but I've done this once before with almost nothing, and I didn't have any problem coming back to the job market after my multi-year "hiatus" when I ran my own company. I even took a multi-month "sabbatical" before returning to the job market to travel and party and be a slob and pursue my own interests (with basically no money), so there's a big hole in my work history. But nobody seemed to care except for a couple of companies which I wouldn't have enjoyed working at anyway. But I'll tell you the one thing: yolo.
Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
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Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
#22Don't... Most jobs suck. There's no way around it. Most jobs have aspects that you just don't want to do. That's why you get paid rather than you pay. You need to figure out how to make your current job fit your needs, financial and psychological. One thing you can do is to decide how much it takes for you to retire in a more affordable part of the country and work until you reach it at the fastest rate. Starting a s…
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Thank you for the response. Remote work not an option even though it's FANG (trust me I tried), college fund already established and enough money in it, not mentioned in post.
Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
#23I live in a small town in New Mexico. My ~1200 sq. ft. house cost $95k. My wife and I lived comfortably here, the two of us, on essentially $70k/year for the first four years of our marriage. Since then, the money has gone up, we have two kids and raising two kids here has been fairly inexpensive too.
Across most of the country, you could take an 80% pay cut and still be considered rich by 90% of the people around you.
Life is different out here but I think you have enough money, and you know it, and it isn't making you happy or you wouldn't be contemplating your move. So fuck it, what have you got to lose? You'll probably find that the abundance of time and massive reduction in stress is adequate compensation.
Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
#24Since a game typically doesn't have a first mover advantage nor suffer from a "time is of the essence" problem, and given your opportunity cost of income, you should consider outsourcing the development of your game to a cheaper labor market. With your technical know how, you can supervise your team to your liking, launch the game, and see how it goes. While you still might be unhappy at work, this will preserve more of your savings than quitting, and give you a more viable option to quit in the future.
Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
#25Translation gradually if you can! See if you can work a day less, maybe via contracting at your current firm, or for different ones. Make sure that you have at least 1 real workday to crank out a MVP (and if you can, add evenings and/or weekends sometimes). As soon as you have real customer/investor interest, you can dial down your contracting as you dial up your business. This is not without risk but it’s way less risky than a Big Bang approach, and this worked well for me personally (founded Transloadit exactly like this which I’ve been doing 5 years fulltime now, with 4 years of gradually ramping up engagement while contracting for my old employer and a few others). I do realize all situations are different and I was rather lucky/privileged to be able to pull it off like this. But given your position & savings you are in a better spot than I was. But maybe also more to lose, so I won’t pretend it will be easier for you!
Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
#26Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
#27You can absolutely return to the job market and get a good job again after failing at a startup. This happens all the time. You are still just as qualified after failing as before – probably more so – and employers know this. I say this both as someone who has done this myself (and seen friends/colleagues do it), and as a hiring manager who is more than happy to talk to candidates like this.
Relocating outside the Bay Area will make it harder to find that job. But there are lots of remote opportunities today, and in the worst case you might be able to relo back here.
Life is short. If you are excited about this prospect, and you can afford to spend the money if it doesn't work out, then go for it.
Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
#28I doubt you'll find a consensus on this question. My opinion, for what it's worth, is that this also follows the dictum of "asking if you should fire someone means you've already made your decision", and prevaricating only prolongs the pain.
I made a similar decision with much less of a financial cushion (and without moving away from the west coast) and it worked out OK. I'm happy now and don't regret giving up the millions. YMMV, of course. One tip: make it your goal to get to ramen profitability ASAP, not in 2-3 years -- it has a wonderful way of focusing your work.
Good luck whatever you choose, and keep in mind that either decision will remain reversible for at least a few years. If you go out on your own, I don't think having "I tried to run my own startup, failed, and learned a lot" will be a negative when seeking another tech job, and you can always move back.
Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
#29Move to Western Europe, enjoy the 7 weeks of vacation ?
Re: Ask HN: Do you have the courage to abandon your high paying job?
#30No. Took me 5 years to do so.