Do some research, decide what you want, then proceed. Along the way, pick up some talented guys to help you achieve your goal. One thing though, if you were not satisfied with your previous work, why didn't you just protest and get a better deal before quitting it for good, since you gonna quit anyway? It just seems weird to me.
Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
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Re: Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
#12And for some reason I feel paralyzed by the lack of a clear pathway [finance makes sense, startups for some reason does not]. I feel like I'm starting to sound like a broken record here, but... buy and read Steve Blank's The Four Steps to the Epiphany . That's step one. Step two is "do what Steve says." Seriously, he lays out a very detailed methodology for going from "an idea" to "a validated and profitable market f…
I presume this is the book: http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steven-Blank/dp/09...
Yes, and just in case you think I'm kidding (or exaggerating) about how good it is... look at the Amazon reviews. 79 reviews, and almost all of them are 5 star. It's an excellent book; at least in terms of content. The production qualities leave something to be desired, but that stuff can be ignored. It's basically his class notes from his class at Stanford, printed through Cafe Press. But it's excellent material.
Re: Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
#13You might have jumped the gun a little bit. But what's done is done so now you have to put your head down and barrel through it. I would take gspyrou's advice, just get to work.
For posterity's sake, when would have been the right time to leave? Keep in mind that the nature of my previous work is such that I did not have spare time on nights/weekends to continue working -- hence I just cut the umbilical cord :)
Don't second guess. What's done is done and now it's time to get to work. So get to work!
Re: Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
#14It doesn't much matter what you do right now. Just do something. Anything that moves you toward your goal.
The more trivial the better, imo. You just need to get some momentum. Now move out smartly, troop.
Re: Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
#15Congrats and props to you for making the jump. First get your finances in order and get a rough idea of your runway (how many months you can live off of your savings or other sources of income).
Some other ideas are to get a mindmap of the possiblities of where you can take this idea.
Use the business model canvas to sketch out your initial business models and the possibilities of your idea (http://www.businessmodelgeneration.com/).
Start an action plan - I use Tony Robbins "OPA Method". Ask yourself, What's your desired Outcome (O), What's your "Purpose" (P) - why you're doing the idea and write doing all the reasons, and finally what are the concrete Actions (A) you specifically need to do to turn your idea into reality.
Re: Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
#16Do some research, decide what you want, then proceed. Along the way, pick up some talented guys to help you achieve your goal. One thing though, if you were not satisfied with your previous work, why didn't you just protest and get a better deal before quitting it for good, since you gonna quit anyway? It just seems weird to me.
"why didn't you just protest and get a better deal before quitting it for good, since you gonna quit anyway?"
My reasons for leaving were strictly nonfinancial. I've socked away enough money to cover me about three years in NYC. I'm 24 now, so it makes sense for me to take some time off and figure out exactly what I want to do :)
Re: Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
#17I left my job back in 2009 at the dumps of the financial crisis. Take a 2 months break, do something you've always wanted to do. I went to Hong Kong and partied for 2 months, recharging, before preparing for my current startup. No need to hurry, your next startup will consume you.
Re: Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
#18I used tools to help me focus and organize my work, such as google tasks, remember the milk, and especially RallyDev community edition (free).
at some point it hits you that 'you are your own boss' means you have to tell yourself what to do
Re: Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
#19First.. Let's assume you have enough money to get by for at least 6 months. And provide for anyone in your care. Including health insurance for emergencies. If you don't have money saved up, well, I'd try to get your day job back or something else, because you could be setting yourself and your family up for catastrophe.
That said, the first thing you need to do is to get your ideas down in writing somehow. Take a day or two if necessary. It's really important. Don't just "start coding" like other people are suggesting. Get organized first. If this idea was so good that you quit your day job, you should have no trouble writing down a few pages about what you're trying to accomplish. Call it a "business plan", or not, at this stage it doesn't matter. But at least write down what you want to do, who will buy it and why, and who your competitors are.
I started to write a bunch of stuff about how to plan out your business, and then I realized that it would be easier for you to just get Four Steps to the Ephiphany by Steve Blank - it's full of worksheets that will help guide you through these early stages.
It sounds like you might need to meet some technical people to help you build your idea. You can meet them here on Hacker News, but it's far better to go to meetups in your area and meet real developers in person. The best developers will want to take some ownership in this part of the business, rather than just being told what to build.
Try to build relationships with people and tell them about your idea. If it's in a space that they're interested in, you'll find people who want to work with you, and at this stage it will be helpful to be able to bounce ideas off of others. Seek out the kinds of people who will tell you what's wrong with your idea or poke holes in it.
Hope this was helpful, and good luck!
Re: Ask HN: I quit my job .. now what?
#20You might have jumped the gun a little bit. But what's done is done so now you have to put your head down and barrel through it. I would take gspyrou's advice, just get to work.
For posterity's sake, when would have been the right time to leave? Keep in mind that the nature of my previous work is such that I did not have spare time on nights/weekends to continue working -- hence I just cut the umbilical cord :)
Then maybe you did leave at the right time and are just having a window of uncertainty. It will pass. What's important is that you have the savings to survive what could be a lengthy process. I couldn't have done the same but we all have different situations.