When is it time to quit my day job?

Hello all,

I had written this earlier: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3011961

My site is ready and mostly bug-free now. I'm getting decent traction (non-friends and family!), and even got a fairly decent write-up in a tech blog.

There are 2 other sites that got funded (one angel, one VC) that actually started way after me. We've been working part-time though, so they're in some ways ahead of us...but we're different enough from them to compete etc. etc. In a way having some competition is a good thing because it validates your idea.

I'm thinking I should cut loose from my day job and focus on this project full-time. I ran my finances very carefully yesterday and if I juggle things around a little I can support myself via consulting for 2-3 days a week. Market the site etc for the remaining part of the week, get more traction and maybe even funding.

But I'm a little nervous, and wanted to know what everyone thought. Note that I have a mortgage etc. I can't move back in with my parents :)

Oooooooooooo brother. Don't sign mortgages! Stay footloose. Because of that mortgage, you're going to have to tread carefully. Otherwise, I'd tell you to drop that job like a bag of dirt!

Many people have had the experience of trying to mix consulting and startup activities and neither succeeding.

Risk aversion varies greatly for people, from my perspective it would appear you don't have enough runway to take-off and fly this startup yet. How long before you could build sufficient reserves to not need to do consulting?

"In a way having some competition is a good thing because it validates your idea."

No, it doesn't. Many people can be wrong about the existence of a market/problem. But to answer your question, "when you earn from your startup as much as you do from your job" is quite a safe point.