31–37 of 37 posts
Maintenance shops are everywhere and give you a 9-5. Fishing is on the coast and gives you a highly a non-standard mostly summer/fall schedule.
Both are an absolute blast when you're with the right people. But then again, nearly everything is like that.
Also a long time programmer. I worked in a maintenance shop for 7 years. I loved it; welding, fixing appliances, operating equipment. I've also jumped on small fishing vessels for friends who are fishermen in various fisheries. Maintenance shops are everywhere and give you a 9-5. Fishing is on the coast and gives you a highly a non-standard mostly summer/fall schedule. Both are an absolute blast when you're with the…
Wait tables. You don't need much experience, it can be fun, your glutes and hamstrings will thank you, and it's not bad money if you can manage to get into a good place. And it will make you cooler, as service industry types are one of the hippest slices of society. The downside is that it can suck you into a nightcrawler lifestyle.
entrepreneurship can be energizing and empowering and liberating and all those great things, but it can also be isolating. there are certainly downsides when it comes to working for another company, but a few upsides too:
- more social by default -- especially if you're actually in an office
- easier to casually experiment with moderate changes to job focus, e.g. "hey manager i've been doing heads-down engineering a while and i'd like to transition into product management"
- secure, compartmentalized base: $5k/mo without much input is killer, but it's not enough to obviate financial concerns (especially in southern california). you could easily be making more than double that on salary, and with that kind of base it's much easier to finance even fairly expensive social and physical activities in your off time (which could include volunteer firefighting, tutoring, a couple shifts waiting tables on weekends, etc)
being a fisherman would be awesome, but is it conservatively worth seven figures over the next two decades? for some, yes. for you?
if you're simply not going to be happy/fulfilled/ doing work that leverages your current skillset, you probably have to find work that does. but your current skillset is quite high value, you're young, and compound interest is no joke. i would make a serious effort towards finding a compromise between current earnings and social/physical outlets before throwing the baby out with the bathwater and becoming a mechanic.
that said, spending a few months bartending on a tropical island somewhere might help you figure it out either way.
in your experience programming, how much of that has been solopreneuring versus working for an organization in an office? entrepreneurship can be energizing and empowering and liberating and all those great things, but it can also be isolating. there are certainly downsides when it comes to working for another company, but a few upsides too: - more social by default -- especially if you're actually in an office - eas…
The vast majority the last decade has been solopreneuring. I've had a stint at larger companies, but usually as a consultant.
It's likely immature of me, but I gravitate strongly towards "meritocracy" and the simplest purest form of that - for me - has been to work almost entirely alone. And I am acutely aware of all the things I'm giving up in an idealized situation: working alongside great people who are smarter and more passionate than me, cool benefits, money, etc.
I deeply believe that I'd be incredibly valuable to the right company, for the right job, and that the salary and social benefits and such could change my life and lives of my family (and future family!).
But, I've failed as far as finding that just right job.
Here is immature Mike's train of thought regarding this, perhaps someone else can relate?: "I don't want to go do the thing that so many of my peers have done: get a job at a largish tech company, work super hard for 6 months and then fade into a passive state of not really doing anything besides fielding slack notifications and collecting large pay checks. Idk it just feels so lame. It feels immoral. But those people seem to be killing it, they have the money and their girlfriends feel secure and stable, they have friends and get sent on cool business trips. Maybe I'm the one who has it all wrong, and I'm going to slowly age into irrelevance with nothing but my misplaced pride...etc etc etc"
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All that to say, perhaps it's fear of rejection that is keeping me from reaching out and finding that "just-right" job that leverages my "economically valuable" skills.
Your words have struck a chord, and I will make the aforementioned serious effort towards finding a compromise between earnings and outlets.
Thank you, and I hope to keep in touch. - Mike
in your experience programming, how much of that has been solopreneuring versus working for an organization in an office? entrepreneurship can be energizing and empowering and liberating and all those great things, but it can also be isolating. there are certainly downsides when it comes to working for another company, but a few upsides too: - more social by default -- especially if you're actually in an office - eas…
moomooskycow, thanks for such a thoughtful response. I've read it and re-read it. The vast majority the last decade has been solopreneuring. I've had a stint at larger companies, but usually as a consultant. It's likely immature of me, but I gravitate strongly towards "meritocracy" and the simplest purest form of that - for me - has been to work almost entirely alone. And I am acutely aware of all the things I'm givi…
part-time consulting work seems like a pretty solid way to make good money and maintain lots of free time, but you've done it and it didn't stick. what drawbacks outweighed the pay/flexibility benefits in your experience?
in my experience working for smaller companies and startups is also way better than working for big companies. i understand why people work for big companies and all the perks they provide (sometimes i just browse openai job postings and read all the compensation sections), but you're more flexible and have more impact at small companies and that's huge. especially for entrepreneurs: more flexibility means it's easier to build stuff in your free time. and more impact means it's easier to creatively express yourself on a larger scale by leveraging company resources.
the other point i want to make here though is: if you've been solopreneuring for a decade and you've built multiple revenue-generating businesses on your own already, i would not bet against that track record. if you've got runway to last you a while, maybe just maximize your free time and your wellness. you'll probably start something new.