Don't be scared, you'll probably end up working more :)
I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
11–20 of 145 posts
Re: I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
#12FYI: C9.io, they have an office there. Just in case. Just happened to me the same, best of luck.
Re: I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
#13Text-only version of article: https://raw.github.com/gist/3612652/132c74fbbfc50212f4f93d8e...
tnx, my VPS is kind of crashing ...
Re: I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
#14The good news: If you think you've done the right thing, then you have. Congratulations!
The other news:
- Your runway is probably 50% of what you think it is.
- Your task is probably 200% of what you think it is.
- It will take 200% of what you expect to get your first customer.
- Your wife will get scared before you do.
- Some customers will take forever to pay.
- You'll probably have to backtrack on your design / architecture.
- When you need to sell, you'll want to code.
- When you need to code, you'll want to sell.
- Your MVP will be missing something critical.
- At some point, you'll question your decision.
- At some point, someone will discourage you.
- You may need to pivot your entire business.
- In a year, you won't be who you are now.
Best wishes!
[EDIT: Changed "less than good news" to "other news". Thanks grannyg00se and untog for pointing out my "less than best choice of words". wasigh, it's all good news.]
Re: I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
#15Which company did you work for?
The first company that comes to mind in the Netherlands for me is Booking.com. If you're looking for contract work to get started, could be worth talking to them?
I would also strongly suggest contacting http://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=jacquesm. He lives in the Netherlands, has started multiple startups, and is a generally wonderful person. If you can prove yourself to him, his network could be an incredibly valuable resource for you.
Re: I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
#16I just came off my 18 month stint of doing something similar and it was the greatest 18 months of my life :) Good luck! You'll learn more about yourself during this next phase of your life than any other period thus far.
Re: I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
#17Hi, also You can try to do some small code component and sell in http://codecanyon.com
It's a great way to earn extra money. And once it's there, you keep getting money without worry about it.
You have a great family, a great wife. Let chase your dream ;). Try your best and wish you luck.
Re: I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
#18Gefeliciteerd!
There are more than enough nice companies in the Netherlands to go for. I like the same as you; small teams, hacker culture, getting things done. I found that in my companies over the years, but there are plenty of those around depending on what you want to do. Even in slightly bigger teams, it can be hacker culture; q42 (den haag) comes to mind.
Just take some time to talk to people and search around, apply for some stuff! Succes!
Edit: you can of course just start something for yourself; it is very common in NL (ZZP) and it works really well. On your own it's not hard to find gigs, but you have to like that kind of thing. More interesting is to do this with a few like minded folks, work on freelance jobs at companies for a few days a week and in the rest of the time make a niche offering. For instance Jurg van Vliet (9apps) would be someone who did something like that well in the cloud hosting niche.
Re: I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
#19The good news: If you think you've done the right thing, then you have. Congratulations! The other news: - Your runway is probably 50% of what you think it is. - Your task is probably 200% of what you think it is. - It will take 200% of what you expect to get your first customer. - Your wife will get scared before you do. - Some customers will take forever to pay. - You'll probably have to backtrack on your design /…
" - In a year, you won't be who you are now. "
I don't think this one necessarily gets filed under less than good news. Presumably if the guy is uprooting his life like this, becoming someone else is part of the goal.
Re: I did the scariest thing I can imagine: I resigned
#20The good news: If you think you've done the right thing, then you have. Congratulations! The other news: - Your runway is probably 50% of what you think it is. - Your task is probably 200% of what you think it is. - It will take 200% of what you expect to get your first customer. - Your wife will get scared before you do. - Some customers will take forever to pay. - You'll probably have to backtrack on your design /…
I was with you until:
In a year, you won't be who you are now.
Unless you mean "you will be the wrecked shell of the person you once were", I don't think that making a startup actually changes who you are. We glamorize it, but a lot of people set up their own business every day and don't change a bit.