Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?

Post by dutchbrit » Fri, Sep 27, 2013, 7:33 AM UTC

jsvaughan wrote: post #17

dutchbrit wrote: post #8

If you plan on quitting your job, don't just follow what people comment here. The actual amount you need should be calculated yourself, based on your plans. 1) How much money do you need to get round per month. 2) Add a chunk ontop of that for unforseen expenses, broken fridge for example... 3) How long do you estimate you'll be working on your project? 4) Add a large percentage to that estimate for unexpected issues…

You should also factor in time to get paid. If in your new venture you are going to be invoicing people directly then you should allow at least a couple of months to be paid. i.e. you say 30 day payment terms on your invoice, but nobody will pay until that 30 days has elapsed, some people will pay you in the 4 weeks after that, and sometimes even with aggressively chasing you will have invoices which are 2 months ove…

Post by onion2k » Fri, Sep 27, 2013, 10:27 AM UTC

AznHisoka wrote: post #47

onion2k wrote: post #32

About $100k. It lasted me 4 years. Frankly, I sort of wish I'd had a lot less. I never felt any sort of urgency like "This must succeed." No regrets though. The last 4 years have been a lot of fun. :)

Did you spend all 4 years on UsableHQ? And why do you think it failed?

Post by TaffeyLewis » Wed, Oct 02, 2013, 1:07 AM UTC

lgieron wrote: post #75

TaffeyLewis wrote: post #65

In my case, I had something like 2,500 saved up before quitting my construction industry related job, moving to Mexico and giving myself 2 months to become a freelance writer. Worked out after all, though it was nerve wracking

Sounds like a material for a story in itself ;)