Dont quit your job. I quit my job 2 years ago to start my company and feel very differently about this than most others on this YC message board.
If you get in to YC or one of the top 3 then by all means quit as you will most likely be making enough money in a year to cover your expenses. However, if you are like the rest of us stay where you are for a few reasons.
#1) Multiply the time you think it will take before you generate your first dollar of revenue by 2, your final product delivery by 2 and when you will see the first dollar that you will put towards your home rent by 3.
#2) 6pm - 2am is still a decent amount of time to work on your startup especially if you are keeping the lights and heat on in the house with a proper salary.
#3) If and when you run out of money you will probably take freelance jobs that will dictate your time even more than your day job so you will be back in the same situation but desperate.
#4) If for some strange reason your startup fails, you dont lose out on a year of career advancement because frankly the cool app that compares women's breasts is not exactly transferrable experience in corporate america.
Now it all depends of course on what your startup is and what it requires but if you realistically sit down and believe that you cant do 2 things at once and the startup is worth the risk then rock'n roll baby!
Ask HN: Advice on leaving corp for startup
11–14 of 14 posts
Re: Ask HN: Advice on leaving corp for startup
#12If you want to really do a start-up, quit your job. If you can't or won't quit your job, it is not yet time for you to do a start-up. I quit my job with six months in savings to start my company. It took us almost 8 months to get somewhere - we filled the gap with just a little web design work on the side. I have never regretted leaving my job.
+1 I was working in my cushy corporate job while my cofounder (also in the same company) and I tried to get our startup going on the side. Eventually I realized that I just didn't have the time to be successful at both and I had to make a choice. It's been over a year since I left and the learning experience alone was worth it. There is so much work and problems to deal with in building a successful startup that unless you're willing to devote yourself 100% to it, you're not ready for it.
Re: Ask HN: Advice on leaving corp for startup
#13If you want to really do a start-up, quit your job. If you can't or won't quit your job, it is not yet time for you to do a start-up. I quit my job with six months in savings to start my company. It took us almost 8 months to get somewhere - we filled the gap with just a little web design work on the side. I have never regretted leaving my job.
+1 I was working in my cushy corporate job while my cofounder (also in the same company) and I tried to get our startup going on the side. Eventually I realized that I just didn't have the time to be successful at both and I had to make a choice. It's been over a year since I left and the learning experience alone was worth it. There is so much work and problems to deal with in building a successful startup that unle…
I would suggest it's not just a matter of willpower. You should be in a material position to execute effectively - having to start worrying about how you'll feed your family, or pay your rent is a massive distraction.
Build up a buffer so you won't have to worry about it, at least in the beginning.
Re: Ask HN: Advice on leaving corp for startup
#14I feel like I may be able to give you some perspective. I took an idea to Startup Weekend in June and our team won 1st place and crowd favorite. I've been working on the startup full time ever since and my team has been part time on top of their day jobs. It's been 4 months and we're in our 3rd incubator / accelerator program.
I can tell you finding part-time consulting gigs is just as distracting as having a full-time job. Figure out a way to pay your bills and decrease living expenses for about 6 months.
I can also tell you that you shouldn't try to do it alone. Find someone else on your team (or outside) that's willing to go all in on the idea too.
Congrats on the win!