check out places like odesk or elance and bid your project out. Cut out as many features(bells and whistles as you can). Get a credit card for 5k-10k let someone else do the work and pay with a credit card. Now take your salary every month subtract the monthly credt card payment. Divide that number in half and send it to me for saving you a ton of risk a lost revenue. Seriously though at least bid out your project and see what it will cost and compare that to how much you'll make over the next year.
Ask HN: Should I leave my full time job for personal project?
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Re: Ask HN: Should I leave my full time job for personal project?
#12It might be worth looking in to reducing your hours at work instead of quitting outright. If you're good, chances are they'll be willing to work with you to keep you around. Along the same line of thought, a 6-month sabbatical would fit the bill as well. Again, from your employer's standpoint, losing a good developer (and having to roll the dice replacing him) is a disaster. The promise that you might come back when…
Thanks! I though of that, but my team is in a state that if I plan to take leave, they'll hire someone immediately and they may not take me back later as my position will be filled. Its not a big company.
However, if I decide to quit for personal project, I will start with asking for leave or part time work. That was the plan. Quitting is kinda the last option.
Re: Ask HN: Should I leave my full time job for personal project?
#13check out places like odesk or elance and bid your project out. Cut out as many features(bells and whistles as you can). Get a credit card for 5k-10k let someone else do the work and pay with a credit card. Now take your salary every month subtract the monthly credt card payment. Divide that number in half and send it to me for saving you a ton of risk a lost revenue. Seriously though at least bid out your project an…
LOL. Thanks a lot. Building the project the way you suggested would be great, but I have seen that managing outsource work is very difficult, and am not sure if I am good at that.
Also, in the process of building the project, I want to improve my skill sets. I do plan to do some part of works through freelancers.
Re: Ask HN: Should I leave my full time job for personal project?
#14I am a solo founder with a 17 month old child, a second on the way and a full time job. While I don't know your idea, I can tell you that you can accomplish a ton working nights and weekends and not jeopardize your primary income.
I would suggest you don't quit your job until you know the project has traction and it's something people need and will pay for. I know it feels more real if you do it as a full time job but why risk your family's well being if you don't even know it will pan out...no matter how much you believe it will.
There are some benefits to working nights and weekends: It forces you to make the most pragmatic choices. What is the absolute minimum required to get X done by Y schedule given I only have Z hours to work on it?
I have probably slaughtered 75% of what I considered must have requirements for launch, simply by having insane time constraints...and I don't think my product is any worse for it.
You also start thinking about what you need to work on and what you can farm out. I use elance all the time for stuff that doesn't provide competitive advantage. I probably also use far more third party services than I otherwise would.
All of these where good decisions I probably wouldn't had made if I weren't equally time constrained.
Re: Ask HN: Should I leave my full time job for personal project?
#15> It will probably take me around 6mo - 1year to make it live(beta).
The rule for estimating project time is to take your estimate, multiple by 2, and then change to the next unit of time. So this means it will actually take you 12 years.
Of course, I'm (only half) joking. I started a project 7 years ago that I began in my spare time and...it's still not done. But I started from zero programming and had bad habits and put it down for months at a time. If you are already a programmer and know what you're doing, yes, it may only take one year.