I quit my job. Today is Day 16 • Hacker News Board

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#11

Post by kp25 » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:04 PM UTC

elwell wrote: post #7

Freelance Inbox piques my interest, but have you considered a commission fee business model as opposed to monthly payments? I'd like to try it out your service without putting any money up, and if it works well I wouldn't mind paying a certain percentage (or flat rate) to you if the lead turned out to be profitable.

This is interesting. Paying certain percentage depending on the job you have accomplished would be better than paying monthly. Why risking money if you are busy in some other projects during a month?

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#12

Post by beat » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:05 PM UTC

Oh man, the feels, they burn!

Tomorrow is my last day of dayjobbing. I'm committing full time to my startup. On saturday, I plan to sit down with my lawyer for re-incorporating and re-branding. I've had an LLC and an initial name I used for expenses and stuff, but I have a better name now and I want to start with a completely clean slate.

I have no idea where my mind is going to be in a month, or in six months (I'm giving myself six months of runway to have revenue at least trickling in). Euphoria and terror, all at once.

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#13

Post by gedrap » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:09 PM UTC

>>> I’ve felt the pull. However, personal motivation to succeed keeps the wheels churning.

I really like your point about motivation.

I'm a freelancer and working from home, and I used to think that nutrition, physical activity etc has a lot to do with it. Yeah sure it does but recently I think at the end of the day, it's just about will power and deep, personal motivation. If you are not enjoying it, no diet will make you more motivated or energetic. It's about an ability to say firm 'no' to distractions. Especially the 'short' ones, because they never tend to be short [0].

Sometimes there is just shit that needs to be done. I mean ugly stuff, like code written by someone else and you have no idea how does it even work in first place or think that the the other programmer was drunk when coding it. Something that your mind says 'I didn't signed up for this shit!'. You just have to focus on it, and get it done. No 'just going to starbucks downstairs', or 'just a cigarette' will help.

Actually, I think one of the best indicator of maturity of software engineer is dealing with unpleasant tasks. Less mature developers try to delay it to the last minute (when bad comes to worse), or impulsively suggest re-writing everything from scratch, etc. Mature developers just get their shit together and get it done.

[0] Once I noticed that the biggest productivity killers are longer than 5min breaks because once you are away, it's so tempting to do one more thing, and then another. I blogged about it "It's all about the short breaks" http://blog.gedrap.me/blog/2014/02/09/its-all-about-the-shor...

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#14

Post by ehurrell » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:11 PM UTC

Great post, good luck with the product! I recently did almost the exact opposite of this, quit work with a startup.

While I learned a lot of what you mention in your post (being a self-starter is a huge asset) at the time continuing work there seemed untenable. In retrospect, even though I was quitting into nothing and the next two months were some of the hardest times money-wise I've ever had to get through the decision was the best one I could have made.

I guess what I'm saying is congrats on taking control, which I think is more important then the vector of travel, I'm glad it's going well.

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#15

Post by keslert » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:12 PM UTC

beat wrote: post #12

Oh man, the feels, they burn! Tomorrow is my last day of dayjobbing. I'm committing full time to my startup. On saturday, I plan to sit down with my lawyer for re-incorporating and re-branding. I've had an LLC and an initial name I used for expenses and stuff, but I have a better name now and I want to start with a completely clean slate. I have no idea where my mind is going to be in a month, or in six months (I'm g…

That's awesome and I completely understand :) Best of luck and feel free to reach out anytime.

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#16

Post by keslert » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:13 PM UTC

arethuza wrote: post #10

ibrad wrote: post #5

I wish you good luck. I will be in the same boat in 2 days. Quitting your job is very hard especially when you are not going for another one. Working on your own project is exciting but the toll comes when you don't see progress for a while and these times will come believe me. I too will be working on my own ideas but I know after the honey moon is over I will have to face the fact that I have no paychecks coming ev…

Good luck - and if it helps here is a quote that I find rather motivating (and yes, I do know what it is like to leave a steady job for your own project): "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who striv…

That is epic. Needs to belong to the wall behind my monitors.

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#17

Post by meritt » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:15 PM UTC

Can you please please remove SumoMe? Or add a button which allows me to disable the stupid highlighting / clickjacking shit it does?

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#18

Post by lucaspiller » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:18 PM UTC

elwell wrote: post #7

Freelance Inbox piques my interest, but have you considered a commission fee business model as opposed to monthly payments? I'd like to try it out your service without putting any money up, and if it works well I wouldn't mind paying a certain percentage (or flat rate) to you if the lead turned out to be profitable.

I was thinking the same. Anyone know anything like that in the UK / EU? In my experience "remote" in the US means "remote anywhere in the US".

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#19

Post by seanschade » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:20 PM UTC

elwell wrote: post #7

Freelance Inbox piques my interest, but have you considered a commission fee business model as opposed to monthly payments? I'd like to try it out your service without putting any money up, and if it works well I wouldn't mind paying a certain percentage (or flat rate) to you if the lead turned out to be profitable.

It is only $69. If you don't find something within a month then cancel and ask for a refund. Heck, if you used it for an entire year and only got one good job the cost is only $828. Do you think a flat rate or percentage of your billable rate would be cheaper?

Re: I quit my job. Today is Day 16

#20

Post by jarrett » Thu, Jun 19, 2014, 4:20 PM UTC

elwell wrote: post #7

Freelance Inbox piques my interest, but have you considered a commission fee business model as opposed to monthly payments? I'd like to try it out your service without putting any money up, and if it works well I wouldn't mind paying a certain percentage (or flat rate) to you if the lead turned out to be profitable.

I suspect that collecting on such commissions would be a real challenge. I'm not saying the service's customers are dishonest, but...it's easy to "forget" to pay your commission when it's on the honor system. Other bills come in, other responsibilities push it out of one's mind. Human psychology may thus work against an honor-based commission system.

As a customer who's rooting for the success of Freelance Inbox, I want the subscription fee to stick around. Not to be an elitist, but by its nature, this type of service can only work if it's exclusive. (Too many freelancers, and the fierce competition makes the leads worthless.) Which is why I'm also pleased to see that Freelance Inbox will/does have a membership cap.