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What will you do after tech?

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Re: What will you do after tech?

#41

Post by bhavc »

michepriest wrote: post #39

I'm retired from tech. Former product manager/intrapreneur and a bunch of other things. Burned out twice. Decided I was done working for someone else. Last year I sold my house with contents, rental property, business, and car to be nomadic and see the world. I'm doing small projects for fun. My favourite is helping people get unstuck in 15 minutes with 3 questions. A few coaches have expressed interest in offering a…

Even though im a bit earlier in my career, i'd be interested in learning more about how you figured out what you wanted to build. I've been toying with the idea of building something myself for a long time but i can just never commit to an idea. I actually had an idea for building a coaching service as well after watching the show billions (wendy rhoades) and having a friend go through a messy separation so your comment really spoke to me

Re: What will you do after tech?

#42

Post by Jtsummers »

EddieDante wrote: post #2

I'm a American and part of Generation X. It's rather kind of you to assume I'll get to retire.

Retiring in the US as a member of Gen X in the tech industry is quite achievable, if you can move out of high cost of living areas. Large parts of the South and Midwest are quite affordable, and there are still many manufacturing organizations with needs for in-house software and IT support (though often this is contracted out, you will usually move along with each contract though). In software/IT you can make 2-4x the median household income in areas of NC, GA, OH, IN, and others, if not more. Areas where buying a 1 acre or larger property with a 2000 sq foot or larger home was doable in the $150k-250k range throughout the 2010s. Harder now with pandemic price increases, but we'll see how the next 2-3 years play out on home prices.

Re: What will you do after tech?

#43

Post by michepriest »

bhavc wrote: post #41
michepriest wrote: post #39

I'm retired from tech. Former product manager/intrapreneur and a bunch of other things. Burned out twice. Decided I was done working for someone else. Last year I sold my house with contents, rental property, business, and car to be nomadic and see the world. I'm doing small projects for fun. My favourite is helping people get unstuck in 15 minutes with 3 questions. A few coaches have expressed interest in offering a…

Even though im a bit earlier in my career, i'd be interested in learning more about how you figured out what you wanted to build. I've been toying with the idea of building something myself for a long time but i can just never commit to an idea. I actually had an idea for building a coaching service as well after watching the show billions (wendy rhoades) and having a friend go through a messy separation so your comm…

I was in a bit of a funk when my dad passed away, and I got laid off last year. I didn't know what to do other than not have obligations (investors, employers, employees).

A friend of mine recommended I do 100DaysOfNoCode. That was a great suggestion. It's free. They send you an email every day with a 30 minute activity. The activities introduce you to a ton of tools. I learned about 20 new tools and built over 15 websites and apps.

Because you're starting with the technology you're almost forced to come up with business ideas.

I talk about it more in this loom video and also have 2 other ideas for generating ideas https://www.loom.com/share/22be41636f3a4c119f7e3d6497a03de4

I'm new to Hacker News so my apologies if video links aren't allowed

What I do myself and what I recommend is if you have a spark of inspiration for any idea, do something to action it (send an email, tell someone, build a landing page, etc). Follow your curiosity without expectations of any outcome. If you get early traction, keep advancing to the next step. Let go of things that don't interest you.

It's never too early to build something yourself. There are an insane amount of tools and opportunities. Imagine if you built 1 thing a month and had 3 things a year that you enjoy and generates a steady stream of revenue. Now image doing that for 10 years.

Re: What will you do after tech?

#44

Post by EddieDante »

Jtsummers wrote: post #42
EddieDante wrote: post #2

I'm a American and part of Generation X. It's rather kind of you to assume I'll get to retire.

Retiring in the US as a member of Gen X in the tech industry is quite achievable, if you can move out of high cost of living areas. Large parts of the South and Midwest are quite affordable, and there are still many manufacturing organizations with needs for in-house software and IT support (though often this is contracted out, you will usually move along with each contract though). In software/IT you can make 2-4x t…

I've already got a house on .33 acres in PA. Not sure I'd want to move to the South or Midwest. I might be a bit right-wing compared to neighbors who are either part of the professional-managerial class or wish they were, but I suspect I'd be pretty far-left compared to people in the areas you recommend and might find the local culture unwelcoming as a result.

Re: What will you do after tech?

#45

Post by [deleted] »

EddieDante wrote: post #44
Jtsummers wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retiring in the US as a member of Gen X in the tech industry is quite achievable, if you can move out of high cost of living areas. Large parts of the South and Midwest are quite affordable, and there are still many manufacturing organizations with needs for in-house software and IT support (though often this is contracted out, you will usually move along with each contract though). In software/IT you can make 2-4x t…

I've already got a house on .33 acres in PA. Not sure I'd want to move to the South or Midwest. I might be a bit right-wing compared to neighbors who are either part of the professional-managerial class or wish they were, but I suspect I'd be pretty far-left compared to people in the areas you recommend and might find the local culture unwelcoming as a result.

[deleted]

Re: What will you do after tech?

#46

Post by Jtsummers »

EddieDante wrote: post #44
Jtsummers wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Retiring in the US as a member of Gen X in the tech industry is quite achievable, if you can move out of high cost of living areas. Large parts of the South and Midwest are quite affordable, and there are still many manufacturing organizations with needs for in-house software and IT support (though often this is contracted out, you will usually move along with each contract though). In software/IT you can make 2-4x t…

I've already got a house on .33 acres in PA. Not sure I'd want to move to the South or Midwest. I might be a bit right-wing compared to neighbors who are either part of the professional-managerial class or wish they were, but I suspect I'd be pretty far-left compared to people in the areas you recommend and might find the local culture unwelcoming as a result.

> I suspect I'd be pretty far-left compared to people in the areas you recommend and might find the local culture unwelcoming as a result.

I suspect you'd be pretty wrong. I'm quite left-leaning and no one in those areas ever gave a crap about it.

Re: What will you do after tech?

#49

Post by awillen »

sarora27 wrote: post #24
awillen wrote: post #5

Oooh, I know this one! I spent about a decade as a PM in early-stage enterprise software companies (Box and Talkdesk, among others) and left in 2019 to open a dog boarding business! I found real estate, had plans drawn up, got permits, found a contractor and ways a few days away from closing my SBA loan. Then the bank called and said they were putting a hold on new underwriting because of this COVID thing... this was…

Hello ex-coworker (Talkdesk). Recognized you immediately!

Oh hey man - long time no see! I hope all's well.

Re: What will you do after tech?

#50

Post by lazzurs »

afavour wrote: post #7

The industry is still relatively young. Plenty of tech workers have retired but they weren’t web devs because the web wasn’t as prevalent yet. My dad was one! He was a project manager for giant mainframe stuff that doesn’t really exist these days. Startups can easily lead to burnout. Tech itself doesn’t necessarily. I think I’d be quite happy spending my twilight working years at some kind of bigcorp saving up for re…

I've just migrated a mainframe to the cloud. Mainframe still exists for sure, plenty of work there :)
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