

Ask HN: I quit. What should I do now? - relampago

I recently quit a tech startup I had worked at for 2 years (we weren&#x27;t going anywhere). But, in that time I became immensely intrigued with all aspects of technology and running a business, not to mention the HN community (Love you guys!) My role was in Business &amp; Product Development and I have a degree in Marketing. But having worked in Sales &amp; Management prior, I dread the thought of going back to that sector (Now realizing this wasn&#x27;t the degree for me). I just turned 30 (feeling incredibly unaccomplished) and am waffling on what to do now. I&#x27;ve considered going back to school for Computer Science or Sound Design&#x2F;Music Production, but thought that might just be a cop out for the easy loan money. I could spend far less money and learn the equivalent if not more online. Do I just suck it up, find something to pay the bills and follow my new found passions in my off hours? Any advice and&#x2F;or brutally honest thoughts?
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declandewet
That all depends on what you want to do, which direction you wish to go in. Do
you want to start your own company? Do you want to settle for a stable job? Do
you want to study? Asking other people what you should do will be of no
benefit to you if you do not provide the context of where you wish to be
headed. I could have very easily decided to troll this thread and written a
reply that told you to spend the last of your money on fine Scotch, but
instead I wrote this.

If you want to start a business, then start one. If it's a software business,
learn to code however you want or do not learn to code at all. You already
know marketing, you already have experience in a startup environment, the only
key things to follow now would be to find a product idea and iterate, iterate,
iterate.

Note that I said "find" a product idea and not "think of a product idea".
Thinking of one is a waste of time, because that requires that you spend
valuable time finding a target market and then more time finding
product/market fit through market evaluation & validation. Rather find an
industry of easily contactable people, and ask them what pains them about
their job. By doing so, you will have identified a problem as well as the
market validation of the solution to that problem. From there you can come up
with a product, which you can use to wireframe. Discuss the idea with your
chosen businesses, get their feedback and ask if they would pay for it. Verbal
financial commitment = done. Some might even invest. All that's left to do is
hire the people to build it and the rest is all up to your skills and
experience.

If you want to instead study, rather than create your own startup - heed this
warning: You get what you pay for. That being said, you can easily learn
material online, as a degree in tech is not necessarily important in tech
(you're already qualified, and that is at least something that puts you ahead
of many others). I wouldn't recommend sound design and music production - all
of my DJ friends (amateur or professional) don't even have a day of high-
school level musical education to their names. Some have a knack for it,
others don't.

If you just want to pay the bills, then get a job. I've found that asking
previous employers for a simple paragraph of how, in any way, I benefited the
company - and use that in a resume under your the work history section, does
help get you that little bit farther.

What you should NOT do under any circumstance is delay. You are not getting
any younger and money don't grow on trees - get up, get out, and do something
to get you back in the system.

~~~
relampago
Many thanks declandewet for taking the time to put together this well thought
out response.

What's most important is to be apart of or create something of substance,
meaning and purpose. Something to be proud of other than a bank account. And
as you let on, only I can answer that.

