
Ask HN: How to start freelancing while working in corporate? - forgotpw1123
I&#x27;ve been working at software companies my whole career. Every single one has an IP assignment agreement and insanely broad non-competes, even startups.<p>Software has been my favorite hobby since I was a kid, not being able to work on things in my own time is soul crushing. I&#x27;ve wanted to start a business for many years but I know it won&#x27;t make enough to sustain me as long as my savings will hold out.<p>Have any of you managed to get a dev position without a crazy non-compete and IP assignment agreement? In my state they&#x27;re quite enforceable. I&#x27;m considering contracting but I&#x27;ve never met a contractor and the companies I&#x27;ve worked at don&#x27;t hire them. It seems an independent streak like &quot;freelancer&quot; or &quot;contractor&quot; makes you less employable in BigCo&#x27;s so I would prefer going directly from a regular full time role into owning my own business.<p>I know people usually just say &quot;freelance&quot; but I&#x27;ve tried that and it&#x27;s far from that simple. Going from zero clients to anything reasonable takes months. Anyone found a better way to deal with this?
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mattbillenstein
I've bootstrapped consulting work by turning my current gig into a consulting
gig -- I decide to leave a company, but they really can't find one (or two or
three) people to replace me in two weeks, so I volunteer to consult for them
to fill the gap.

I then charge double and work half while they drag their feet for 3 months
trying to hire a replacement -- by then, I've had time to line up another gig
and bank some cash. If you're nice about it and do a clean handoff to the next
person, everyone is happy -- they don't even generally care about the money,
they care about continuity of service.

Not doable for everyone, but it's worked out for me a couple times.

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forgotpw1123
That won't work for me because I'm pretty low on the chain. Its hard to show
your value when you're treated like a piece of machinery.

I think I just need to make a rainy day fund then go straight into
contracting. If I can line up a couple 6 month contracts with no IP assignment
clauses I should be good to go

