

Leaving your job to go create something awesome - vlokshin
http://blog.darwinapps.com/post/44264524021/10-observations-leaving-your-job-to-go-create

======
dredmorbius
> If your team’s hourly rate is $150/hr, that’s what they’re worth. Don’t
> skimp on them or on yourself. That $100 savings isn’t worth it if two team
> members each waste 30 minutes (you’ve effectively lost 50$).

That's a confounding of a couple of slightly misleading concepts.

If your _billing_ rate is $150/hr, then that's what you should bill for. What
you do in your non-billable hours is what _makes_ your billable rates what
they are. It doesn't mean that you're earing your billable rate during non-
billable hours, or that you should evaluate them on that basis. Rather, you
should evaluate non-billable time on the basis of: does doing this increase my
billable hours, my billable rate, or otherwise improve business (reduced cost
of sales, reduced churn)?

By way of a sports analogy, a team that can fill a 20,000 seat stadium at
$50/seat for a 3 hour game, a net rate of $33,3333/hour, shouldn't evaluate
its training and transport time on that basis. Rather, training and transport
are what _gets_ you to that $33 grand an hour.

Similarly, a $50 expense should be weighed on its marginal effect on
productivity, _in light of alternatives_. If a $25 expense will return an $80
productivity gain, and a $50 expense nets $100, you're better off spending $25
(net gain of $55) than $50 (net gain of $50). Of course, in reality, costs and
benefits are often much harder to measure, you're working off of partial and
uncertain information.

But at least get the underlying logic right.

~~~
vlokshin
You're breaking apart a very minor detail. (most) People on hackernews can do
this math, as can I.

Ironically enough, I had a much longer write-up for that section, and deleted
an entire paragraph.

An audience / readers are fickle, if you want attention -- you need to take
out what doesn't really matter.

But technically: you're right, you're right. Sorry to have offended you...

~~~
dredmorbius
It's not so much that these are minor details, but I see fallacious /
erroneous logic used to justify various actions. Most often, it's actively
discouraging collaboration / close working by employees on the basis that
they're wasting one another's time and/or that two people working on the same
problem is not cost effective, regardless of the fact that they are electing
to work in this way, and that productivity is higher (combined) than were they
working independently.

Yes, you can make the argument that excessive long meetings are cost sinks
(but they're likely much more effective than passing information to people one
at a time). The key is to keep meetings to the minimum required, to keep them
on track and moving toward a goal, and to head off those who'll disrupt,
hijack, or otherwise kill efficiency, as well as ensure that makers get their
long-duration, uninterrupted time blocks when best suited to get their work
done (probably the biggest negative of contemporary office life and design).

As for the billing rate observation: that's not a math problem, strictly, it's
a recognition of billable vs. nonbillable productive activities.

No offense taken.

------
hakaaaaak
This was a nice short read. However, I'd like to see something between this
and The Four Steps to the Epiphany. Something that held out its hand, so that
I could grab it that would lead me step by step to:

1\. Find out what in the hell I'm good at, love doing, and should be doing.
Every book and website I read about this leads me to believe that I'm
"creative". We'll that's great, but I don't know how to turn that into a
business. I've read plenty of "you can do it" but there isn't a lot of "this
is what you specifically should be doing because I know you- seriously".

2\. Help me get my ass off the couch with a plan. A plan that leads me the way
a morbidly obese person could be inspired to start doing small exercises like
barely sitting up, but eventually actually get in shape. Not just a book on
getting a business plan together. If I wanted one of those, I could spit 20
feet and find one. I mean a plan step-by-step of what _I_ need to do to go
from making X at company A to making X on my own, with a limited amount of
time making x * 0.75 or x * 0.50.

3\. Tell me whether I really need an LLC or just business insurance. Tell me
the laws for doing business in my state, in my country, with other states,
with other countries. Do I need a VAT id? What is the difference between a
quote and contract of work that I'd need to do business with the U.S.
government vs. a small company in Germany vs. a small company in Australia?
All of these details, but in a really friendly language.

I know there are groups that support entrepreneurs and startups, but most of
them don't support them to go international from day one, and they are more
geared to evaluate and provide funding so VC's can invest and reap dividends.
I have been approached by people around the world that want to pay me for my
product or services, but can't because they can't tell me what I'm supposed to
be doing.

That's the kind of shit I want to know. I love reading these hopeful posts.
But even the most informative don't touch the surface, and the ones that go
too far into depth miss the practical stuff.

I know it isn't easy. It sounds like I want everything wrapped in a golden
ribbon. Well, I'm getting paid pretty well full-time and though I've always
wanted to take the jump, spending years reading about others that have done
what I want to do (kind of- if I knew exactly what it was), has gotten me
nowhere.

Magical information and assistance like this just doesn't seem to exist.

~~~
vlokshin
"Magical information and assistance like this just doesn't seem to exist."

Agreed, but that's why the majority of the world ends up living life as a cog.

None of this shit is easy, and no one is going to handhold you through the
process.

If that's your expectation, you're simply not cut out for this. But... you did
mention a Steve Blank book, which makes me think all hope is not lost :)

I'd recommend: 1\. Read "The startup owners manual" by Steve Blank, or at
least skim the parts that seem interesting to you 2\. Learn to follow the
pomodoro technique religiously. This changed my "get shit done" ability
dramatically -- sounds like that may be a hump you're having some trouble
getting over.

In detail to 2, the thing I love most about the pomodoro technique is that it
forces you to break down a task to <25 mins.

Let's take one of your points: "3. Tell me whether I really need an LLC or
just business insurance. Tell me the laws for doing business in my state, in
my country, with other states, with other countries. Do I need a VAT id? What
is the difference between a quote and contract of work that I'd need to do
business with the U.S. government vs. a small company in Germany vs. a small
company in Australia? All of these details, but in a really friendly
language."

You're never going to figure that out on your own if that's the approach.
That's a BIG, complicated question with a lot of factors to consider. Either
you have the money to pay someone to figure it out for you, or break down
something you can actually go do your research about.

Assume, test, analyze, grind, repeat.

~~~
Volpe
I like your response and tone. And the article.

But:

> Agreed, but that's why the majority of the world ends up living life as a
> cog.

This to me, amounts to: You are a failure (cog) if you don't do your own thing
and "follow your dreams".

I don't agree with anything in that statement. I would ask readers to really
think about why "following dreams" is important. Is it related to happiness?
What if skills and dreams are completely out of reach from each other? Is it
really just going to set someone up for failure/depression etc.

As I say, I like the sentiment, but feel there is little analysis to the
thought.

~~~
hakaaaaak
> What if skills and dreams are completely out of reach from each other?

That is right on. Every time I list the things that are important to me that I
love and/or would love to do they don't match up with my skills or they won't
make me any money, with the exception of the generic "start your own
business", so I'm doing what I don't really like all that much to be able to
have a business, which I do love. It probably isn't a terribly great idea.
But, I'm excited.

------
MicahWedemeyer
I think it's a mistake to classify people who don't do this as "cogs." As a
self-employed entrepreneur myself, I actually envy happy "cogs." I think they
tend to lead much more balanced lives. They have work and a life. Most
entrepreneurs I know can't separate their work from their life.

If the statement, "I love my job" makes sense to you, then you should _never_
quit your job to start your own company. It's usually a terrible financial
decision and it involves a ton of instability. The main reason to do it is
because you look at your life as an employee and just can't see yourself ever
being happy.

~~~
vlokshin
You're completely right. From the comments/feedback, sounds like I generalized
here a bit.

I 100% believe in doing what you're passionate about / what you love. If that
means contributing to a team of 1000, or a team of 1, so be it -- the "cog" is
simply someone who isn't doing what they want to be doing, or isn't taking the
steps to get there.

------
danhodgins
It's all out there. The books, knowledge, people and process for
entrepreneurship are there for the taking.

Your job is to collect and synthesize knowledge from books, mentors, fans,
customers and peers to find your unique formula for success.

I can't tell you what your formula for success is - no one can. We don't know
your strengths, weakenesses or whether you have come from an immediate or
extended family with one or more entrepreneurs - a major factor in predicting
business success.

I will say one thing though.

I don't know many entrepreneurs, whether business or technology oriented, who
are abysmal marketers.

The best technology-focused entrepreneurs are also, at the very least, average
to above-average marketers. They got that way due to instinct, study, mentors,
or all 3.

Study and learn to love marketing and design. If you can combine those two
things with strong technical acumen you'll be able to literally bring your
dreams to life.

The more of a curious renaissance man and generalist you can be the better,
because you'll be able to dive in and do whatever it takes at any given time
to drive your business, brand and product(s) forward - whether it's coding,
design, marketing, networking, producing and syndicating content or optimizing
conversions on a landing page.

Sure, create something awesome. But don't pretend that your awesome thing is
100% of the equation. Your awesome product idea is 10% of success. The other
90% is selling and hustle.

------
paulgb
> Deals you expect to close will fall through. Don’t let your business ride on
> any one client or project — no one owes you anything until a contract is
> signed. That being said, deals you don’t expect to happen will happen.

This is gold.

------
known
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists
in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the
unreasonable man." --George Bernard Shaw

------
shurcooL
Already doing that, thanks. I agree.

------
benched
I did this. It was scary because I was leaving a very well-paying job, but I
was so excited for all the possibilities. In a year, I produced tons of
awesome code, that did what it was written to do. But the product itself
floundered, and never took a shape that I could believe in. I even tried
hiring others to give it a fresh take, but that didn't work.

In the meantime, it sped the end of a relationship. She seemed as obsessed
with her own goals of starting a family as I was with my goals of starting a
company. There was little middle ground. My bank account ran dry sooner than
expected. I didn't find quite enough freelance work to stay afloat.

Finally, faced with a rapidly shrinking runway, the prospect of 1.5 years
intense coding work amounting to nothing but uninspiring demos, and nobody
else but me invested, I imploded. Meltdown. I was grasping at every straw, but
it was all just that. Straw. The SO was gone. The money was gone. I'd taken
the initiative to start interviewing, but nothing was connecting up.

This led to one of the darkest depressions of my life. Things are only just
starting to look up now, as I've finally had a job offer with a company that
I'm truly excited to work at. And the work that I did while independent played
a big part in landing the job. I can't say whether it was 'worth it' - only
that this is how it happened, and I'm very grateful that it did. I feel it did
not have to be so miserably hard.

So, I suggest having even more cushion than you think you need. Keeping your
relationships with colleagues warm. Pursuing other plans, contracts, or job
prospects while you work on your idea. If you do not already have very
supportive family and friends around who believe in what you're doing, ask
yourself if you have the personality to really believe in yourself that much.
Anything so it does not have to be like "I must succeed at this or life is
over."

~~~
vlokshin
Sorry to hear, and hopefully this doesn't deter you from trying again (if
that's what you want to do). Sounds like it'll be a lot easier next time
around from what you learned, and landing the job you have now was made
possible by the same learnings.

