
From Freelancer to Founder - domgoulet
http://momenteo.com/from-freelancer-to-founder-episode-1
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cwarrior
Dom, congratulations on your success. You are really an inspiration to me.

I'm currently employed full-time (also in Canada) and have a lot of down time
doing angular/react. I have been taking some steps to get involved in the
freelancing world.

After some research I found that WordPress is an easy platform to get started
with as a freelancer, so I'm currently learning it.

What would your advice be to me? is going the wordpress route a good idea? How
do I get clients?

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yaworsk
My unsolicited advice - having done something similar with drupal though, not
wordpress - choose something you'll enjoy working with, if it's wordpress, go
with it (keep in mind there are a lot of "wordpress" developers and by that i
mean, people who just grab a bunch of plugins, put a site together and say
they have extensive wordpress experience - don't be that person). That all
said, you may have better luck with a framework like rails, django, etc. if
you want to make a similar transition into product building...

From there, get involved in the community (e.g., attend meetups, drupal has a
good one in toronto). I found success finding clients by learning about drupal
and recording video tutorials about what i learned to teach others (drupal has
a ridiculous learning curve when you are coming from no where).

Hope that helps.

~~~
domgoulet
That's a very good piece of advice too!

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bshimmin
_It allowed me to live in France for a couple of years before eventually
moving back to Canada, where my wife and I got our first baby. If you were
wondering, my wife tagged along with me in Europe. As far as I know, I am the
biological father._

Er, that's a strange thing to say.

~~~
cwarrior
I thought it was hilarious

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DrScump
The important question: did _his wife_ find it funny?

~~~
domgoulet
Absolutely! I'm also the father of our second child, 100% sure ;-)

~~~
nickpsecurity
Best follow-up lmao

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baristaGeek
Hey Dominic, that was a great story! As a 21-year old who has done some
freelancing I felt identified with your story.

Right now I am at a stage, similar to the one you had, where I am thinking "Ok
I've been paid to build stuff, that's cool. I've acquired programming and
business skills which are really valuable. But now I want to build a product
that's missing in my life".

Any advice for a younger folk with a similar career path as yours?

~~~
domgoulet
Yep, one: Do what you love. One day people will realize the value of what you
do and everything will flow as you wanted.

A big trigger for my career change was when I read Rework from DHH. I realized
that you can start small and build a product fit for a specific market - some
users will outgrow your product and that's okay. As for me, I build a product
I needed without really thinking if there was a product/market fit, it
eventually happened.

Feel free to reach me out on twitter or facebook!

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drinchev
Really cool story. I can also see myself in it. So far I'm just a freelancer
with some side projects that help me and my work, but ...

I've always imagined any success not as a "bright idea", but more or less
creating a tool by / for my needs.

~~~
domgoulet
Exactly what happened for me. I may be considered a turtle in the startup
race, but I'm very fine by it!

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acconrad
As someone who is also a seasoned Ruby engineer also looking to get into
freelancing (and then a business), I'd really love to learn more about your
personal journey - really inspiring!

~~~
domgoulet
Thanks, feel free to reach me via Twitter or Facebook if I can help you some
more! Have a great day!

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j45
Freelancing teaches many fundamental business skills (involving earning money,
market, and customers) that transfer great into being a founder. Great story,
and Canadian too!

~~~
domgoulet
Thanks! I'm from the ever-cold Quebec City ;-)

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j45
I'm out west but love Montreal.

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domgoulet
Ok cool! Quebec city is smaller than Montreal, but so lovely especially during
winter.

~~~
j45
I hear it's incredible in QC

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alexish
Congratulations ! I've met one of your co-worker recently in my hometown and
had a quick glimpse of the project itself. Looks really good, keep up the good
work !

~~~
domgoulet
Will do, thank you!

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hnhamdani
Cool stuff Dom, this is what I aspire in the future. Hopefully can stand on
both feet on my own when I'm ready. Success!

~~~
domgoulet
Thanks! Just do things your way and you'll get there for sure ;-)

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characterial
Good story, kept me entertained.

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domgoulet
I'm glad it did! What an entertaining year it was!

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tixocloud
Congratulations on your journey! It gives me a lot of inspiration.

~~~
domgoulet
Thank you! Making such a post reminded me about all the good moments that
balances for the hard ones. As you mentioned, this is a journey. You need to
constantly keep going!

~~~
tixocloud
I'm going through the same thing myself and was wondering if you have any
advice on when would you know is the right moment to transition?

~~~
domgoulet
I would be lying if I pretended that I know. In my case, it happened over
time. When I think back, I can clearly see the trigger, but did I knew at that
time it would change my path? Absolutely not. Would I change a single thing?
No.

