

I did it! I quit my day job! - zavulon

Hi all, long-time reader, occasional poster here. You may remember me as this guy: 
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=653655<p>Just wanted to let you know that in big part thanks to some ideas I've got here, my last day at Big Soul Sucking Corp. is next week, and then I'm jumping into my own business full time :))<p>I still don't have a hot billion dollar idea, but I've decided to open a software development company (don't want to self-promote, if you're interested, there's a link in my profile). I've got some clients already, been working on it 4-5 hours every day for the last 4 months, and now actually making enough money to survive without a day job (ramen-survive, but still).<p>I also started another business, it has nothing to do with computers/technology, but it is  bringing in an income stream too, and has potential to grow (international wholesale trading, if you're interested).<p>So, just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to everyone on this board, who provided an inspiration for me over the years to finally "make a leap". Thank you!
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jmonegro
Definitely ditch flash for your website, go to <http://www.themeforest.net> to
get an inexpensive head start.

Really happy for you over here, I imagine it must have been a hard decision.

~~~
jackowayed
I totally agree. I don't think the flash is doing that much for you anyway.

But if you refuse, at least put something else where flash-less people see. My
first impression of you was:

 _Alternate HTML content should be placed here.This content requires the Adobe
Flash Player.Get Flash_

which makes it look like you don't have the attention to detail to get rid of
a stock message like that (and proves to me you didn't write it yourself).

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vaksel
i don't think anyone here minds self promotion, so here is your site:

<http://www.loginaut.com>

~~~
r00k
A little honest feedback: your site was painfully slow to load (8+ seconds?).

If you weren't a HN'er I never would have stuck around and let it load.

~~~
liamk
It took me nearly a minute on a 10Mbit connection. So yah, I agree with the
above poster. Congratulations though!

~~~
zavulon
Thanks for the feedback on the site design, everyone! It's far from finished,
that was another reason I didn't want to link to it, but I should have been
more clear about that :)

With all the actual project work I've been doing, the site become almost an
afterthought... Which is not a good idea, I know. I will definitely rethink
the whole Flash concept and make it a lot faster. Thanks!

~~~
jhancock
My advice is to dump the site and replace it with a clean blog. If your as
busy as you need to be to survive, you'll never have time to maintain a custom
site like that. Don't let your site show off your skills, let your reference-
able portfolio do that job.

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jacquesm
Hey Zavulon,

Congratulations. Everybody has been criticizing your site already so I won't
add to that pile.

You've already clued in to one of the most important things in business, you
need more than one revenue stream, so kudos for you on that one.

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bugs
It is good that you quit doing something you hated just remember to not burn
yourself out working on your new projects that they become a new problem.

I guess what I mean is don't pour yourself completely into these two sources
of income remember to take outside interests in unrelated
fields/hobbies/entertainment so as to keep your experience diverse in order to
avoid quick burn out.

~~~
zavulon
Hear hear! After a few months of working 15-16 hours a day total, I'm going to
force myself to work 10 hours a day max, and focus on having a life in the
other time :)

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staunch
Congratulations. Any time you get lazy/bored just think back to your box...err
cube.

Don't forget to keep HN updated.

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pkc
Congratulations and Good Luck!! Just curios to know. Do you concentrate on
specific domains like web site development, or RoR or PHP etc., Or are you
planning to gain vertical expertise.

~~~
zavulon
My own expertise is RoR and Java. But, I've partnered up with some freelancer
friends whose skills sets are vastly different. Loginaut is a partnership of
independent devs and designers, the idea being that nobody has to pass up any
business - if you get offered a project that is completely different from what
you do, you still say "sure, I'll do it", and pass it on to others in
Loginaut, in exchange for a %.

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parka
Congrats and good luck! Wish I can do the same as well. I guess I still have a
few more months to go although technically speaking I'm also ramen-profitable.
Just that I'm lacking the idea to expand.

One piece of advice from someone who studies technology. Technology is all
about saving time and money. Answer all your questions to that perspective and
you will do well. And yeah, using a Flash site doesn't help people save (more)
time.

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psranga
Impressive! I was about to post "Quitting is the easy part" after reading the
title, but you've done much more than just quit your day job. Kudos.

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nearestneighbor
Does your company have a product that it maintains ownership of, or are you
basically a contractor / consultant?

~~~
zavulon
Contract/consultant for now. Eventually, I want to to introduce some products,
but at first, financial independence from Big Co. was my #1 goal.

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akamaka
Great to hear that things are working out for you.

What is your plan? Are you going to attempt to grow the consulting business to
full time?

~~~
zavulon
Well, the consulting business is full time already. I'm planning to grow it,
and eventually introduce some products, as well.

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growt
these symbolic raised hands you use in your design signal 'stop' or 'wait' to
me. Maybe change them to something more descriptive.

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rmdstudio
Congratulations and good luck on the new venture. Enjoy the process and stay
persistent!

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Wump
Congratulations! I just made the same leap myeslf.

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nuweborder
Congrats! Where are you located?

~~~
zavulon
NYC. Planning to be as location-independent as possible, though :)

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jordanbrown
Congrats! ditch the flash

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vyrotek
Congrats and Good Luck :)

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wicknicks
lol :) Glad to know the party's getting bigger! Best Wishes :)

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indranil
Congratulations! :D

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sganesh
Congragulations !!

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roschdal
Congragulations

