

No Clear Exit - ltrain1203

Let me begin by saying that I have been actively reading and sourcing Y Combinator for the last year and am extremely grateful for the community. The articles and information are thought provoking and inspirational. That said, I am not a programmer and thus have never posted.<p>However, I find myself "stuck" and wanted to get some feedback from the group. I have been in the financial services industry for the last twenty years and need to transition out of it and into something that would link my passion to my profession. However, unlike most of you here, I don't necessarily know what that might be. I have taken two non-paid "sabbaticals", if that's what you call getting laid-off and choosing to not continue in your profession but instead take the time to explore other options, however, none of the other options provided a legitimate means of making a stable income that would provide a true transition out of my current field.<p>I have twice before started partnerships, however, most of my newer ideas would require some tech experience of which I have none. I have though of perhaps doing some part-time work for others as a means of starting to move to another field, however, with a regular full-time job it's difficult. Thoughts of possible part-time or remote working with my current employer are for naught as I work in a very old and established industry that does not support remote or part-time hours.<p>So, I find myself here typing away at a Starbucks at 10PM looking for wisdom and inspiration from others who may have found themselves in this same situation and found a way to transition successfully to a new occupation that more aligns their passion to a profession.<p>Thanks again for providing a forum where I can post!<p>Have a good day.
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noonespecial
_I have twice before started partnerships, however, most of my newer ideas
would require some tech experience of which I have none._

Get some. Its not as daunting as it seems at first. It will go a huge distance
in convincing others that you're serious. Even the poorest half-working demo
is far more than most people start with.

With no tech at all, it all too often sounds like you're just looking for a
partner to do all the work while you "think big thoughts". (Not saying that
this is you or anything, its just that most of the tech-inclined types around
here have been on that train once or twice.)

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ltrain1203
Thank you very much for your insight. Completely understood and I am more than
willing to educate myself. I have looked into learning Ruby on Rails and have
also considered taking the CS classes offered by Stanford online. If you could
provide some guidance regarding where you would advise starting that would be
greatly appreciated.

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nesbot
If you are following hacker news you probably have seen the code academy ...
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2914854>

Depending on your level, might be interesting for you.

~~~
ltrain1203
nesbot, thank you very much for the link and advice I am pursuing already!

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CyberFonic
Becoming technically competent can be a long hard road. So let's look at it
another way. You have 20 years experience in finance. Could you elaborate
exactly what your expertise is in? Startups need a diversity of skills to
succeed. You seem to be saying that you don't know what your passion is. Does
that mean that you'd rather be working with great ideas people? Or do you want
to be the Big Cheese?

