

Thanks HN: Goodbye, Golden Handcuffs - jriley

I'm a YC '08 Reject underwhelmed by my safe, boring corporate gig.  Regular scans of HN remind me of the excellent things happening elsewhere.  I was particularly struck by the theory that the best example you can set for your kids (0 so far) is to pursue your dreams, not an income.<p>I quit today, bought the supportive girlfriend a ring, and will start January 2011 as my own boss.  I'm giving myself six months to bootstrap.  Thought you should be the first to know.<p>Let the fun begin.
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patio11
Congratulations on making the most important decision of your life and,
secondarily, on opening the business. Words cannot express how much better
self-employment is than what I used to do for a living.

~~~
StavrosK
Well, it's only good if it's making you money...

~~~
jasonkester
Not necessarily. Neither of the sites that have done the most for my quality
of life have ever brought in much in the way of direct income. They have,
however, put me out there as a guy who's capable of building products like
that, which have led to some really good consulting gigs, thus allowing me to
keep traveling the world and doing my thing from a laptop.

So even though it was _years_ before I hit on the first product that generated
significant income on its own, there was still a net benefit from having put
out my shingle right from the start.

~~~
rick_2047
_They have, however, put me out there as a guy who's capable of building
products like that, which have led to some really good consulting gigs, thus
allowing me to keep traveling the world and doing my thing from a laptop._

So indirectly _it's only good if it's making you money..._

:)

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suhail
jriley: Email me suhail@mixpanel.com -- You just got free Mixpanel, good luck
when you launch we're here to help.

~~~
DanielN
This is some of the best and most simplistic advertising and pr I've seen in a
while. I've heard of mix panel probably 50 times but this was the first time I
clicked through your website to see what you guys are all about.

Nice product by the way.

~~~
bueller
ha me too

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staunch
> _Thought you should be the first to know._

Good and good luck. Now please tell your fiancée!

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toast76
If I have two pieces of advice I can share,

1\. Pick up some contract work - you can easily turn 6 mths into 12 mths, and
then 2 years, then 3...no matter how many projects fail to get off the ground,
if you have a bit of side income, it'll help in the long run.

2\. Don't ever forget why you quit - if that is to "pursue your dreams, not an
income". Write it on a wall above your monitors and don't ever forget it.

EDIT: Oh, and good luck! :)

~~~
gommm
Be careful with contract work though, it's very easy to fall into the trap of
taking on too much and pushing back your own project...

Contract work can be worse golden handcuffs than a job in corporate

~~~
jacquesm
It beats personal bankruptcy hands down though.

------
dstein

      Once you have mastered time, you will understand how
      true it is that most people overestimate what they can
      accomplish in a year - and underestimate what they can
      achieve in a decade.
    
      -Tony Robbins

~~~
dmoney
How do you master time?

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jeromec
_Let the [work] begin._

FTFY I hope you're prepared to work at least five times harder than you did at
your safe job, and for little to no guaranteed reward. Actually, if you're
only giving yourself six months, make that ten times harder. I would say good
luck, but considering around 90% of startups fail, work hard, be persistent
and expect difficulty, seems more helpful to say. The success stories
appearing on HN can give a skewed impression on how hard it is to succeed.
Congratulations, though, for bucking a potential path of regrets.

Edit: A bit more advice is release early, and often. The trick is finding the
balance between minimum viability and having enough value for traction.
Iterating on an idea is almost always necessary, so be on the lookout for how
that can help and possibly even save your endeavor. A six month deadline to
succeed means you're really going to be up against it.

~~~
rewind
The comments and/or advice you're giving (and the tone you're using) are the
type of things you say to someone before they decide to make the jump if you
want them to think long and hard before making a tough decision. When you say
it like this to someone who is announcing that his decision is made, you just
sound condescending. It doesn't help that you throw in a bunch of advice when
you don't even know who he is, what his company/product is about, or what his
plan is.

~~~
jeromec
I don't mean to sound condescending. I can't help the timing of the decision,
either. I'm also guessing he's read HN enough to have more than my comments to
weigh for various perceptions of a startup. To my knowledge the failure rate
of startups is around 90% (not my doing). In light of that, I felt the best
thing I could do if I wanted to truly help, which I do, is try and foster a
tough, ready for battle mental mindset. His announcement seemed a bit cheery
and optimistic, and I wanted to suggest that, realistically, the road to
startup success is not usually a cakewalk. HN is largely a startup community,
so I figured others might find value in my comments as well, and if such
comments harm his enthusiasm, and are more destructive than constructive then,
IMO, he's quite likely to end up in the 90%.

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jey
Relevant: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwG_qR6XmDQ>

Rumor is that the "boss" was actually David E. Shaw himself.

~~~
hasenj
I already regret not learning serious hacking in high school and university.

I got lots of A's (and B's), mind you, and I did work on projects of my own
and everything, but I really saw it as just a hobby. I was always on windows,
mostly dependent an IDEs, and I always thought I gotta be doing something more
serious, like _gasp_ oil and gas.

Good thing I'm still 25.

But I really feel like I should've started thinking about doing a startup when
I was 18 or 20.

~~~
gregpilling
I am 41 with a product to be launched soon. It is never too late.

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sreitshamer
You might need a lot more than 6 months. But, like my wife always tells me,
you don't fail as an entrepreneur until you quit. And the ride is sure worth
it. Life is short.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
>you don't fail as an entrepreneur until you quit.

I'm not experienced in it, but I imagine that one can fail as an entrepreneur
_because_ you didn't quit.

Flogging dead horses and all.

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arianb
It'll be a tough and long road, but if you're really set on it, you'll be
happier than ever. Good luck, man.

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kj12345
Good luck! One odd piece of advice I have is to recommend limiting the amount
of startup advice you read online. It's too generic now that you've committed.
Focus on what you're creating, not on making your venture look like the
internet's current concept of "startup". Look, for example, at the popular
phrase "Minimum Viable Product". You'll find a lot of excitement around the
"minimum" part, but the "viable" part matters also and is fully dependent on
what you're doing. There are many things that are unique about individual
businesses, but generic online advice by necessity exaggerates the shared
aspects.

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seejay
Dear fellow HNer,

This is to help you when you visit this page again in a difficult time...

Shit happens... thats completely normal. Awesome things will definitely come
your way. You only gotta do one simple thing...

Keep swinging!.. Don't ever give up!

Tattoo this on the back of your hand if you want... it's totally worth the
trouble.

With the very best of luck,

SeeJay

PS: And thank me on that day when you read this post again with joy... Oh just
for the record, No! I don't have it tattooed on the back of my hand... I make
sure I have it on my mind instead. ;-)

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dorkitude
Congrats :)

If you're in SF, let me know

We have a sweet co-working space for hackers with all of the three C's:
coffee, camaraderie, and a fast connection

~~~
jriley
Appreciate it. I'm actually in Austin though, and eager to meet some like-
minded folks. I'll be checking out the local bootstrap chapter to start.

~~~
codypo
I can speak from experience when I say that Austin's entrepreneurial community
is welcoming, supportive, and full of very sharp folks. You should definitely
check out the Lean Startup group (<http://www.meetup.com/Austin-Lean-Startup-
Circle/>). Our next meetup is a joint holiday mixer with a lot of other Austin
groups (like Austin on Rails), and it promises to be a great way to meet a ton
of folks.

Also, I'm not sure if you're looking for a workspace with a lot of people in
the same position, but we've really benefited from participation in the Austin
Technology Incubator.

Edit: why do I say folks so much?

~~~
jacoblyles
How big is the Austin startup community? Austin seems like a hell of a lot
nicer place to live than the Bay Area, but I'm afraid I'd miss the incredible
magnitude of the support available to startups here.

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kaffeinecoma
What are you planning to work on?

~~~
jriley
The original project exists in working order and my partners agreed to let me
buy their share. I'll be building out v2 as we designed. We all took 2 weeks
off in 2007 to build it, launched it, and hardly ever touched it again. v2
carries it to iPhone, iPad and starts marketing it.

If I have ambition after that I've got a few quick ideas (a short e-book on an
area I've developed expertise, an obscure niche how-to site, fixing up my
rental property, etc).

~~~
tapiwa
Well, good luck.

Do not necessarily do one project at a time though. Keep a list of things you
want to work on. Whenever you find yourself needing to take a break from the
main project, chip away at one of the secondary projects.

You might be surprised to find the idea you deem least important actually
giving you the biggest payoff.

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marcamillion
Firstly...let me say...Congrats.

Secondly, brilliant that you made sure to lock in the girlfriend at the
beginning of the journey, not after you started when she realizes what a crazy
person you are - and how crappy the emotional roller coaster will be. :)

Thirdly, I wish you all the best. I would recommend that you quickly setup a
landing page to ride the support you are getting from the community -
collecting emails from people interested in what you are doing. You have to
take advantage of all of these opportunities right now, because you officially
have a clock strapped to your back (i.e. before you run out of money). So
leverage every opportunity to the most you can. On the landing page, put
something about the project that people can figure out if they would be
interested or not.

Fourthly, definitely keep us posted - even those that might not be interested
in your product, will be inspired by your story.

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skbach
6 mos ain't enough, but otherwise, great idea.

~~~
Xuzz
Then again, no matter how much time you give yourself, you will find a way to
fill it up. Maybe an unrealistic goal is for the best: it might increase
productivity, even if it slips.

~~~
mtholking
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_Law>

~~~
Xuzz
Thanks. I forgot the name when posting this.

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efsavage
"the best example you can set for your kids ... is to pursue your dreams, not
an income"

My father did this, in several ways, and failed massively at all of them, and
yet for reasons I can't really articulate I 100% agree with this.

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csomar
I still a student but I'm building my small Internet Empire, so that I don't
need to apply for a job when I finish studies (or better, don't think about
it). I completed around 35% of my studies and yet, this month, made (around
$400) what an Engineer would make in my area.

I'm enthusiastic about the future, especially the next month, when I'll
release my Wordpress Premium plugin (and estimate $1K in sales in one month).

Even if you have a nice job, make sure you always have an alternative, in case
of... you don't get sucked, by anyone.

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PStamatiou
jriley: Email me paul@notifo.com Would love to intro you to someone you should
meet in Austin.

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gshannon
This is the best thing you will ever do.

You will look back at this moment and realize it is the defining moment in
your life.

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danielson
_Godspeed!_

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eande
When I kicked off my startup in Jan 2010 I thought in 6 months the bootstrap
period will come to an end. Now 12 months into it and still some more time
needed. My advice check on the six month bootstrap timing you plan, might be a
little short.

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checoivan
Glad to hear this kind of stuff. Your words encourage me to do the exact same
thing.

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ncarroll
Congratulations, jriley on not one, but two monumental decisions. The ring for
your girlfriend should turn out to be a contribution to your success equal to
your decision to leave your job. Good luck to you both!

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whiletruefork
I just did the same thing, albeit - I only gave myself 6 weeks to make
acceptable progress on something (anything) before I start working full time
again. It's my mental safeguard against procrastination.

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narsimham
this is a great way to go.

i left my job with no savings and intending to do the same thing, because i
was just not happy with my position at my new employer.

within three months i was completely broke, but with a github account with
hundreds of commits.. and then my old boss from my second-to-last job called,
and offered me job back, at a huge raise, and allowing me to work remotely,
and pursue my own codebase/startup dream on the side.

quitting for the right reasons can have wonderful side benefits. :)

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raghava
Wonderful! Wish you a ton of good luck!

    
    
      >>underwhelmed by my safe, boring corporate gig
      I know how it feels! :( And am yet to break those handcuffs.

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rrrhys
Best of luck, very envious over here!

Do you have a blog?

~~~
jriley
Thanks, no blog yet. Plan to start and post as I learn (Austin places to
work/meet, local grants and SBA loans, best library for tech books, etc).

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noelchurchill
Your account is less than an hour old. Did you create a new one since applying
to YC in 08?

~~~
jriley
Yes, just created this account. I never posted on the old account, just read.

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nerd_in_rage
how much cash do you have in savings? i'm thinking of doing the same thing.

~~~
jriley
Living Fat = 3 months, Living Lean = 12+ months. I'll use my 401k but not Roth
IRA. Also have some equity/cashflow from a duplex that helps. FWIW, I woke up
this morning feeling great on 4 hrs sleep and not worried about money at all -
the prior six months mornings were filled with worry and dread.

~~~
volandovengo
Good for you man, I did the same about a month ago. Amazing how hard I found
getting rid of the golden handcuffs.

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keeptrying
Congrats! Reread pg's essays on how to startup etc ... As u read them this
time around, the words will prtain to your immediate situation and will help
unwhen things look bleak.

Best of luck.

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middlegeek
Good deal, I am happy for you! Get some stuff done.

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tomrod
Best of luck! If things look grim, don't give in.

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gawker
Good luck and do let us know how it goes!!

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d8niel
You only live once!

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donaq
Good luck!

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Semiapies
Good luck!

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doublez
+1

~~~
Semiapies
You took a few downvotes from a faux pas; don't worry about it, but keep in
mind that here, we just upvote the original post for a direct "+1".

