

I've become what I wasn't supposed to be - zinssmeister
https://medium.com/on-startups/b3cbf9a3a452

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colkassad
I started as a painter working for my father at 16. Sometimes I would take a
second job as a line cook as well. I loved computers since my first one (Atari
400) but I never thought anyone would ever pay me to work with them. At 27 I
couldn't take sandblasting fuel tanks and flipping burgers anymore.

I took a job as a data entry clerk for $6.50 an hour, worked my way up from
there while teaching myself to program (after ten years I only now feel
comfortable in my ability). I just finally finished a CS degree at 40. I see
so many people here accomplishing so much at so young an age. Please don't
take your skills and passion for granted.

------
adrianhoward
Career plan by age:

* <8: Astro|Cosmonaut (then I realised I wouldn't get in coz of health issues)

* 8-14: Physicist/Engineer (Science! It rocks! But the family got a computer when I was 12 and - shit - this programming crap is fun..)

* 14-19: Programmer (Wrote code that other people used. Wrote code that other people bought. This stuff is _still_ fun, but went to university at 18 - first one in my family to be able to so...)

* 19--25: Academia (Shit - universities are _fun_. Full of smart, driven folk. Graduated at 21 and hung around as an employee while I figured out what I'd do my PhD in...Started digging into cog psych & HCI stuff as well as development. Then I figured out that I wasn't actually driven enough to focus on one subject for 3 years... and that the UK academic arena was falling into a mess of short term contract driven work... and my contract came to an end.. so... off to industry)

* 25--29; CTO (Not that anybody called it CTO in those days. Joined one startup which crashed and burned. Second one didn't. Went from first "techie" employee to technical director in about four years. Then I was actually bright enough to realise I didn't really like / was-any-good-at managing people and that I didn't enjoy my job. So without waiting for shares to vest (still not sure whether this was a smart or a dumb move...) left to...)

* 29-34: Consultant (Started own company. Had some great clients. Did some good work. Got better at managing people. Had some bad clients. Made some dumb decisions. Crashed and burned with a stack of personal debt. [hire accountants folk - they're worth their money].. which in one of those joyful acts of fate butted up against...)

* 34-36 Carer (Family member became terminally ill and needed 24/7 care, so we kept him at home and out of hospice as long as possible)

* 36-40 Senior Dev/UX person (Back to being an employee again. One agency. Two startups. Debt killing time. Started deliberately raising my profile with speaking, community involvement, writing, etc. coz I knew I wanted to get back to...)

* 40--now Co-founder (Started company again. Making fewer and more interesting mistakes sprinkled among the odd smart decision. Bootstrapping some product ideas that we're funding with consulting work. Generally enjoying stuff...)

Next - who knows ;-)

(NOTE; If anybody still wants to let a fat 43 year old with no binocular depth
perception and subject to migraines & misc. other nonsense be an
astro|cosmonaut - please let me know ;-)

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jroseattle
I was on a path to becoming a professional golfer. I was a highly recruited
player coming out of high school, and had full-ride scholarship offers from
several schools.

Went to college, majored in accounting & finance. And played golf -- lots of
it. Played in national championships, competed abroad, surrounded by coaches
who fine-tuned my swing and improved my game. Played with many guys who have
been on the PGA tour at different points. I was on a path to the tour, as
well.

But it was unfulfilling, and I fell out of love with the sport. I took a job
in finance and investing at a small bank in 1991. Working my way up from the
bottom, I discovered a knack for technology by automating processes that had
been done by hand for years.

Never looked back.

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thisone
I started out at University studying astronautical engineering.

4 universities and 3 career changes later, I'm a relatively happy code monkey.
(are code monkies every totally happy?)

Things change. I'd say it's the very rare individual who gets through life on
Plan A (or Plan B for that matter)

~~~
eksith
I'm a _relatively_ happy codemonkey. I would have been happier as a carpenter,
but we gotta play with the hand we've been dealt until opportunity knocks (and
that may be plan E or F). I'm in the process of weaning myself away from the
codemonkey and back to carpenter (soon cabin builder, hopefully).

Life is funny sometimes.

~~~
FigBug
I started in construction as a steel worker. One life altering injury later I
retrained as a code monkey. Much happier, wish I did it first, I always was
interested in computers.

~~~
eksith
What can I say... grass is always greener eh?

It sucks that you were injured, but maybe -- and hopefully -- it's added to
your life experience in a positive way. For better or for worse, you are who
you are because of your experiences. Good and bad.

------
ckarmann
I have a PhD in Physics. 8 university years to eventually discover that I am
not that interested in research for a living (and not that good at it), even
though my speciality was great (Astrophysics). Ten years later, I'm a senior
programmer with very interesting things to build, and passion doesn't fade.

I don't regret having done all that Physics (it was freaking Astrophysics,
dude!), but I know I would have been miserable after a while, not doing what I
was really good at.

~~~
kaybe
How did that happen? (similar situation, earlier in the game)

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kiba
I want to make video games so bad that I eventually learned programming.
Programming is fun, but it's nothing like the passion that motivate people to
stay up all night and day and code until they drop.

However, my ability to program is the only thing that I am good at and had
earned me money so far. Plus, I like it, even if I can't do 16 hours coding
marathon.

~~~
zinssmeister
wanting to make my own video games was probably a big motivator for me as
well.

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sdepablos
I still remember how much did I ask for a computer until I finally get one at
the age of 12, a 8086 IBM PS2!

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mindcruzer
I started coding in grade 9, but I went to university for medical science, got
good grades, did some research, and intended to go to medical school. But, the
closer I got to graduation, more and more I started to realize there was no
way I was ever going back to school--I just wanted to code and make things. No
regrets.

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exodust
I like the picture. Anyone know what town that is? I wonder if all those trees
are private land or state forest. I think everyone should have a picture of
themselves looking at the town they grew up in, especially if the town has a
picturesque view!

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bencxr
Thanks for that. I'm still working in a "dotcom". Soon, I hope to be working
with the likes of you. Could you go a little more into your transition from
match.com to yc-startup, the sacrifices and challenges along your way?

~~~
zinssmeister
that might make another blog post. Or if you have any specific questions, you
can email me any time.

