

Ask HN: What to do if you are not Heads Down? - throwaway_11

Over the last decade I have been writing code, and have been pretty good at collecting a pay check as an engineer, or engineering consultant.<p>However I have been noticing that maybe not matter how much I am able to do something maybe it's not what I am best at, or maybe what I am best at is changing.<p>When I was young I was easily 'filled up' sitting down stairs in a basement hacking away at code or fixing a computer or maybe breaking one would be more correct.  Today, however, I don't feel like that's me anymore.<p>I also used to do very well in school, both engineering school and in art school.  I was top of my class in design and once I made the switch to computer engineering I was at the top of my class and often times challenged the teachers in class and won.<p>This all circles back to how I have changed and how I am not sure I want to be an engineer any more.<p>I want to do something where I have more of a say around the product, it's design and how it's marketed.  Maybe that means I have to be a founder, but maybe there is a role I could move into to be happy, and learn something new in the process.<p>Have any of you made the shift out of engineering into another role that made you happy?  How do you do it?  I have tried to get product jobs before, but they usually want someone with that experience on their resume.<p>I have had a few people recommend me for evangelist roles, but I am not sure that would feed my hunger to create great projects.<p>what advice can you give?  for someone that wants to contribute more to a product than just with lines of code?
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baremetal
Sounds like you should be a founder. I found myself in a similar position a
couple of years back, and yes becoming a founder did make me more happy and
fulfilled.

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throwaway_11
The current company I am at now has been having revenue issues, so I started
lining up meetings with executives. The CEO seemed happy with it, but today I
ended up missed a rough timeline, and the CTO came down on me. ( operationally
not important code )

I know I could bunker in and get the code done quick, but I feel like the
company is now just trying to leverage my connections long enough to make a
sale or a pivot and not reward me for it anyways.

I am just sick of being an employee. I guess if my luck was better earlier on,
or if i was a better sales closer maybe one of the startups i was working on
would still be here.

On the upside i have meet so many great people while working at all of these
companies. If i could figure out how to raise money this time i bet i could
build a kick ass team and product.

I have a product and a pitch, but i don't know anyone who can afford to quite
their job right now to be a co-founder.

Can you pitch alone. Otherwise I need to keep working on it on the side.

