

Side business is growing - when do you quit your day job? - CubeGuy
http://www.examiner.com/x-3040-Life-in-the-Cubicle-Examiner~y2009m7d12-Dear-Dudley-Should-I-quit-my-day-job-after-starting-my-own-business

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ori_b
Good advice - Burn all the bridges you can, and then go off to work on a
project that has a mediocre chance of success.

Sorry, but if you follow the advice in this article, you are an asshole.

~~~
nixme
Folks, this is supposed to be satire. Everyone's taking this advice seriously
again. See my previous comment from an earlier Dudely article:
<http://news.ycombinator.org/item?id=671618>

This is equivalent to getting worked up over an Onion story.

~~~
wyday
Satire is supposed to have wit. Plus, the "angry slacker" humor has been done
many times (and better in every instance). This guy's writing is like a much
less funny photocopy of Maddox.

I can see tripe like this being on Digg, but why is this on hacker news?

~~~
nixme
Oh, I totally agree. Ignore it or flag it if you don't think it should be
here, but don't comment on it as if it's serious.

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Kirby
Terrible advice!

Also, if your side-job is at _all_ related to your main job, be very careful,
and lean towards quitting sooner rather than later. Talk to a lawyer to make
sure you'll actually own your side-work and get your documents in order.

Figure out a realistic assessment on how cheap you can actually live. This
will be different for different folks. Examine your savings. See if you can
get some Angel Investments (know any rich people you can convince that your
idea is good?) This analysis will tell you how long you have until you need to
find another job for someone else and give up. I'd be scared if this number
came up as less than a year.

If it is a money-making idea, and you can get some angel money (or VC, or have
a nice nest-egg), don't hesitate to hire people with the skills you don't.
Particularly sales, marketing, and CEO. Geeks think we can fake these, and
I've faked sales better than a salesman can fake code, but it was a mistake.

If you can do the math, see that you've given yourself enough time to develop
a product and give it a chance in the marketplace, can hire the key personnel
and afford them, have an actual business plan - go for it! Especially if
you're under 30. The downside to a failed startup is actually rather small,
and I've found people like it that I've founded a company on my resume, even
if it didn't succeed. And if you create something people will actually pay
for, hey, congrats!

------
euroclydon
Flagged: This guy just advocates lying and underhanded practices in his
column. I think it's just blog-trolling.

If it's supposed to be funny, I find the humor very elusive.

Here is another post from a couple of weeks ago:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=678861>

~~~
CubeGuy
Flagged because you lack similar sense of humor? Wasn't aware that was a
reason to flag.

<http://twitter.com/360JobInterview> <http://twitter.com/truebusiness>

Those two organizations who are serious businesses seem to have no problem
finding the humor.

~~~
euroclydon
Oh, so it is humor! Most everybody here just thinks it is terrible advice.
I'll remove the flag.

------
edw519
"We sit in miserable offices where we are under appreciated, our skills are
misused or ignored, and our passion for life deteriorates quickly. Why?
Because we are risk-averse people that need to be assured we have the money to
pay for our monthly bills. In return, our souls are sucked."

How can an article that cuts to the essence so well give such bad advice. I
have tried all 4 strategies and they don't work.

"1. Stop caring."

Bad idea for anything. I _have_ to care about what I spend time on. That's
probably what makes me want to do my startup in the first place. Not caring
about work is contagious. Next thing you know, you won't care about anything.

"2. Build up vacation."

This takes too long. Even if you only have 1 or 2 weeks to "plunge" into your
startup, you never get enough done. Vacation should be for vacation, not your
startup.

"3. Make a suggestion that HR should implement temporary paid leave for
employees."

This is just stupid. If I'm not getting paid, why would I want to do this.
Just quit and get another job later if you have to.

"4. Try to get laid off."

This is the same as #1 and just as stupid. Even if it works, $200 per week !=
$1000 per week.

My best strategy: Code every day. 5 minutes, 6 hours, doesn't matter. Just
keep the damn thing moving forward every day until it's time to quit, then
quit. It's worked for me before. It'll work again.

~~~
Retric
I don't know about your state but in Virgina uemployment caps at 378$ a week.
Legaly you are not allowed to work. Still, that can go a long way and you can
move to a cheeper cost of living area.

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kaiserama
Maybe the author himself has a side business that's becoming successful and is
thus following his 4th rule ;)

~~~
CubeGuy
Bingo bango.

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Edinburger
"3. Make a suggestion that HR should implement temporary paid leave for
employees."

Enlightened companies may allow you to take unpaid leave for a few months.
Yes, you'll need some savings to get through the period but at least you
(hopefully) will have a job at the end of the period if it isn't working out.

------
itodd
I'm in this very same position. I'm taking another approach. I plan to propose
that I go from employee to contractor. I was disappointed this option wasn't
discussed, but not surprised. It's risky, yes. But it's a lot better than
being an asshole.

