
Ask HN: FAANG to Founder - throwaway-22449
Hi HN! I&#x27;d like to get some perspective from the community here.<p>I&#x27;m currently working at a FAANG company making a very comfortable income (500k+ total) with good work life balance and I think good career prospects. I&#x27;ve wanted to do a startup since 10+ years ago, but have not done it for various reasons. Now I have enough financial cushion that I don&#x27;t have to worry about money for a while and it feels like the right time to take the leap.<p>The problem is now I&#x27;m not sure if I want to. Maybe it&#x27;s getting comfortable in a cushy job that pays well. Maybe it&#x27;s me getting older and less ambitious. Or I just had a fanciful view of what startup life was like earlier on. Realizing that startup life is going to be a lot of work and stress and if all goes well a long slog, is making me doubt myself.<p>For those of you that have gone from a high paying tech job to startup founder, what made you do it? Do you regret making the leap?
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sharemywin
You might want to talk to a lawyer about a non-compete.

[https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-sues-former-aws-
marketi...](https://www.geekwire.com/2020/amazon-sues-former-aws-marketing-vp-
brian-hall-accepts-google-cloud-job/)

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throwaway-22449
Fortunately I'm in CA where non-competes aren't enforceable.

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sharemywin
To me startups/new businesses are all or nothing propositions. You either
commit it all or you'll have doubts.

So, now do you have an idea that's worth risking everything you have on?

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throwaway-22449
I have a idea I believe in (but of course startups are risky) and have some
angel investors with interest, but discussions haven't gone very far yet.

The risk, at least financially I think is pretty minimal. The initial cost
wouldn't be very high and I'd get some investors before proceeding too far
into it.

The cost is mostly time / opportunity cost and life style I think.

