
Ask HN: A 31yr old's dilemma - process-exit
Hi HN,
First, some background. I&#x27;m 31, technical, and working at a Prestigious Tech Company (PTC). Live in NYC. An engineer most of my career, and in the last few years, some BD too. I&#x27;ve started companies before : once when I was 24 (solo) and once when I was 27 (cofounder). Both profitable, and the latter growing fast w&#x2F; a recently closed series B. I left that company very early because of a life tragedy, but have regretted it ever since.<p>Last ~4 years at Prestigious Tech Company (PTC) have been mixed. Great to have stability, to travel and to work with smart people. But near impossible to get truly motivated.<p>For much of the past year I&#x27;ve been quietly building, and have a new MVP that I have very strong conviction in. Felt motivated again. Believe the business is decently validated via talking to and onboarding some early users.<p>I&#x27;d like to raise some funding and run with this, BUT:<p>a) PTC may IPO in ~2020 which makes staying almost certainly the safer financial decision.<p>b) The &#x27;society&#x27; at PTC is awesome. Having a place to go &#x2F; big group of smart and ethical people to hang out with. I recall some of the loneliness&#x2F;unhappiness of my first solo business.<p>c) Most importantly: I don&#x27;t have a non-technical cofounder. I&#x27;m under-networked. Used to see that as a positive attribute (ha) - now it&#x27;s just frustrating. Despite being mildly tech-twitter-famous I don&#x27;t have many real connections w&#x2F; cofounder types in my life. Worried that when it comes to raise my inability to have attracted a cofounder will be a negative signal. Founding with a relative stranger may also be a relatively negative signal &#x2F; bad idea.<p>HN: What would you do in my shoes? Is my failure to have built this network over the years a sign that I shouldn&#x27;t pursue this? At 31, am I past-the-post to some extent?<p>PS: Since I&#x27;m seeking a cofounder - if you&#x27;d like to learn more, please reach me at fathomsdeep@protonmail.com
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outericky
31 is still very young. We started at 36 and that was still young. Plenty of
time.

That said, if it's truly 2020, then i'd say wait for the IPO. Some financial
security will make it much easier to jump and do your thing later. If money
isn't a concern now, then go for it.

Counter point, the market is looking to become more unstable and there is a
good chance 2020 IPO won't happen, so raising funding now might be your best
and get after your own thing.

Hopefully you've vested something at PTC so you have something to gain in the
IPO.

~~~
process-exit
Thanks and I appreciate the balanced view there. Congrats on launching
something at 36 as well!

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mindcrime
_At 31, am I past-the-post to some extent?_

ROFLMFAO. No, you have barely even made it to the starting line. Do whatever
you think best, but don't use age as an excuse one way or the other. You're
not too old, you're not too young, you're just you.

Wherever you are, start there.

Regarding the PTC and the IPO... ask yourself how confident you are that they
are _really_ going to IPO. It's not unheard of for companies to use the carrot
of a pending IPO - that somehow, mysteriously, is always "just a few more
months" away - to keep employees from jumping ship. This works right up to the
point that they admit they're broke and lay everybody off...

And even if the IPO happens in 2020, make sure you understand just how much
you stand to benefit. Of course you can't predict exactly what price the stock
would open at, but you can probably use historical data to get a ballpark
idea. Figure out how much stock you own, or have options on, how much
purchasing any options would cost, etc., and see if there are weird provisions
around vesting / selling your stock, that would lock you in there for X more
years, etc., etc. All of that should factor in to deciding if staying at PTC
is really in your best interest or not.

~~~
process-exit
Thank you!

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emddudley
Only on HN...

Can I be honest with you? This reads like a humble brag. You're already very
successful.

No one here can make this decision for you. You sound like a capable person
that is over thinking things. Assess your risk tolerance and trust your gut.

~~~
process-exit
I can see how I've given you that impression, but why would I create an
anonymous throw-away account to humbly brag?

If there's any ulterior motive here, it's cofounder sourcing.

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epc
Go to NYTM and maybe other meetups in your "space"…there's always people
looking to get in on the ground floor on something. See if you can found a
company while working for PTC without compromising your job/equity in PTC
(hire one or more kids to do the day to day grunt work operating your MVP).

~~~
process-exit
That's a great idea.

