

Ask HN: 9to5/Consulting/Startup, where are/were you most happy? - alt

I realize that HN is the place for startups and living the dream.  Sometimes it's not a happy dream, so I ask, "Where were you most happy?"
======
damoncali
I've done all three. Working for the man is the easiest and most soul-
crushing. Shaking the idea that you are wasting your life away is not easy -
because you are.

Working on a startup is the most difficult, and the most draining. It requires
some personal sacrifices that have negative side effects, even if you don't
buy into the "work 100 hour weeks" BS. Emotionally, it's draining.
Financially, it sucks - until it doesn't (if you ever get that far). Once
investors step in, the stress ratchets up and things just generally become a
pain in the ass. On the plus side, you're living it - making something from
nothing in an all-out effort. To bad "living it" gets pretty old after a while
(and it takes more than a while to get something good going).

Consulting is a great balance for me. I work on my own stuff a lot, meet great
people, do interesting things and generally live a low stress life.
Financially, it's ok. I'm not getting rich, but it's better than startup pay
(.i.e. zero). The one drawback is the nagging thought that your side project
could be a "real startup" if you just put more effort into it and got some
other people involved...

So basically, pick your poison. There's a flavor for everyone.

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patio11
Let's see: 6 years in 9to5, 4 years in small business, 5 months in consulting
(and these overlap). I really enjoy consulting for the intellectual challenge,
and the money is lovely, but hands down working on my products makes me
happiest. The quality of life improvement versus 9to5 (or, ahem, 10to27) is
impossible to overstate.

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lee
I haven't worked full time on my owns startup before. But I have worked at 3
different startups in the period of 3 years as an employee before landing a
cushy job in a big corporation.

Working at the startup before having my first child: not too bad, sometimes
stressful, but I could handle it well. The work was always engaging, and it
was hard to separate work from life.

Working at startup post-child: stressful, because now having a kid means I
can't put in long hours at work as my family needs me at home. I would much
rather forget about work and focus on the needs of my family when 5 PM rolls
by. I was more susceptible to burn out once I started my family + working at a
startup.

Big Corp: lack of stress, nice compensation + benefits = happiest workplace.
The slower pace does not drive me crazy, and instead it gives me a chance to
indulge in my technical curiosities.

For now, I'm enjoying my big corp employment. It's only been 3 months so far,
and I realize that may change if I have to deal with more corporate BS, but
it's the most enjoyable workplace I've been at so far.

The catch here is that my team here is top notch, and the section I'm in is
very engineering/hacker oriented.

~~~
umjames
Out of curiosity, is the big corporation a software, or at least technical,
corporation, or are you working in an IT department in a non-technical
corporation?

~~~
lee
Yep, it is a technical corporation. Mostly dealing with aerospace software.

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thibaut_barrere
I've never been so happy as I'm today :)

I'm currently doing consulting and bootstrapping projects with my wife as co-
founder, living in the country-side of france in a cheap place, with our son.

Startup are really not my dream actually: I worked for one in my early days.
9to5 jobs really appear "cluttered" to me (ie: lot of time wasted on low value
stuff, where you could really benefit from that time with family or hobbies).

~~~
wlievens
> with my wife as co-founder, living in the country-side of france in a cheap
> place, with our son

That alone sounds like a dream. Where in France are you living?

~~~
thibaut_barrere
Replying a bit late: we're in Tesson, a village near Saintes.

[http://maps.google.fr/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=fr&...](http://maps.google.fr/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=fr&geocode=&q=tesson&sll=46.800059,1.73584&sspn=12.156245,28.322754&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Tesson,+Charente-
Maritime,+Poitou-
Charentes&ll=45.632666,-0.652888&spn=6.207754,14.161377&t=h&z=7)

------
jlongster
I have been consulting for the past 6 months and the transition from the 9-5
job to this has been horrible. It has taken a while to get some good projects
and I have almost run out of money (I've had several sleepless nights over
these months), but I'm starting to see the rewards. I'm starting to get some
pretty high paying jobs and I totally work for myself from home/coffee shops.

I have a love/hate relationship with contracting. I love the actual work and
the dynamics involved, but I hate not having a monthly fixed budget and always
having to fight for high-paying projects. A lot of business/administration is
taking up my time which I could by spending on my own projects.

I think I'm most happy at a small company which is just emerging from the
startup phase. I like flexible hours, working from home sometimes, dynamic and
intense environment, a salary, an office to go to, etc. Best of both worlds I
guess.

------
erikstarck
I've worked for 11-12 years in startups, as a consultant (both freelance and
employed by bigger firms) and in 9-to-5s building products for the man.

They all have ups and downs but if there's any one conclusion to draw from my
experience it's that the most important thing to make you happy is the people
you work with day to day.

The second thing is having a life outside work.

The third would be a job that makes meaning.

Adding it together I would think that starting a small consultancy business
together with people I know I enjoy working with would be the optimal
scenario.

Why not a product based startup? A startup has to consume almost all your
mental energy. It's much more uncertain, more stress. Sure, the highs are
higher, but the lows are also much lower.

------
jaddison
9-5: people are happy here because there very little pressure (in a typical
job) - if you think there's pressure, then you haven't been in the initial
stages of consulting or worse, in bootstrapping your startup for the first
time.

Consulting: once you get out of the mindset of feeling you always need steady
income (getting sporadic client payments, having to follow up with clients,
etc), this is actually pretty comfortable. You have a lot of freedom to define
your life's activities. Just be sure to charge appropriately and know what you
need to live on.

Startups: _starting_ a startup is very different than just working in one;
working as an employee (even with equity) in a startup may seem hectic at
times, but in the end, everything isn't sitting on your shoulders when all is
said and done. Being a founder has the additional burdens of a business -
including dealing with incompatible partners/founders. Its easy to walk away
when you're an employee - harder when you're a founder.

I've done all three (any two of the above at the same time) and can say that I
would be happiest in a functional startup (rather than dysfunctional!) - just
be sure to choose your partners well. I'm reasonably happy doing consulting
work at the moment, but I don't feel particularly challenged, which is why I'm
looking to dive back into the world of startups again.

------
edw519
My experience:

    
    
                    |  % of time   |  % of time   | % of time
          mode      |  working on  | cleaning up  | wasted on
                    | my own stuff | others' crap | other B.S.
      --------------+--------------+--------------+------------              
      a. 9 to 5     |      10      |      40      |     50     
      b. consulting |      30      |      40      |     30
      c. start-up   |     100      |       0      |      0    
      

The winner: c.

~~~
jackowayed
From what I hear there's a lot of BS to deal with when you run a startup. You
have to run the business, so there's accounting stuff to deal with and such.
There's support. Eventually there's raising money and hiring people, both of
which often take way longer than they should and are frustrating, but they're
both very important.

Sure, it may not feel as unproductive as sitting in meetings all day and not
accomplishing anything, but it's still time that you're doing annoying tasks
instead of hacking.

~~~
omarish
it's not really BS because it's _your_ BS. I think the issue is motivation.

~~~
bmelton
Depends on what the BS _is_ I suppose. For me, I'd categorize almost all of
the time I spend on HN that I should otherwise be working as BS.

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BTBurke
I have a 9 to 5 right now. It's a good job and I feel like it's important
work, but I'm also starting something on the side. There's something about
picking your own problem, finding your own solution, and building that into a
business that just beats working for someone else.

------
petervandijck
Regular job, but working from home and with no fixed hours.

Consulting is nice but a little stressy in that you always have to find
clients.

Haven't done a real startup.

~~~
umjames
Your job sounds like a ROWE (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROWE>). Do you work
for Best Buy?

~~~
petervandijck
Yea it's pretty much that. No, not Best Buy, just a great boss :)

------
gte910h
You know, you can restrict the hours you work on a startup or consulting gig.
You're not going to get billions that way, but you can make a nice living.

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gaustin
I've worked for small businesses and big hulking bureaucracies. I've done a
little contracting. I'm always searching for a place or set of circumstances
where I can joyfully engage and excel for the long term. One of my biggest
character flaws is my tendency to be restless and dissatisfied.

I guess my most happy place would be contracting or consulting. University was
also a very happy and stimulating time for me, though I didn't realize it at
the time.

I'm having a really difficult time with my career path and work life at the
moment. Can you tell?

~~~
Symbol
I hear you loud and clear.

I've worked at two startups: one small and untested that failed, and another
that was more a very immature established company(they had products,
customers, revenues, etc) but espoused the "work all the time, because there's
too much to get done" philosophy.

I've also worked for a private company that did consulting for the US
Government (mostly, but not all, for the DoD). The quality of life was great,
but I was surrounded by people who were interested in punching the clock.

I started working as a game developer earlier this year, and have found its
lows way lower than I imagined and its highs few and far in-between.

I don't think there is a panacea. I second the opinion that: \- work you find
rewarding \- with people you enjoy doing it with \- for acceptable
compensation

is about as good as it gets.

------
barrydahlberg
Currently extracting myself from the 9 to 5 because I am thoroughly soul
crushed. I would rather halve the money and be happy that I am not wasting my
life.

------
icco
Working in a technical position at a startup has been the best experience for
me. Although I haven't done much consulting, it is a definite improvement over
working a 9 to 5 at a fortune 500 company. I feel like everything I do is
worth my time, which is all I really need.

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sosuke
Currently I'm doing the 9to5, consulting and working on more than one personal
venture. I couldn't be happier with all the work and challenges but I think
along with a few other comments here I'd enjoy just working on my ventures
more and some consulting.

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cmos
I started a company and it barely survived for 12 years. So happy to be taking
a vacation with a normal job and a paycheck. For now. In another couple years
I'll be back on the wagon.

------
jlees
Working on a startup gave me extremes of happiness and stress.

Working at a 9-5 -- sorry, 8-8 -- is like Prozac. It dulls the extremes, and
sometimes that can be a good thing.

------
michaelhalligan
Personally I seem to be reasonably happy when I'm consulting 2 hours a day and
working on my new startup 6-10 hours a day. However, I'm happiest when I'm
spending 4 hours per day down at the swimming pool flirting with my cute
neighbors. That's what I mostly do since selling my last company, I highly
recommend it.

~~~
billpaetzke
Where do you live?

~~~
michaelhalligan
SF

