Ask HN: Follow your passion or be realistic and practical?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8564259

by magicianred • 12 years ago

11 15 12 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

Is it a good idea to quit the safe job and work on a startup full time. I am a bit confused about this.

I am already 28. I wanted to do a startup since I was 18. I started a few things on the side in the past 7 to 8 years and learnt a lot from each of my mistakes.

I started a few months back (my latest sideproject) and got my first paying customer ($400 per customer). I have a 9 - 6 job. I have trouble following instructions, paying attention and very restless. I have trouble focusing on work that I don't own 100%. I am a terrible, error-prone, procrastinating employee. There is 0% chance that I will be able to work for other people.

My question is: Do I quit my job and pursue my passion full time? Steve Jobs, Paul Graham, Tony Hsieh and host of other entrepreneurs suggest this route to become a successful entrepreneur.

Or should I be resourceful and just grind away. Like how Gary Vaynerchuck, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Patio11, James Altucher and a bunch of others recommend.

You know, work on the day job. Do the appropriate amount of work and get back to grinding on your project from 6:00 pm - 2:00 am everyday and 10 hrs per day on the weekends. This is what I am currently doing by the way.

If I screw up, I will lose the savings I built up. (I don't mind it too much.) But it will screw up my dating prospects. If I suck it up and date/get married/have kids and continue working. I might end up not giving my project 100% and I might regret later in life that I did not take the risk and that I compromised. I am afraid I would get stuck in a job for the rest of my life. Some of my colleagues do great work and they seem to genuinely be enjoying coming in to work everyday. Unfortunately, my brain is not hardwired that way.

So, do I take the big risk and follow my passion or just suck it up, be practical and grind away till I get a lot of revenue from the sideproject and then quit?

mikek• 12 years ago

28 is still young, particularly if you don't yet have kids. Go for it. Starting a company will only get harder as you have more responsibilities later in life.

tutufan• 12 years ago

This. Doing a startup is way harder once you get older, unless you've already made your nut and no longer need a salary.

hbien• 12 years ago

Can you find something in-between? E.g. try to find a part-time job, so you can earn just enough without dipping into savings. Then spend that extra time on your side projects.

rudolf0• 12 years ago

I can relate to you quite a bit, at least in terms of feeling if not experience. I'm much better working for myself than anyone else and would prefer to quit my current job and start a personal project or startup and make a living that way. I have not done so yet, but I plan to before I'm 25.

My advice would be to not (yet) quit your day job until you achieve "ramen profitability" or perhaps a bit more.

My personal advice:

1. Look into various (legal) nootropic medications, and consider seeing a doctor. Some of your issues with attention may be a result of ADHD, sleep disorders, or other things. Relatively side effect-free drugs like modafinil and piracetam are worth trying, and if a doctor does diagnose you with some issue then you could look into more serious prescriptions. You may be surprised how work that was suddenly torturous to do is now neutral, or perhaps even enjoyable, after you make small changes to your health or mind. And be sure you're getting enough sleep.

2. Continue juggling both "jobs". Odds are your side project is not currently at some critical point where not working on it full time means it's doomed to fail. This means there's not a lot of risk from spending 10-30% of your time on the side project while keeping your day job, but there's a whole lot of risk from quitting your day job.

builtbybalance• 12 years ago

I would say this, take your savings and double it before jumping in. Your going to realize that you might be spending more money then allotted for your project. Also make friends with internet marketers and such to help you raise awareness for your brand/company. I've made friends with startups and helped them get traction and they have hooked me up with their development knowledge (not work, just answers to questions) and such.

What's your plan if this doesn't work out? Hate to say it but just wanted you to think about it.

breakinggood2• 12 years ago

You talk of passion, but speak in terms of escapism. It sounds like you have some personality flaws. From your short description, the writing describes someone who appears unfocused, impulsive and unreliable. If you were slave to your clients (working on your own startup), would those traits magically disappear? Also your root motivation for quitting is suspect. Don't quit because of boredom or from feeling empty. Quit because staying at your job is preventing you from taking full advantage of a growing opportunity from one of your side projects.

Also, advice on success is very situational. To replicate Arnold Schwarzenegger's success, you would need to go through physical child abuse and develop a deeply rooted negative self image. Somehow he got over it, and channeled those flaws into body building, real estate, and movies. Did he do these things because he felt unworthy and strived to become worthy? Would you want to be tortured and abused during your childhood if you had a greater chance of "success" in adulthood? For other wildly successful people, what demons are they hiding?

Whether you decide to work own your own startup full time, or stay at some job, I'd urge you to increase your chance of future success by working on yourself. Read books, do exercises, see coaches and mental health professionals.

panjaro• 12 years ago

'mental health professionals' - that was a bit too harsh

yzzxy• 12 years ago

Only if you see a stigma in understanding and improving your mental health.

magicianred3• 12 years ago

I do have personality flaws.

> If you were slave to your clients (working on your own startup), would those traits magically disappear?

No. But I can pick and choose people to complement my weakness. People who are reliable and are finishers.

breakinggood2• 12 years ago

I can pick and choose people to complement my weakness. This is commonly preached advice, and is somewhat true. Think about all the business types with "brilliant" ideas that are only a technical cofounder away from millions. When you're rare and in demand (in your case people who are reliable and finishers, and in the previous case idea guys who need technical people), you don't just go with the first bloke that makes an offer. You need to offer something compelling that they can't get elsewhere.

This is only a suggestion, but think about optimizing for lifetime happiness instead of focusing most of your energies on the now and the short term. So with respect to these personality flaws, it might also affect other areas of your life. If you spend the necessary effort now, you'll experience the compounded effects of these benefits over a longer time horizon.

This post may seem overly critical. In actuality I'm trying to have a conversation with my earlier self who was about to make similar missteps as you. I sincerely hope you find what you are looking for.

FD3SA• 12 years ago

One word: strategy.

Both quitting your job and engaging in a startup are absurdly risky if you don't have a very cushy safety net.

Steve jobs was a hippie who was fine with living homeless and dumpster diving for food, so there was no downside for him in screwing around with startups. Paul Graham completed his PhD in CS from Harvard, so he had a very solid alumni network he could turn to if he ever found himself unemployed. Bill Gates and Zuck both went to Harvard and had trust funds and/or wealthy parents.

The stories you're often told of successful entrepreneurs usually leave out one important fact: to be successful, you must eliminate downside risk. Once failure costs you nothing, then it's just a matter of how big your upside can be. You want to get into a position where failure is irrelevant. That's the only way you can fail fast, and fail often.

I recommend cutting your costs down to the absolute bare minimum and investing every penny you earn. Try to establish a steady income from consulting and/or investments. Passive income and cost minimization are the keys to freedom and success in the modern economy.

You mentioned that you're worried about dating. That's a whole other can of worms. I would say focus on dating while you're working on the preparation phase (passive income/cost minimization). Once you start engaging in startups, you may not have the time.

Good luck, and remember: only show up to battles that you're likely to win. Stack the odds in your favor. The more you leave to chance, the riskier a venture becomes.

magicianred3• 12 years ago

Thanks for the perspective. The most likely thing that can happen will usually happen, I guess.

One of my coworker quit to do a startup. Now all he is doing is sitting at home and updating Facebook all the time. That is a position I definitely don't want to be in.

sjg007• 12 years ago

As a side note, you might have ADD. It might be worth looking into if the symptoms you described seriously interfere with your life.

Practically, don't quit until you have the revenue stream and then the decision will be easy. You have one customer, try for two.

There is plenty of time. Avoid the celebritization of entrepreneurship. Focus on getting the next customer.

akulbe• 12 years ago

Pick something, get good at it... then the passion will follow.

The follow your passion part, is starting to be shown as bad advice.

Refer to "So Good They Can't Ignore You" by Cal Newport.

He turns conventional advice on this topic on its head. Excellent book, in my opinion.

Ask HN: Follow your passion or be realistic and practical?

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