Re:Ask HN: Love programming but hate my job at AmaGooFaceSof...
by cefthurston on Thursday March 23, 2017 @04:25PM
(#13943911)
Agreed and the 6 month mark thing will raise eyebrows amongst employers, as much as previous commenter things it won't. That kind of advice is meaningful to folks outside the Valley who need a counter-balance to the irrational risk-averseness that can occur there. For folks inside the Valley who've done bootstrapped (like yourself) I think you have a finely tuned sense of what will/won't look good to a potential employer and how something will be interpreted.
I like a lot of what you said, but with all due respect I don't think I'm your intended audience for this pep talk. Remember, I just finished up two years running my own bootstrapped startup that was making no money -- most people wouldn't consider me particularly risk adverse. :) My life situation is now such that I can't afford another extended break from the workforce for a while at least.
Also, I think the "you should always be 100% confident in your success" (which I've heard from other people as well) line of thinking is kinda BS. We know most startups fail. Even most startups by smart, dedicated and hard-working people fail. For the two years I was doing my own thing, I didn't spend much time on backup plans, but I did keep my door open to recruiters and friends who approached me with other opportunities. Not doing so would not have made my startup any more likely to succeed, and by doing so I ended up with a soft landing at a prestigious and high-paying job, if nothing else. I think it's much wiser to expect the best, but still prepare for the worst.