Re:Ask HN: Why you left your job for starting a startup?
by JohnFen on Wednesday September 25, 2019 @07:13PM
(#21076613)
In my own company, I get to decide what work I'm doing, what the production schedule is, what the processes are, my working conditions, and so forth.
But mostly it's the "what work I'm doing" part.
The advantage to working for someone else is that there are a ton of things you don't have to pay any attention to. So, when I'm between entrepreneurial projects or am just in a "low energy" period, I work for someone else. Eventually, though, the "itch" returns and I'll start a new company.
Re:Ask HN: Why you left your job for starting a startup?
by JohnFen on Thursday September 26, 2019 @11:50AM
(#21082131)
No, I don't think that way, although I do understand that others can reasonably frame it in those terms.
If I'm working on a product that I am interested in on its own terms, 99% of the time what I want to do lines up very well with what my customers want, so they aren't really "dictating" anything.
But mostly it's the "what work I'm doing" part.
The advantage to working for someone else is that there are a ton of things you don't have to pay any attention to. So, when I'm between entrepreneurial projects or am just in a "low energy" period, I work for someone else. Eventually, though, the "itch" returns and I'll start a new company.
Do you think it is even more bosses that you have as the entrepreneur (in the form of your customers) who indirectly dictate you what you need to do?
If I'm working on a product that I am interested in on its own terms, 99% of the time what I want to do lines up very well with what my customers want, so they aren't really "dictating" anything.
If it lines up with potential customers, that might be a signal for founder/market fit.