So today after 5 years of working at my current company I decided that enough is enough... I called my boss (while being scared AF) and told him I quit. Now guys I know it is the middle of a pandemic going on right now but I want to focus 100% on my side project and I'm unsure if it will work or not, but it is a dream I want to be able to achieve. Damn it feels awesome to have a community where to say these things

Congratulations!

Good luck!

Thank you! @N00bPancakes I'll share here the progress :)

You've got massive balls, idk if I'd ever have the courage to do something like that. Good luck and follow your dream! I hope everything works out for you!

Hmm dumb comment from me but.... Couldn't you just cut hours? like 50% hours? Because beeing without income that covers your bare minimum living costs is not the best idea. Even with the greatest side project, e.g the "new facebook", is worthless if you run into financial issues in three months down the line?

Monday to Tuesday work for money, Thursday to Saturday work on your baby until you found your market fit and your product starts generating a profit or you're able to raise capital.

@neeno thank you for the kind words! I actually have been saving money like crazy for a damn long ass time that’s why I decided taking the risk

@heyheni naah it's fine, he just has to create a Kickstarter page for the project, make it go viral, create some hype, make 1.5M and deliver the project in 2 or more years. Easy peasy.

Plus if he decides he doesn't want to do it anymore he could just run away with the money and spend it on hookers and cocaine.

@duckycode makes total sense, but still. Balls!

Hey @heyheni no! Actually that’s a great great piece of information! I wonder if you have use an approach like that or anyone you know? Thank you I really really appreciate your feedback

@neeno hahaha sounds like that might just work as well

@duckycode I've read a lot of retrospect blogs from freelancers that said "Things that i would do differently when starting out as a freelancer".
Their insight was, that unless your new business is able to feed you you should have a job.

Founding a company is not a sprint, it's a marathon and money is your breath. If you're out of breath you won't suceed. Which would be sad for the wasted effort.

Also, congratulations on your decision on founding your own future.

May i give you some reading advice?
In order to design a product that people love to use you need to step out of your Developers comfort zone of logic and functions and find out what people really want. There are methods for that which you find in these two books.
http://thisisservicedesignthinking.com/...
This is Service Design Thinking
https://thisisservicedesigndoing.com/...
This is Service Design Doing

@duckycode good luck!

Here some of the said articles

5 things you should do before becoming a Freelancer
https://medium.com/swlh/...

7 crucial things to know before you start freelancing
https://99designs.com/blog/tips/...

5 things to consider before becoming a freelancer
https://thejobnetwork.com/5-things-...

oh right @heyheni that's some great advice I'll make sure to read everything for real, are you interested in having a business as well in the future :) ? (just out of curiosity)

What do you guys think if I post here my idea as another post so you can tear it down in case it sucks? I also have a little web app but it is lacking stuff right now.

@iamai I thank you a lot! :)

@duckycode I'd love to. But I lack the discipline and stemina for that.
But I've learnt that at the business class portion of my Interaction Design study at the University. You know, writing concept papers, testing ideas and then crafting digital products.

And please, don't show your idea here unless your product is aimed at developers. Read the Service Design books and you'll understand why.

@heyheni I completely understand the hustle was killing me because of how tiring it can be to work after the 8 to 5 job.

Oh right 😁 thank your for the tip, maybe when I have the MVP in a better shape

about the mvp...
https://productschool.com/blog/...

@duckycode Welcome to the IQuitDuringAPandemic club! Rooting for ya!

I hope you achieve your dreams. Some of the biggest multi-billion dollar Silicon Valley companies have grown out of the initiative of one person who left the stagnating and selfish business world, or otherwise known as: working for someone else.

@heyheni Nette Links die du da gepostet hast 🙂 Grüsse aus dem Aargau 🇨🇭

@duckycode congratz man, I kinda did the same some months ago (well, I kept some hours in one business I was working with just to have a basic income). Life has been good so far!

In 2008, I built a prototype android app that pretty much was a very simple version of Uber and/or Grab. I showed it to some business folks and rich friends but had zero takers. Smartphones weren't common here at the time and neither was 3G/4G, so I understood the hesitation.

I tried reaching out to our two Telcos but I had to travel to Manila to meet with any of them.

I chickened out. Partly because I would've risked losing my job because my boss was an asshole and mostly because I thought I would just get rejected and I'd have spent all that money (travel+hotel) for nothing--I had siblings to put through college.

I chickened out. I wish I hadn't.

So yes, kudos my brave friend. I wish you all the success.

Go go @AmyShackles rooting for you as well!!

Thank you @CaptainRant truly inspiring words to read today

@Ten91 nice to know that everything is working out for you :) keep it going!

Thank you @Angry that story sounds like you have a great ability within yourself! I hope you can try again in the future, the world is needing those solutions

Has anyone noticed how a lot of us in this thread look like each other? Hahaha.