Ask YC: quitting job and starting a startup

[akshaye]

i'm in the process of quitting my (money-wise: decent, work-wise: crap) job and starting a startup. But i don't feel as confident as i'd like me to believe... i was wondering if this is normal or i'm, in fact, not ready to start a startup yet?

[bitsantos]

I'm 23 and I just left my first job of two years to build a startup about three months ago. I'd like to believe that while you're young (if you are) and/or while you don't have to support anyone (e.g., a family), there's no reason why you shouldn't give it a try. If it doesn't pan out, you can always try again or just go back to having a regular job.

And I'll agree with some of the previous comments that all you really need to worry about is the money. Be sure that you can afford to not have any reliable income for a long while. Otherwise, if you think you have a good enough idea to pursue, just keep your morale up and you'll be fine.

[bdfh42]

Pretty scary during the process of untangling yourself from your job but...

The next day when you sit down at your own desk with only yourself as boss is just the greatest feeling.

[akshaye]

yeah.. i can already smell it :)

[davidw]

Sounds normal to me. Definitely try and get someone else to work with, that'll at least mean that someone's got your back.

[akshaye]

getting a co-founder turned out to be a problem actually. though most of my friends appreciated the idea/effort, none is actually willing to give up the security of well-paying jobs to come work on a startup. PS: i'm in India. and startups have not really caught on as well here as they have in US.

[petervandijck]

Sounds pretty normal. Don't worry about quitting your job, worry about doing the startup well.

[akshaye]

well i'm not worried about quitting the job. its 'doing the startup' well part. i have a couple of ideas and not too afraid to fail either. its just that sometimes these voices at the back of my mind keep telling me otherwise :)

[akshaye]

i guess those voices will fade away as i start getting busier with the startup :)

[edw519]

Those voices fade away as soon as you accomplish something.

[edw519]

It's normal. Now close your browser and get back to work.

[ideas101]

the contradicting voices will bother you all the time till u get settled with ur startup - in the beginning you will feel very lonely but doing something from scratch will make u happy as well - i'm in the same boat so i understand u well - make sure that u can survive for at least 6-12 months financially. if u want to contact me then visit my profile "ideas101" on http://programmermeetdesigner.com/ - u can send me a message from there. good luck