[tomhoward]

You might be surprised how in-demand you turn out to be once you start applying for jobs.

With this: "I've been coding for a long time, shipping real products to real customers", you're already ahead of many job applicants. Plenty of startups or established companies are looking for people with that kind of experience.

Your self-esteem and self-belief has likely taken a hit as you've spent a long time feeling like a failure.

I know the feeling well; it happened to me, and it took quite a while to work my way out of it.

The best thing to do is to be kind to yourself and take it easy for a while. You're not a failure. The thing you worked on didn't work out but that's fine, there are plenty of super-talented, capable people whose companies didn't work out through no fault of their own.

Take it gently work-wise; perhaps try to find some small contracts with small teams that you can work on in part-time, remote engagements.

But if you get yourself on a path where you're delivering projects and getting positive feedback from the people you're working with, slowly but surely things will turn around and before you know it you could be in a very good place.

Good luck to you. Feel free to reach out if you want more personalised advice (email in profile).

[mmartinson]

>> there are plenty of super-talented, capable people whose companies didn't work out through no fault of their own

There are also plenty of super-talented, capable people whose companies didn't work out through considerable fault of their own.

As I'm sure you know, building a company is hard, risky, and the wrong decisions paired with the wrong luck can kill you. Even if you are a failure at business, your skills and experience can still be of tremendous value to another company.

[swombat]

I know it’s meant as an image, but it’s an unhelpful image I think.

No, wrong decisions/luck in a startup setting can’t kill you. They can just make your startup fail. You’ll be absolutely fine.

[james_s_tayler]

I don't mean to be morbid, but sometimes people do kill themselves as a result of their business not working out.

[braythwayt]

A have been told that I am talented and capable.

I can tell you, I have often failed through fault of my own.

Some would say that failing through fault of your own makes you talented, capable, and in possession of hard-won experience that people who never fail will never obtain... Until they fail spectacularly.

This isn't a TED talk, I don't know what the answer is, other than if you're looking for a job, it's your job to put your actual lived experience in the best possible (but not misleading) light, and it's ok to have some humility about the mistakes you know you made.

Some people would rather hire those who claim to have never tasted of the bitter cup of defeat, others will value your battle scars.

Remember, you only need to find one of the latter kinds of employers, and the best way to prove that you have what it takes to succeed is to sift through however many of the former it takes to find the latter.

Good luck!

[grantgeorge]

Hey Tom - Thanks for this post. I'm in a similar position and what you wrote really resonated and was uplifting. I'm going to shoot you an email, would love to ask a few questions and chat if you get a chance. Thanks!

[perfect_loop]

Thank you very much, Tom.

I think I read your blog post many years ago about your situation, it's really great to see that you're doing well. Thanks again for all the great advice.

[Tistel]

great post. I would also add that you staying at a struggling company for 7 years shows a great deal of tenacity (very desirable feature in a human!). Most people jump ship much sooner. You will be fine. as tomhoward said, don't beat your self up, excessive negative emotions don't achieve anything. Try to move past it (easy to say, hard to do, but, must be done).