[game_the0ry]

Not so sure nowadays. Given how often big tech lays off employees and the abundance of recently laid off tech talent, trying to start your own company sounds a lot more appealing than ever.

I consider myself risk-averse and even I am contemplating starting a small business in the event I get laid off.

[shiroiushi]

> trying to start your own company sounds a lot more appealing than ever.

It really isn't. Even if you get laid off from a large tech company, you probably didn't have to pay a cent to get the job there in the first place, and you started drawing a paycheck right away (after the initial delay due to the pay cycle). If you only work there for 6 months, you can save a really good amount of money if you have frugal habits.

Starting a company isn't nearly as easy, usually requires up-front investment, and there can be a long time before you generate any profit. Either you need some business idea that's going to generate profit (or at least enough revenue to give the founder(s) a paycheck), or a business loan or other funding, which means convincing someone to invest in your company somehow.

Starting your own company only sounds appealing if you ignore reality, or have the privilege of having plenty of cash saved up for such a venture.

[game_the0ry]

I look at it differently.

If I was working a typical corp job, I would "quiet quit" and start using my excess savings to run small experiments. Maybe run like 3 in parallel a month and let them cook.

Example - start a niche blog based on my hobby, hire 3 writers and pay them up to $3k a month to write content for the blog. Let it cook for months. If it gets traffic, monetize with ads. If very profitable, quit job.

Starting an internet based business if fairly cheap nowadays, especially with cursor and ai.

[wayoverthecloud]

Interesting. I think the same thing but I wonder if the market is not ready for products created by the big guys, what can I offer? Have you thought in that line?

[IAmGraydon]

You’re thinking about it wrong. Most large companies won’t put development time into an idea that would only make them $1-5M per year. On the other hand, $1-5M per year is great money to an individual. So there’s a lot of untouched markets that can make you rich but just don’t interest the big guys.

All of that said, there are a lot of products that are produced by large companies and are just bad. Don’t be afraid to go after a Goliath if you see an opportunity.

[game_the0ry]

Well the whole point is that you have some edge that the "big guys" cannot compete with or you have discovered an opportunity they have not (making you ripe for acquisition).

New successful businesses are being created all the time. We just focus on the ones that have already been successful for a long time.