[asim]

10 years here. Savings, sponsorships, funding, limited sales. Many many struggles. Not to mention COVID, kids, etc. Attempted to get jobs in the process, didn't work out. It's a hard route to take. A lot of flexibility but very lonely and isolating. You have to be the right kind of person and have more in your life than just your work. The motivation also has to be more than just money, otherwise you might as well quit and do something else. I would love to be happy in a job. Or even moderately accept the tradeoffs but those things also have to have the right setup e.g I don't think fully remote is good for anyone's mental health. Some levels of isolation are good for thinking and productivity, but when there's is idleness, when you have to rely on yourself to fill the time, eventually the hobbies and the time filling habits die off. Nothing replaces human connection. And on one level family and friends are good for that. But on another level working towards something with people. That really gives us a lot of meaning in our lives.

Good luck to all those still trying.

[throwaway77385]

~7 years here. I couldn't have said it better. You summed it up perfectly. Matches my experience entirely. I haven't yet found a working environment where things don't get marred by politics and plainly rude behaviour, especially by managers. I am sort of astounded that friendlier work environments don't seem to exist. I've been in the business about 20 years and have seen better and worse examples. The best places I worked for got close to keeping me, but even those situations were temporary. Eventually, acquisitions happen, the direction of the business changes, the good people leave and then it's time to find yet another job. Between that and the solo work, I have stuck with the solo work for much longer, so despite its challenges, it still seems preferable to me. But boy do you have to take care of your mental health.