Thirty-something freelance developer. What next?

[odev]

I'm a 37yo freelance developer - Ruby, Rails, Backbone.js etc. I've been a J2EE developer, turned project manager + agile methodologies expert, fired, turned freelance website developer, turned Rails developer, rich JS app developer. I'm coding since I was 14 so I can code anything basically. Having sort of midlife crisis - most project managers I work with are 10 years younger, which is frustrating. Would love to create my own software and start selling it, but everything's been done already :) Any advices? BTW I'm in Europe, freelancing for EU and US clients.

[hopeless]

I'm very similar: same age, skills, background.

Off the top of my head:

1) You've got to stop calling yourself a "freelance developer". Start using "consultant" (and then read lots about what that means and behave accordingly). You are not a hammer.

2) You seem jealous of younger project managers. Are they paid better? Have they more prestige? More control? More influence? What specifically bothers you? And then…

3) Stop just coding. It's a great skill to have but you and me can be coded under the table by a 22yo who costs less, drinks more Red Bull, has more energy and fewer commitments/distractions.

4) We can keep learning new technical things but there's far more value in learning how to apply our existing skills to specific domains. Get closer to the "business". Learning more about marketing. Understand sales. Use your coding skills in those areas and you can side-step comparison to younger developers and the typical software project hierarchy.

[odev]

ad 1) I even have this in my LinkedIn profile

ad 2) you're right... maybe it's because I used to be a PM and I still perceive this position as more prestigious

ad 3 and 4 and generally) you are right that I have non-technical knowledge and I can apply it with success, but the two main problems here for me are is that

a) finding projects as a 'software developer' or 'software engineer' is much easier (although finding new leads is the hardest part for me at all)

b) I cannot market myself both as a 'just a developer' and 'top notch consultant' at the same time, and because of a) I have to keep the 'developer' profile

basically finding new leads is the worst part for me. I could be a 'consultant' and manage or cover myself most of such a project areas, but finding such consultanty gigs is tricky for me.

anyone has an advice on finding such projects? frankly 99% of mine come from referrals and sometimes I found some accidentally on Twitter. cold emails, responding to job offers etc never works for me.

how about you, @hopeless, what is it you're doing right now and how does it work for you?

[odev]

I have to add this:

Probably I'm just an old spoiled fart having an early midlife crisis. I know exactly what I don't want and I know more-or-less what I want:

* I'm used to working remotely from home and flexible hours and that works super for me

* I love responsibility and independence: I don't want to be part of a team where a couple of people do the same thing. I can do the whole solution on my own OR I can be a part of a team with clear responsiblity separation, where for example someone does the backend, I do the frontend etc.

* I could come back to management only when I'd succeed with my own product and had to handle company growth.

* So essentially, in the end I would prefer to end up with my own product, but for the time being, I'm seeking opportunities that allow me to work independently (or semi-), take reponsibility and work from home. Freelancing does that, but as I said: most PMs are in their twenties, and finding well paying client that wants to invest in a quality remote developer is hard.

* Maybe I'm just whining.

[hank_tepaliu]

I am very much in the same position (same age, Europe, nearly two decades experiences in the tech industry, both in management and engineering, turned freelance three years ago).

Here is what I did in the last months: I trimmed down my consulting revenues to 2 workdays a week and am now building a lifestyle software business. After a couple of false starts I picked a product that a.) would bring me immediate benefit once it is built b.) already has competitors out there. That second part is important to me: It minimises my risk picking a product idea without market. If there is enough demand for my variant of this product is a hypothesis to be proven, but I am willing to take that risk.

tldr: I would not look for something that has not been done before. I would take something you use everyday and make it better (for you). It sounds like a platitude but I think there is some truth in it.

good luck

[odev]

thanks. have you gotten out of stealth mode yet?

[hank_tepaliu]

nope, it's gonna take a while until then. hence the consulting: 2 weekdays is OK money-wise and there is still enough time to build a product.

[odev]

well I have a family and 2 days / week would not be enough. 3 - 4 would be better. you have to have a good rate :)

[s3nnyy]

I doubt that "everything's been done already". There are people who would kill to get the skills you (probably) have after 23 years of building things.

Everyone wants to "make something people want" (you can do the "make" part for sure) and "be relentlessly resourceful".

[odev]

As I already mentioned in https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8343827 sent some resumes, always rejected at step 1.

[mnort9]

"Would love to create my own software and start selling it, but everything's been done already"

You need to get this idea out of your head. Maybe a lot of "obvious" ideas have been done already, but there is an infinite amount products to be built. Society's needs change very quickly, in turn, products will built to accommodate. Look at ProductHunt, new products everyday.

[percept]

If you really want to build your own products, I'd encourage you to continue pursuing your own ideas until you find one that works--there is always room for one more.

Another thought is that if you're comfortable as a manager, and are already freelancing, then perhaps you could explore replicating yourself and building a consulting/services business.

[odev]

I've tried replicating myself and have dropped that. I was spending too much time managing things than building them.

Pursuing my own ideas sounds best to me, but as I said - seems like everything has been done :)

[Gustomaximus]

Everything has been done! Hell no. I'm in the exact oposite boat where I see so many options and finding time is the hard part.

[czbond]

Become a principal or senior software consultant or architect. Many enterprise consulting houses are looking for senior people with a lot of experience. Go the route of software architect - not just coder and you can earn a very nice salary. You can look at large orgs in Europe, eg: Amaazon Web services consulting arm.

[odev]

I have thought of that. I sent a couple of resumes and I was always rejected. I don't know the exact cause, but potentially it could be that I have mixed skills - some years as a project manager, some years as a developer, some as a freelance developer. I suppose most employers want to see a clear path.

[motyar]

Start packaging and selling your services and when you get too busy. Automate it with software.

No one want to buy a software, they are looking for solutions. Solutions that saves them time or money or both.

[arisAlexis]

If you want to do some % of your time as an experiment, working for a pre-launch very early startup for some future equity with no immediate payment, we are looking for people like you. drop me an email