[acgourley]

When people ask me if they should start a company, I do a short interview with them to understand their motivation. It's usually dissatisfaction with their job combined with a grass-is-greener view of entrepreneurship. I believe in many circumstances people have a higher chance of finding happiness by pouring deliberate energy into finding a great job rather than starting their own company.

[porter]

I quit a good banking job after making it through the recession and several rounds of layoffs. My friends thought I was nuts. I had friends take me out to lunch and tell me most people were looking for jobs, not quitting them. But I didn't quit just because I was dissatisfied. At the heart of it, I just felt like a caged animal and I knew I had to break free.

[acgourley]

I don't regret taking the leap, but I also didn't need to be convinced nor did I carefully ask people what they thought. It's sort of something that needs to be done because you're the right kind of crazy.

[cageface]

The thing I've learned from trying to be independent for four years is that you always have to answer to someone. Whether it's a boss or customers or business partners or the platform provider you depend on you are never truly "free".

[maaku]

I don't buy this. As CEO you have the right to say "You know what Big Important Customer? You're a dick and I don't want to do business with you."

That is a strategically stupid thing to do. You may not ever actually do it. But being able to do that without having to answer to anyone but yourself is enough. There's a very real psychological difference.

[kika]

You have the right to say this while being the lowest ranking employee in the company, not CEO. But when you're CEO, you have other people you're responsible for, you hired them and they depend on you being able to run the business so they can feed their families. Saying "fuck you" to the customer who is bringing you 10% of revenue is not what CEO can really do.

[maaku]

The CEO is the only person who can do that. Also, DoD you read me 2nd paragraph?

[cageface]

How is this any different from telling your boss to go fuck him/herself? Many small businesses depend on one or two big clients for their livelihood.

[walterbell]

Freedom of will to choose whose will can constrain concurrency.

[throwaway8137]

I do a short interview with them to understand their motivation.

Could you please try me?

I have a good job as a software engineer at a successful start up. I am introvert and somewhat shy (although less then I used to be). I don't think many people could imagine me as a CEO. Nonetheless here are the reasons I want to start a company:

- I want to do something meaningful. I don't mean curing cancer, but having small, positive impact on other people though software. My current job provides that, but only in very small, indirect way.

- I need to have as much control as possible over what I work on, if my work seems pointless it's a huge demotivator for me.

- My father is an successful entrepreneur and I think that rolemodel influenced me.

- I dream of financial independence in my 30ies (working only when I want to). I know that this is not a good reason, but nonetheless part of my motivation.

EDIT: I rewrote some of this, because my I failed to express myself in my first attempt

[michaelchisari]

> I dream about retirement in my 30ies.

If this is what you want, then pare your life down to the bare minimum (get roommates, don't buy gadgets, don't eat out, drive a sensible sub-$15k car, or no car at all if possible), and invest and save every penny you make as a highly paid software engineer. That's a much more surefire way to early retirement.

[maaku]

And switch jobs or get external offers often, and use it to ratchet up your salary to the higher end of market rate. Work for big corporations (they pay better), or be employee #1 or #2 of startup (stock >= 5% or it ain't worth it). Only do projects that have a high probability of success and which will make your resume more valuable. Live frugally and put it all into savings and passive investments.

Not what I do, but it's the best course of action for most people who want to retire in their 30's.

EDIT: As for what I do, I'm co-founder at a well funded startup, although without a CxO title, after bootstrapping a different business nights and weekends for around 2-3 years and fulltime for 1 year. My motivations are similar to graeme -- a burning desire to not work for someone else, and a driving need to accomplish certain things in the course of my life which no one else is doing. Also a certain uncomfortableness with perceived stupidity in how things are organized, which miraculously went away when I was the one doing the organizing. For people like me, taking responsibility relieves stress.

[throwaway8137]

I shouldn't have mentioned this. I was trying to be as honest as possible with myself, and that is one of the images that comes up. But what I really meant was financial independence (working only when I want to).

I have a family, so I can't save every penny, I am already payed at the higher end of market rate and I could never ever work in corporate job.

[maaku]

Hrm that's trickier, although the specifics depends on your family situation (does your significant other work?). I have a family myself, wife and two kids. I can say from experience that what would have helped was having a large rainy day fund - e.g. 1/2 your annual salary. I had a much smaller amount set aside, which was only barely enough to make it to a comfortable job as a higher up in a startup (see my edit above). And to be honest the stress and uncertainty almost destroyed my marriage, even though she was very, very supportive of my choice.

Having a much larger savings would have helped. Having a plan B is also good. With a family you need a safety net.

I'll be honest that your options are more limited, but I'm proof that it is possible.

But is it what you really want? Whether you go this route depends on what is driving you, and how strongly.

Are you local? Feel free to reach out to me if you want more advice from a parent entrepreneur. My email is in my profile.

[sumedh]

> I have a family

Its going to be 10x harder for you, if you have a family.

Why dont you start working on weekends/spare time on your idea, if you get some traction then you can think about quitting your job.

[jarnold]

I wholeheartedly disagree. A much more important factor is how ready you are and what kind of support structure you have to start out with. If that is later in a career (and when you have a family) so be it. It's the right time.

Founded current company with two young kids and just had a third. Pulling together the right team way more of a factor than having a family.

[maaku]

> Why dont you start working on weekends/spare time on your idea

I suspect you don't have a family ;)

If you have a family it is better to start moving on your idea within normal business hours, where legally possible (some creativity may be required).

[graeme]

None of these sound like great reasons. I'm four years into starting a business. Here was my motivation:

  * A burning desire not to work for anyone else.
  * A desire, not to retire, but to free up time for all the other things I want to do. Chiefly learning.

It is impossible to to convey, in writing, how badly I wanted these things. I had had a small taste of the working world, and couldn't bear the thought of it.

I wanted to be free of my time. I had read the four hour workweek, and longed for income to that was mostly automatic.

Your motives don't seem like mine. You sound like you might be a better candidate for this:

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/

That's a reasonable guide to retiring in your 30s. The author was a software engineer. He just reduced his spending and saved a high % of his salary.

[cageface]

A burning desire not to work for anyone else.

Thing is, you're always working for someone else. A boss, a customer, an investor etc.

As far as I'm concerned the only really good reason to do your own thing is that you get to choose what to work on, provided what you want to work on is actually financially viable.

[throwaway8137]

I think made a really wrong impression in that post. Somehow I can't really find the right words to express myself right now.

While I understand the appeal of passive income, I think I would rather work 24/7 on something really meaningful.

Your motives don't seem like mine.

That is not necessarily a bad thing. There are many types of entrepreneurs.

[tim333]

Maybe try building something on the side in your spare time complimentary to the business you work for?

[acgourley]

"I need to have as much control as possible over what I work on, if my work seems pointless it's a huge demotivator for me."

There are non-founder roles at companies where you can have complete technical control and a lot of product control. Growth hackers / technical marketers, data scientists and analytics people at small and mid sized companies, for example.

Coming on as a first engineer is another good option to tick this box.

"I want to do something meaningful"

Would working on a google x project count? What about an early engineer at someones funded and ambitious startup? It's not easy to get those roles, sure. It's also not easy to start a company working on something extremely meaningful. As a first time entrepreneur you're often going to need to work on an iterative solution in a more proven market because investors won't fund you on pre-traction moonshot ideas, and moonshot ideas don't often have early traction. For most people, unless you have an unusual background or set of connections that door won't open until you're a successful serial entrepreneur. What would happen if you took 1/10th of the energy and time you would need to start and succeed at your first business and instead use it to deliberately find job opportunities, learn relevant skills, promote your professional identity, and network in industries you care about? If you can get a new job or a significant promotion every 12 months, you should have no problem getting to a highly paid and meaningful role with autonomy. And all without putting your finances on the line.