I think it's appropriate to continue my tradition of grabbing a snapshot of myself heading out to my first day of work. Unlike last time, a tie wasn't necessary.
I considered working in boxer shorts, but let's face it, the internet isn't ready for a snapshot of me in boxers - PJs will have to do.
What a fun first day it's been - no orientation, no paperwork, no new names to memorize, just code to write and customers to talk to.
--Ben
I was wondering.. what kind of preparation went into your decision to try i2x full-time? Are you expecting to be able to land the kinds of projects that will generate income anywhere close to what you were making as a wage slave? How did you estimate the amount of work you would be able to acquire?
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty exciting, what you're doing. I'd love to do something similar, but I just don't have the guts to drop my day job cold turkey like that.
I'm looking forward to watching your progress. Good luck!
Lots and lots of good questions!
ReplyDeleteA few things to keep in mind...
1. I've done side work for ideas2executables for just about two years now. That's been invaluable, so I'm not just attempting to cold start this on a Monday. I think that would be crazy to do.
I have a small base of happy customers, and have had a chance to make some mistakes (mostly in estimation) already, so that's kind of out of my system. (Though, there's plenty to learn there).
2. My wife works full time and provides benefits for us. So, this isn't that huge a risk. At least the not the irresponsible kind.
3. I've been in startups my entire career and have been getting an education about business for quite some time. This would have been a mistake to do a couple years ago, before I appreciated as much as I do about business.
4. Estimating work is the tricky part, no doubt about it. I've been doing it for years, but now all of a sudden, every billable hour matters. This is something that I don't think working for a startup can teach you this. I'll have to get back to you on this one :-).
Thanks for the encouragement! You know I'll so be keeping folks updated along the way.
-Ben