Ask HN: Anyone here start a startup after failing to get a job? How is it? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: Anyone here start a startup after failing to get a job? How is it?

6 pointsuriurion11 comments

I've tried to be hired. No interviews let alone offers. I'm thinking it's time to move on. Too many recruiters saying they can find someone better. Too many hiring managers rejecting my resume after first sight.

I'm tired of jumping through hoops for just the sake of jumping through hoops. I just want to make something cool.

Of course, I'm in the doldrums, but I'd rather work harder on something I care about than just sit here and wallow in pain and negativity. I still want to stay in tech.

So for those of you who were forced to start a startup because nobody else wanted you, how did it work out for you? What did you have to do to make it work? How did you deal with the negative emotions?

Thank You

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I haven't been in that exact position, but I've certainly started a startup instead of looking for work. In general, it's really really stressful. You're pulled in two directions: wanting to save money, and wanting to spend it.

On one hand, starting a company takes money. Lots of it. And some of those expenses just can't be avoided. On the other hand if you're living off a nest-egg all you want to do is save as much money as you can every month. I ended up getting stuck in a "I MUST release this product and get paying customers this week or I'm screwed" situation, and that's just not a good place to put yourself in.

In the end, I ended up taking on part-time work to pay the bills and subsidize the costs of my startup...and my stress level went way down. If you're in a situation where nobody wants to hire you, I'd say just keep lowering your bar until you get a bite. Just get any job. Once you land one, you can keep on looking passively, and upgrade to a new job as soon as you land it.

Starting a company does not have to take much money. One of the wealthiest men I have ever met co-founded what is now "The Nation's Largest Sperm Bank" with a $2,500.00 investment, mostly to buy medical and lab equipment, like liquid nitrogen dewars.

If you can't start your company with the money you've got, you're doing something wrong.

Sure it costs millions of dollars to start certain kinds of companies.

Start some other kind of company, is what I'm saying.

Lol. I totally agree with you, I think we just have a different definition of "lots of money". To me (at least at that time) $2,500 was more money than I had ever seen or had in my bank account.

There are ways to start companies with quite a lot less than $2,500.00.

Consider that Bank of America was at first San Francisco's Bank of Italy. A fishmonger of Italian heritage - I don't recall if he was an actual immigrant - would use what cash he could spare to lend very small amounts of money, in return for interest.

Among my own more-significant expenses are technical books, however I _could_ borrow them from colleagues, sometimes I can find them at the library. I prefer to purchase them when I can, but in principle I don't really have to pay, I could borrow the books.

Consider: would you lend me forty bucks to buy a book, or would you lend me a book?

Most people are reluctant to lend money, even to close friends or family, but have no problem lending things like books.

Web hosting is quite cheap. In my own case, I get it for free because I helped out the founder of the hosting company with his marketing when he was just starting out.

To start an online business, you don't need a whole lot more than a cheap webhost, a cheap computer, and a few books - but you do need quite a lot of labor.

I agree with this as well. But, let's take the fishmonger for example: He didn't quit his fishmonger job, and try to live off the interest from the money did he?

I believe you can absolutely start a company for cheap (you can definitely work a low-wage job and afford a startup). But that is very different from trying to live off your savings and start a company at the same time. Sure, you might get lucky and have instant-revenue that can support you, but I think you (and the business) will have a better chance of success if you're not trying to live off the profits (and can reinvest them in the company).

Good Point.

I read recently that lots of startups are funded by government benefits - food stamps and the like.

Oddly, in some places it is unlawful to receive such benefits if one is the director of any company. I would think that would be encouraged, actually.

I understand that one-half of United States businesses fail within the first five years. I expect far more than that fail, if they are high-tech startups.

Consider that I read just a few days ago, that - overall - venture capital earns 5% less than the S&P 500. However, some VCs make out like bandits, it's just that there are lots of clueless VCs.

So if you start any kind of business, you really don't want to quit your day job, until that business is profitable, or if you do quit your day job, you want to have lots of cash in the bank.

A couple of years back I faced a similar situation. I was fresh out of college had no "experience" and apparently my college wasn't among the ones recruiters look out for. I tried to get my resume in through the door but rarely manged to succeed and when I did the offers were so bad that I thought it best to not take up the job.

To get by I started freelancing. Odesk is a pretty good place to work if you are starting out. The people there gladly trade inexperience for a tiny amount of salary(work!) and it can be a start. What I learnt though that it is more or less pointless to market yourself to the technology people (but if they do come to you on their own it is worth it to discuss the opportunity since you have a slightly upper hand in negotiations). Rather it is more profitable to market to people who use that technology.

So for instance suppose you work on your programming skills and learn how to build a CMS. This feat will be "meh" for technology people. They do this stuff day in and day out and see no value in it(maybe they will even criticize you for using jquery). But if you can learn to sell this CMS to say a local travelling agency who is still marketing their services through blogger, by showing them how much more they can accomplish if they used a better tool, then you are on to something. A single sale can transform into managing the server for them which can be quite a good source for recurring income.

Another thing that I learnt is that it is very valuable to have a domain expertise (besides programming). Taking the above example if you learn how the travelling agency conducts it's business you will no doubt find ways to generate income from this knowledge. Maybe you will design a CRM for a them or maybe you will create a tool that makes it easier for them to find new leads or send invoices or whatever.... you will learn to look out for things that can be done better with a program and that is where the real money is. That's what these companies do after all don't they?

Unless you have a debt, or a family to look out for, may be you are better off without a job (or maybe not). Regardless of this take time to learn how to market yourself and the stuff that you build. Oh and how to deal with negativity I don't know what will work for you but I pick up a PG Wodehouse book and laugh till my stomach hurts :)

Don't make it obvious that you're starting a startup, if you're trying to fund it by getting a job.

My most recent position on my resume is "Chief Executive Officer, Dulcinea Technologies Corporation", where I specifically say I'm funding my own product development by consulting for other companies.

It only recently occurred to me that that's losing me clients.

However, I've left it on my resume. I regard it as a Bozo Filter.

Do you have an idea you want to pursue? If so, go for it. It might work, and if it doesn't you'll at least have something (a cool thing you made) to show for it.

But definitely don't "start a startup" for its own sake. That sounds like a guaranteed path to failure. To succeed on your own you'll need to have some deeper motivation than just not wanting to apply to jobs anymore.

I've always found that when I'm working on side-projects or a business, job offers come to me much more easily.

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