Need advice: Start indiehacking now or get a job first?
Hey fellow devs! I'm a self-taught frontend dev who recently left my first dev job after 9+ months. I've always been into indiehacking but wasn't feeling like I'm technically competent enough to do it, until I successfully switched from UX to frontend development last year.
My question now is: Should I go get a job and gain more dev experience , or should I jump straight into indiehacking?
For the last 9 months working at a Web3 startup, I learned that I'm truly a generalist. I can do product, design, dev (frontend) and that's why I'm starting to think about indiehack again.
On the flip side, I'm worried that I still don't have "enough" dev knowledge which will potentially be a blocker as I go on the indiehacking route.
Any suggestion is welcome! Thanks in advance =D
You should do both!
Get the job and start building something on the side.
You'll have the best of both worlds. And if your side project gore enough, then quit your job
Came to say this ^^^.
Building a company is a lot harder and involves a lot more than you think.
If you want to bootstrap, I'd say start as a side hustle.
If you have clear signs to go all in, do that.
Thanks for the great advice!
Do you know @arvidkahl?
He has great info on this sorta stuff :)
You’re too kind, Stefan :)
Tori: I definitely would recommend moonlighting while getting more dev experience, preferably in an industry that’s close to what you intend to end up building. It can be tempting to go all in, but these projects take time, and it’s much easier to learn and explore when you’re not under financial pressure.
There is also freelancing. When I started my SaaS founder journey, I consulted for two days a week and spent the other 3 on my project. No need for a full-time job if you can and want to do this. Depends on your intersectional skill level, but this could be a good transitional approach.
As long as you keep pushing yourself in the development field, you’ll get to the point where it makes sense to go all in eventually. But why not pick a path where someone pays you along the way ;)
@RBouschery and I are doing a similar split, it might take you a bit longer to get there, but you will greatly reduce risk.
I agree with most everyone else here: the answer is definitely both. :)
Never underestimate how much a stable income helps with creativity. It’s really hard to be productive and creative when you have to worry about money.
Plus, you’ll continue to gain a lot of experience while working at a company that will serve you down the road.
I think you can do both, it all depends on the workload you will have in your job.
As @PAIRUXnadia says, moving on to a junior position can give you time for your project, but that has its drawbacks.
Being also a freelance developer with several full-time positions (CTO, Lead, Fullstack), I'm thinking of experimenting with a part-time position to spend more time on my projects.
@brd6 - I would LOVE to talk to you about this - I'm building a "fractional tech" agency and would love to learn more about what developers are looking for. (No hard sell, promises promises)
I see this question come up all the time. It doesn't have to be an either or decision.
There are other long term considerations (especially financial ones) that need to be taken into account too, speaking from experience.
Depends on everyone's situation but I find that most people fall into the 'do both' category.
Hope this is helpful!
Thx a lot! And hi fellow Canadian =D
👋🙌🇨🇦
Indie hacking for sure if you can afford to.
If you feel comfortable going self employed, you could also freelance instead of a full time or part time position, that way you'll be more in control of how much time you can spend indie hacking!
It depends. Do you have enough money to sustain you indefinitely already? If so, go FT into indiehacking. If not, I would try to find a PT or FT job, and then indiehack on the side.
Good luck!
It's great that you financially have the option to work on your own startup full-time.
My advice would be to get a bit more experience as a job-hopping contractor. Instead of staying at one place for a long time, move around so you can learn a lot of new things. Try six-month engagements.
While you're doing this, live frugally so you still have the option to work full-time on your startup once you feel you have enough experience.
Can also do freelance and build own projects. Did it that way first before getting a job as I was able to earn more quickly. The path depends on your business skills, vs whether you want to focus exclusively on your tech skills.
Unless you have a really good business opportunity, I would recommend you to get a job. Build more experience. Most people fail because of lack of experience. You don't want to be in a position where the failure of the business is the lack of something trival.
If you have a good business opportunity, do a startup.
Thanks for the honest feedback! I'm gonna try to get some freelance opportunity first.
You will learn a heck of a lot faster doing your own thing. But you’ll be able to deepen a practice if you take a job where you can learn more about your craft from others.
In the past year I took a demotion to start working on my own projects. I left a ft ux manager position and took a more junior role for a large corporate company (not in tech!).
I make less. Have a lower job title.
But, Im so good at the job they hired me to do - (because I had done it two jobs ago) that I never get anxious, behind on work, or feel overwhelmed. That and the pay check allowed me to start working on my project at whatever speed and depth I wanted.
Underrated comment. It’s also a job hack, take a more junior role or even any simple remote gig that gives you mental space to work on a side project vs staying senior, being stressed at work and don’t even have the mental capacity after work to try anything else.
Do both . No one can predict the future. There is a good chance your indie project
might flop. I have had so many flops, I was nearly going to change my name to Floppy Mc Flopalot.