On transitioning a side-hustle to a main-hustle — an interview with Sean Moir

Making the leap from side-hustle to main-hustle can be a daunting task. Is the product truly validated? When is the right time to do it? How much runway do you need? There's a lot to consider.

I caught up with Sean Moir (@indiemoir), who is in the middle of that process right now. And you might be surprised to hear that he's doing it pre-launch. He's got zero MRR, but a lot of guts. 😎

My favorite part?

"My indie hacking time has probably been 30% building, 70% learning."

On the decision to quit his day job before launching his side-project

Sean: I attempted another startup in 2020. It could have been successful, but I burned out juggling it with my full-time job.

So I'm trying to avoid burnout this time, but my progress with Time Advisor has been slow and inconsistent. I know I can't successfully launch my new project while in my full-time role without burning out again. I have to commit and will it into existence.

I have a comfortable amount of runway in savings, I'm not too far from launch, and I believe I could get another job quickly if needed. It feels like it’s now or never.

So I'm going full-time on it in October. But I’m still pre-launch.

On where he gets the confidence to go full-time at $0 MRR

Sean: My confidence primarily comes from having 8 months of cash runway for my family’s expenses, assuming $0 MRR for the entirety of that runway. I’m less than a month from launch and any MRR over the next 7 months extends that runway further.

I’m feeling very excited about the upcoming journey. I know it’s going to be difficult, but it’s a life change that I need, and I can’t imagine being in a better position than I am now to take the risk.

On where to start if you’re interested in taking the leap from side gig to full-time

Sean: Start by finding a problem space you care about deeply.

Having a deep sense of purpose and motivation for the project I’m working on gets me through the lows. I know that regardless of outcome I will not regret the time I’ve invested.

My last startup wasn't something I wanted to work on long-term — it wasn't the "difference" that I wanted to make. And I didn't make it work.

I'm doing things differently with Time Advisor because I care deeply about this project. I often get lost in the busyness of life, and I see Time Advisor as an aide for living more intentionally. It’s an AI-powered day planner and coach app.

On making the transition easier

Sean: The CTO at my current company and I negotiated a plan for me to work part-time October 1 through December 1, or until my role is backfilled. If it's backfilled in September, I could be full-time indie hacking by October.

Having a smooth transition was important to maintain a good connection with the CTO who has unlocked a lot of entrepreneurial connections for me. It also extends my runway.

On his schedule juggling full-time employment with a side project

Weekdays:
6:30a – 8:30a: Morning routines
8:30a – 5p: Day job
5p – 8:30p: Evening routines (dinner with wife, etc.)
8:30p – 11p: Indie hacking

Weekends:
Saturday: ~4-6 hours of indie hacking
Sunday: Usually a rest day to keep from burning out

Sean: I’m not always consistent with this schedule due to ad-hoc life priorities etc., but it’s what I strive for.

A tip for developers who aren't familiar with design tools

Sean: Given my engineering background and relative lack of familiarity with design tools, I thought it’d be faster to go right from low-fidelity mockups to building my app. Figma never quite clicked for me, but I recently discovered Framer and have been using it to build a full set of high fidelity clickable mockups. Doing so has allowed me to make decisions about features and scope much faster and enabled me to get quicker feedback on the UI.

On focusing on learning too — not just building

Sean: The biggest surprise is how much I’ve had to learn (and am still learning), not as a developer, but as an entrepreneur. I know now that I can’t just build a product and expect people to come, so for the past couple of months, my indie hacking time has probably been 30% building, 70% learning.

It's a lot of reading across various topics (mostly marketing) and channels, as well as figuring out how to use new tools. But my balance has finally swung the other way around, so I'm spending about 70% building and 30% learning now.