I must be crazy
So, today I resigned from my job. My quite well-paying job. For better or for worse, I’m going to give working-for-myself a try, and see if I can start a business. I must be crazy.
I’m squarely laying the blame for this at the feet of Amy Hoy and Patrick McKenzie, because of their recent inspirational podcast: Kalzumeus Podcast Ep. 2 with Amy Hoy: Pricing, Products, And Passion.
Let me list the reasons I must be crazy:
- I’m the breadwinner with a wife and daughter to support
- My wife is due to have our second child in 8 weeks
- We’re currently building a house, and the builder’s bills will soon arrive
- I’m Australian, ergo crazy by definition.
So, what’s with this? Well, after listening to the aforementioned podcast and reading a very inspirational post by Julien Smith, a few things started melding together in my mind:
- I’ve wanted to do this for years
- My current work situation is too stressful for me to stay
- I’ve recently been reading a few books on starting a business, most notable the $100 startup, which have got me really super-keen for entrepreneurship
- Just started doing Ramit Sethi’s Earn1k course with a friend, which is giving me some great marketing ideas
- I’ve got an unridden motorbike sitting in the garage, which i could turn into cash to pay the bills to give me a few month’s runway
- And most of all: I’m getting old. And boring. And stale. I need to try this, or i’ll gradually shrivel for the rest of my life.
So – here we go! I’m going to leave the dayjob in 14 days time, and venture out into the great unknown of entrepreneurship. I’m going to make, market, and hustle my iPhone apps like my life depends on it.
And if you want to come along for the ride, add me to your rss reader or (even better) by subscribing to my newsletter at the top of this page. Everyone I work with is really interested in seeing how I go (because they all want to do the same thing!) so i’m thinking that surely more people out there would also be interested, so i’m going to publically blog about it. I really hope people get something out of this (and hopefully not just as a cautionary tale!).
If you want to get in touch – please send me an email! The link is on the right hand side of this page.
Chris Hulbert
Update
Some people have, quite rightly, questioned my recklessness in pursuing this course of action. So here’s how i’m hedging my bets:
- I’ve got money saved up to last a few months
- I’m pretty confident i can find a job if this goes badly
- I’m going to start looking for small freelancing jobs asap
Thanks for reading! And if you want to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you: chris.hulbert at gmail.
Chris Hulbert
(Comp Sci, Hons - UTS)
Software Developer (Freelancer / Contractor) in Australia.
I have worked at places such as Google, Cochlear, Assembly Payments, News Corp, Fox Sports, NineMSN, FetchTV, Coles, Woolworths, Trust Bank, and Westpac, among others. If you're looking for help developing an iOS app, drop me a line!
Get in touch:
[email protected]
github.com/chrishulbert
linkedin
