Ask HN: Depressed – To 'Start Up' or Not ,Help

[startup_dreamer]

Hello,

I am currently working in a big firm as a programmer. I am frustrated and depressed about the work I do. All I do is to work with a bunch of people who have zero idea about the business. We basically just do coding to satisfy the test cases !!

I personally think i can do better than this. I am a passive observer of start up space since many years. I am familiar with PHP (Symfony Framework),JS, Handling Servers: VPS,AWS, etc and have a dream product idea but the only thing that is making me not to quit this job and 'start up' is the fear of failure.

My fears are primarily due to :

1 ) My dream product is having a bunch of big competitions and is targeted towards developers/Project managers (Ex: Basecamp/Atlassian/IBM Rational Suites etc).Even though I am okay when it comes to development, I cant sell especially not in these kind of targeted developers group :(

2 ) I have never worked in a complex Symfony PHP Application which I have to work on if i pursue my product idea.

3 ) Even though I have friends in real life but when it comes to my Startup idea , I am all alone. I have read and seen repeatedly that a sole founder startup is doomed in most of the cases.

4 ) Going back to my job is very difficult if I fail as we have large number of aspirants for the job and a break in career is a black mark in my country.<p>But Money is not much of a issue as i have saved chunk of my salary. So i can Survive for next 1-2 years.

Continued in comment below ..https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7190984

[dkural]

(1) - does your dream product have a novel take on the space / differentiates itself in some way (UX for instance - UX is a powerful differentiator (hipmunk is an example)? If so, Don't let existing competition scare you. If not, don't start the company!

Also, regarding MVP/Selling: Make a simple webpage for your product in launch-rock style. Just advertising. No actual product. Tell people exactly what the product is, and the benefits. Have some screenshots made by a designer friend. Set up analytics: measure incoming # users, and have a place for them to put an email. Then post this everywhere on the internet! Are people excited? How many people visit?

If people visit, this validates your concept, and if people sign up to learn more - don't worry, you can sell eventually find a way to sell your product. There is demand.

(2) Don't worry about this at all. After you do stuff in Step (1), find a better developer. If you are to run your startup, being a programmer really helps, but you won't be doing it for long.

(3) This is an important thing to fix. Are there local meet-ups for programmers / university clubs for geeks? After Step (1) you'd have a validated idea, so perhaps you can move to a more start-up friendly place if you can't find a local group in your hometown. Since there is a software company, there's gotta be more startup minded people in the closet!

(4) It doesn't have to be a career break. You should put your startup on your CV. The funny thing is, a lot of 'established companies' in the developing work are actually doing back office work for American startups. I understand that you run into cultural issues and this is hard. I guess this is part of the risk you'd have to take. You'll eventually find a new job.

[31reasons]

If you are single, you can just quit your job and focus on MVP. There is no excuse to keep working at a job you don't like if you have no other responsibilities. OR Find a job where there is less work (like in government or academia) so you can spend more time on MVP. You don't have to start a Start Up to build something.

[startup_dreamer]

Continued..

So far I have tried these :

1) Wake up early in morning/ Late nyt to work/learn on the product to produce a MVP.

2) Try to learn more in weekends or go to nearby startup meetup's.

3) Created a plan for the firm and document features/high level design.

4) Try to think positive.

I have found that its very difficult to work/learn after the frustrating office work. Even though I can make time in weekends but most of the time I just cant concentrate.

I tried a lot but seems like unless you have proper state of Mind you cant do good coding. So creating a MVP is not possible :(

Have you come across this kind of phase where you know you are stuck but cant get out from that due to fear of what happens next ?

Please advise me regarding this.

[seven]

Imho you should switch 1) and 4) :)

Is there any chance that you could freelance for your current company.. or at least work half time?

About your dream project: Try to get steady validation from the beginning. Find your first user first. I just started a little side project and without encouragement and a tiny amount of power users, I would have stopped before I really started. Marketing to developers is incredible hard (at least for me). Prepare for frustration.

Getting into the right flow is one problem I face myself on a regular base. What helps me a lot is to just relax a bit (days!) and trust myself to do the coding somewhere in my brain as background job. After being afk for some time I can't wait to get back and make somehow progress. Just do your job for another two weeks and really use your free time to get some rest and have some fun. Perhaps your outlook changes a bit after that.

What was the result from going to startup meetings? Never been to one, planing to visit some meetings in my area, but no clue what to expect.

[stonemetal]

Try to segregate more. It sounds like you do PHP for a day job and tried to have a side project in PHP as well. This isn't good, as you point out, frustrations from one area bleeds over into the other area. Work in a different language, clothes, environment, industry, anything you can do to help trick your mind into not letting frustration bleed from one to the other.

Think about trying to do something not programming, brew a craft beer, restore old cars, make bird houses, whatever.

[xauronx]

I was able to accomplish quite a lot working in the evenings and weekends. If you're really motivated, just start forcing yourself to do it. It probably won't be enjoyable and it probably won't be your favorite thing in the world, but if you concentrate on small successes it can be rewarding. I'm super conservative (safe?) with jobs, I don't want to leave a guaranteed check for something less certain. I don't think you have to be cavalier about it, just develop your product in your spare time. If you get enough support with an MVP then you can make a responsible choice to leave your job.

[tattvamasi]

i am not particularly qualified to answer your question, but good enough to understand and pass my view: here is my opinion

#1 every prod/service that you offer has/will have competition and way to break it.

#2 programming/building stuff is never going to be a problem to worry. For developers who want to start business there are many other things to worry about , the quick we realise it the better.

#3 Try to be friends with business partners but not the other way. look for partners/money when you need them;

#4 All failed entrepreneurs are very well respected and this black mark theory is nonsense (I am sure at least in India this is not the case and you should avoid companies with that mindset. there are lot other ...)

#5 If you want to get your MVP done with limited time you have without quitting job, try to outsource it (money can get you time).

I suggest you to (re)read 37 signals and complete something tangible quickly. Completed product with 1% features is far better than unfinished product with 99% features.

[startup_dreamer]

Thanks a lot for your responses :)

My current day job involves using other technology where as my dream product will be using PHP.

yes MVP is a safe option for me before I quit. But my big concern is How can I actually test/validate it with those limited features. ( And not to mention not violating the IP,Terms and other messy things of my current company ).

[throwaway420]

This will be much more difficult and you'll have to give up much of your social life, but you can also conceivably keep your job and work on an MVP during nights and weekends. This might actually help you keep focused only on the essential aspects of your application rather than trying to release a massive version 1.0.

[bemmu]

Maybe you could try to do some really tiny subproblem that you can complete in a weekend? I think many get their start in business by starting with a smaller plugin to something else and going from there. After you have any kind of initial success, it will build your confidence to do more.

[sharemywin]

build a sales page with the top 3 or 4 features for your dream product then work on getting some people to sign up for the product to use for free a trial(coming soon). email users that might be interested, advertise on google, ask for help show the product page in forums etc. if you can't even get some people to try a free trial you don't have a good idea. Now that you've committed to delivering something to real people you will deliver.

[fmdud]

"A break in career is a black mark in my country" - Which country do you live in? Is it in the EU?