HelenUK's comments

Just a thought but for your first project, why not outsource it? You've done it before! Especially as you see yourself as a product manager type role.

It would certainly be more enjoyable than tearing your hair out learning to improve your code with one eye on the calendar.

Get a job asap, maybe two. Earn whatever you can and invest it in getting your idea built by someone who can code efficiently and quickly. Now THAT would be good time management.

Your $'s will push the project forward more than fraught hours spent perfecting your coding skills.

Also by investing your money like this it will make you look at your potential ideas in a far more critical way. It makes you put money where your mouth is.

At the end of the 3.5 months you could have your first app launched (very short timeline for you to do the same yourself) You could even have your $2000 saved ready for rent,bills as backup etc.

If your app/software takes off and you have some income from it and more ideas, that's the time you can move away from your normal jobs and learn to code.

If the app doesn't take off in the short timescale, you already have a job to carry you through.

It makes more sense to move away from employment if it is a success instead of scrabbling to find work once you run out of time.

Aim for the best case scenario, prepare for the worst. :)

I have to agree that the location won't help Ignite100. Though Ignite100 may help the North East.

If I had to choose between moving to the North East to be part of an incubator or moving to London and going it on my own, I'd still choose London, The probability of chance opportunities, networking and connections are far higher in London and these things make the difference. Even YC was moved to Silicon Valley because the cultural pull meant businesses would benefit from being there.

As someone who has recently been part of a UK incubator scheme outside of London and "up north" the mentoring side of it had neither quantity or quality and it was a compulsory expense, paid for out of our funding. The best parts of the scheme were interacting with other startups and the support from the staff administrating the scheme.

The fact that YC accepts global applications gives me great hope. When I think of YC, I think of founders/mentors that champion, encourage and problem solve with the teams, Super smart, dedicated applicants willing to travel around the world for a 10min interview.

I wonder how many applicants to Ignite will come from afar?

I still have my sights set on YC, Though I'm still looking for the right co-founder.