wyattsthrowaway's comments

wyattsthrowaway | 12 years ago | on: Ask HN: How much savings did you have before quitting your industry job?

$20k in the bank

$500/mo recurring

negotiating a $15k consulting project

several other potential projects in early talks

Remember that runway = cash/burn_rate. Lowering burn rate was a key enabler: I was able to find a rent-free living situation for a few months and that put me over the edge to quit. I also have a nice safety valve in that at the end of the runway, I don't crash and burn, I walk right back into an industry job.

Because my burn rate is much lower than my former 6.5k/mo industry pay rate, I expect this to go much further than the 3 months pay I have in savings. That said, I'm being conservative and would only commit myself to 3mo terms at the longest for office/rent.

I don't claim to know anything about the sufficiency here, it was just my best guess. Comments welcome :-)

* There are no guarantees, but I received 3 offers @80k+ in 1mo of searching, so I like my odds. On a related note, always prefer data like this to a gut feel of your employability.

(throwaway -- don't need prospective clients seeing my financials)

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