Startup amid other stuff + Schedule

2 points by charlieconroy ↗ HN
Having recently quit my job (Software Eng. for Initech) and being rejected by YC, I will continue operate under the assumption of: A "real" startup requires your full time and devotion; nothing residual left, even if I wanted to go back to my old job and keep the startup going. This also rules out seeking jobs of this ilk. Therefore, I can't have a "real" job in addition to a startup?

Also, as a corollary, If you have anything to give to a another job on top of your startup, you are not working hard enough on your startup.

Does this assumption/corollary seem mostly correct?

If this is all correct, then the only responsible thing that follows would be to immerse myself into the startup and ignore all the people telling me "Im irresponsible to quit and everyone I know who started a company did it on the side," said Mom. I challenge this last part!

Here is my routine until I fail (fail defined in the sense that no person on this LARGE planet finds what I want to do as exciting, and inherently useful)

Mon-Fri Wake,Breakfast(15min),Startup,Gym(1hr),Startup,TV(30-60min),zzz Dream about Startup zzz (7.5hr) Fri Night have 2-3 beers Sat Startup for 50% of the day or no Beer w/ friends Sun is reserved for my sabbath: football

This will be my schedule until I have succeeded or failed (see above definition).

One kink in this great plan is that damn money thing. When the reserves dry up it's back to work, right?. Yes and no. I think I have the best compromise when the well is dry: Take a part-time job that is physical labor only. This is a good fit because it pays my bills (college loans),gets my gym time in, and doesn't tap into my mental energy allocation.

I hope others who were rejected don't quit either :)

1 comment

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Why not take the part-time physical labor job now. That way you will get your gym time, it won't such your metal energy allocation, it will work at paying off your current debts/bills, and put off the time when you have to take a job to earn money.

If you could work just 1 day a week, or 2 hours a day for dour days a week, you could put off crunch time for a long time.

Just a thought.