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Ask HN: Those who left software development, what did you end up doing instead?

9 points by ckdarby ↗ HN

19 comments

[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 57.2 ms ] thread
jdan
Do people that have escaped still read hacker news?
the_only_law
The day I find a way out of this industry, I don't plan to quit programming, but instead using it as a less important tool in a domain/industry I'm interested in or even sorely on my own, working on whatever I wish,
thenoisywatcher
Developer advocacy Technical customer account management Technical product marketing Technical product support

If you like a more social aspect to your role, customer account management is a good option.

If you have an interest in marketing, Dev Advocacy/devrel/tech evangelism/dev marketing or tech product marketing are a great fit.

Curious to know what other did? Assuming you stayed within the tech space.

factorialboy
Sales. I still make software, for myself. It is joyful.
mikewarot
I was a system administrator / Lone IT Guy at a marketing company for 15 years. Then I worked making gears for 5 years.

Now I'm wanting to dive back into programming, at 57. It's going to be interesting.

fiftyacorn
Of people I worked with two are brewers, one makes furniture, loads doing agile scrum roles or PM'ng or BA roles
meiraleal
I'm leaving June. I'll do nothing, learn how to create music and maybe make money, but I saved enough to live the same life I'm currently living for at least 20 years so I have time.
asidiali
Congrats! That sounds like quite a goal accomplished for many on here. Well done to you.
meiraleal
Thanks! I think be around HN helped me a lot to do it (and also to want to do it).
ckdarby
Can you talk a bit about how you've saved enough to continue the same life for at least the next 20 years?

Is it multiple streams of income? Just dividend portfolio? Combination?

meiraleal
It is just one stream of income currently, my salary. I save up to 90% of what I make (6 figures/year), so every month I'm saving 9 more months that could stretch to a year. I'm starting to put this money into the stock market and building a dividend portfolio.

The catch is that I live in a 3rd world country where dollar is overpriced right now and work for an American company and I'm turning my savings into real assets that guarantee me a comfortable life without need to worry about work.

giantg2
I'd love to quit and have a small farm (fish pond, horse boarding, mushrooms, bees, and maybe some berries and fruits). Would be cool to grow and malt my own grain. Maybe even have a micro brewery/winery (regs probably kill that idea).
ckdarby
I'm trying to transition into running a small 1/4 acre farm over the next 3 years with our 3 acres of land.

Trying to find people from a tech background who have either gone through this journey or just starting.

giantg2
I've done a lot of research and planning/visualization of it. What kind of crops do you plan to raise? Is it mostly like a big garden for subsistence with some sales of the extra, or will it be mostly commercial?
ckdarby
What we plan to grow are tomatos, cucumbers, garlic, carrots, and mesclun mix. Grow for ourselves but sell the extra.
giantg2
Cool. I have a garden with mostly roma tomatoes for canning and a couple of dark tomatoes like Cherokee black or black icicle. I used Boston pickling for the cucumber since I like pickles and they work fine fresh too. I have plans for carrots and garlic but the soild type isn't great here since there's a lot of clay. Maybe after a few more years of composting and fertilizing the soil will be loose enough. I'm planning for purple hardneck garlic and one type of orange carrot with another type of black carrot. Of course there's tons of other stuff I grow too. I'm sure with a 1/4 acre you'll problem find some other things to add to the mix.
lolive
/mode fun=on

Front end development.