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Ask HN: should I reboot my career at the age 30?

8 points by shaohua ↗ HN
Bio phd + 2 year management consulting experience. Long for start-ups and did two web start-ups before on the side. Admitted into Hack Reactor, a front-end focused 10 week bootcamp. Should I pull the trigger?

25 comments

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RKoutnik
There's no reason being 30 should stop you from living the dream. What should stop you:

- Other people rely financially on you

- You don't have a tech background

- You're bad at taking advice

shaohua
- no for the first - no tech background, hence wanting to do a bootcamp program to become a developer - not sure about the last piece; what does this mean?
RKoutnik
Bootcamp program will help but make sure you also have your own projects to learn with. As to the last piece: It's vitally important to be able to take advice from others in a startup.

http://www.paulgraham.com/word.html

shaohua
Thanks. I always have ongoing side projects, so I will work more on that. Re-read the article and I guess the inability to take advice is the opposite of "relentlessly resourceful"
RKoutnik
Good luck! Keep us updated, and don't be afraid to change your idea.
cjbprime
Out of curiosity, was your Bio phd wetlab or computational?
shaohua
systems biology, so half wet lab and half modeling
Callmenorm
Do it if you're stoked on development and you're cool with being the ignorant one for a while. I dropped out of Econ PhD program at Duke after third year cause I thought software development was my dream and its been great.
shaohua
wow. I would love to get an Econ PhD from Duke. How does it feel to change from being pretty knowledgeable in Economics to being completely ignorant in programming?
L0j1k
What interests me most about your comment is that you are not even the second person I have heard of that dropped out of a PhD at Duke. Was it your advisor?
bink-lynch
I will be 50 on my next birthday and I rebooted this past summer. Left my VP position and about to launch my first startup. Thirty is young. You have a lot of life ahead of you. Make sure you do what you love.
shaohua
that is very encouraging. Good luck!
bink-lynch
Until recently, I was kicking myself for not doing this sooner; like when I was in my 30's :)

I always knew this is what I wanted to do, but I just didn't leave, what I thought was, the comfort of employment. "Let them worry about the business", I always reasoned, "I'll just build it." I realize now, that was the wrong way, for me, to look at it.

Best of luck to you!

shaohua
Thanks. 30 is a magic number.
tarr11
Age 30 is meaningless.

Kids? Health issues? Financial stability? Peace of mind? Quality of your idea? Research and Preparation? Co-founder?

Those are factors that might be more relevant.

shaohua
no kids; no health issues; financially just meeting ends;

I guess I am more concerned about changing career directions to become a developer and less concerned about starting a start-up right now

fakeer
Changing careers at a certain age(that too sth as young as 30) is hindered more by mindset and years of stereotype we have been believing.

How well travelled you are? Around the world. Do you think about such things because as you see you are 30 :-)

PS. Does "Bio phd + 2 year" meant you are a PhD in Biology or related stream or it was supposed to be "Bio: " as in Biography? Just curious as you have mentioned web work and later "no tech background. If yes, why so?

shaohua
Biology PhD. I was doing anything else but coding the last two startups... Have traveled extensively, but no plan to travel around the world yet.
27182818284
Fascinating!

My sister actually decided to reboot her career around that same age (though she is older now). She had to go back to school as her earlier major wasn't a science major. She ended up getting her bio PhD and now works at a great university doing way more interesting stuff than she did before she chose to "reboot" her career. This fascinated me because she rebooted, and moved to the field you're looking to get out of and ended up happier.

Go for it! I think that's a great example of how different people are happy on different paths. If you feel like rebooting, do it.

shaohua
Interesting story.... the good old days of getting a bio phd will help you get a decent professor position. Those days are long gone now... I guess 30 is an interesting age when people begin to reflect on their lives.
dear
Go for it! Start a bio startup!
shaohua
dear dear, as you might know, a couple of million $$ is absolutely nothing for a bio startup
bink-lynch
btw - I was one of the key engineering members on the team that built Eidogen when it was a startup. Very expensive!
websitescenes
I'm 30 and at the top of my game! I'm currently a developer with ambitions of a startup. Honestly, I'm in no hurry. Everyday of real world experience makes me smarter and more prepared for my own startup. Do the bootcamp, unless you have to pay, then forget that.
[dead] invdevm
Life is unpredictable. You never know. So don't listen to guys saying you can't reboot. You can, whenever you want it. Just sit in the morning with a fresh mind and ask yourself what are your short term goals (make a list on 43things.com). Jot them down. Now concentrate on just one goal. Remember only one. Now work on that. You'll begin to feel a new life within 30 days.

Trust me. It has happened with me before.