Why I'm an Entrepreneur

"There are days I just feel terrible, like everything could crumble to pieces in the blink of an eye. Those days I dread reading my morning emails, fearing for a disastrous bug report, or a cancelled paying user, or even a declined customer credit card.

But the highs are so fucking high that it makes it all worth it. The big paying account, the customer that loves your product, and the connections you make with the outside world. The personal growth, seeing yourself overcome challenges you used to be too afraid to face. There is truly nothing like it."

This is it.

I'm seriously thinking about getting rid of everything I have just to try and start a business. Might as well do it while I'm young (28).

For me, its not really the money (although, I do like money). My approach to programming isn't to just solve problems and earn a paycheck. I want to make something cool. Something that affects the world in a positive way. An awesome product. We are essentially inventors of our world. To me it doesn't make sense to waste that mindset.

Money is a powerful factor in this decision, however. You do not want to leave a well paying job just to go out there and fail miserably, or not even get the chance to get your idea off the ground.

For me, while I'm still getting paid at my job, I think the smart thing is to get the basic idea up and running before I go out to Silicon Valley and see what I'm made of. The web is good about letting folks test the waters first before diving in. So, I will continue to punch away at this idea.

Its so scary to think about doing this. Perhaps, being scared is a good thing...

Great post! I think it's always important to take a step back every now and then and look at the reasons why one does things - whether its your career, your habits, or with respect to major events. That kind of introspection can help you validate (or invalidate) what you're doing, and gives you a chance to grow as a person. So good on you, man!

I started my company out of the opposite need: No one would hire me.

I was fresh out of university in 2004, in the middle of the second IT bubble, living in a not-so-hot city job market wise. I must have applied to over a hundred job ads.

I had a short gig at a very small company without a salesperson, until they could no longer afford having me. Then I worked on an assembly line until 2006, when a friend needed a dynamic website for his employee.

I quit my day job in 2008, but it's not until the last year or so it's been starting to go well. An I still have a long way to go until I reach a normal developer income level.

But I have learnt so much during those years! I really don't regret starting my own. I have seriously considered getting a 9-5 job, but the freedom I enjoy makes it hard to imagine not working for myself.

"It's a truly special thing to convince someone to pay you for something you've made", this is what non-entrepreneurs do all day as well. There is a subtle difference, but I am yet to understand it.

It isn't only entrepreneurs who get paid for their craft, is it only entrepreneurs who often don't??

Thanks for this yesimahuman - it was incredibly timely for me. Today was my last day at a corporate job, and the first day of being a full-time entrepreneur. I know that I've got a roller coaster of emotion ahead, but it's encouraging to know the highs are higher than the lows are low.

Great post. It is a hard thing to sum up. I think this HBR article (http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/09/entrepreneurship_as_disease....) talking about it as a disease is one of the best I read.

Good Stuff. It also important to do the math on your item or idea. Calculate all costs. A lot of people just jump in assuming they are in the green and end up in red.

Great post!