Probably not what you want to hear, but I'd avoid Google for any mission critical things, and any business model that relies on Google products for revenue (YouTube, AdMob, AdSense). Their automated "fraud detection" algorithms frequently have false positives and ban innocent users, without chance to appeal and have recourse. Terrible customer service.
If you don't have a lot of followers, twitter is private-ish. There's a difference between a founder tweeting something and a posting on the official company blog, for example.
My twitter feed is so private I only have three followers: me, myself, and I. My wife doesn't even follow me. I don't think she even knows I have a twitter account. It's all very hush-hush.
I should send out more private celebratory tweets....
Your assumptions go in the right direction. I think the Bay Area is an amazing place to live, not the worst place to raise a family. But somehow I don't have much luck with the dating scene here (living in the South Bay). San Francisco might be a bit better, but it's almost impossible to find an apartment at the moment. And even here it gets a bit too cold for my taste sometimes, which is weird to say for someone who grew up in central Europe. Maybe another move will make me a more interesting, well-rounded person. Maybe an environment that's not dominated by technology might be a good place to recharge my batteries. At the very least it's an adventure and a cool story to tell.
Yeah, I've only visited the Bay area & California in general, but definitely finding a place you want to be in is what I was going for -- it seems you're already thinking about that, which makes sense.
Maybe some places that recently had tech booms might be good idea? Though I don't know where you'll find better general weather than California -- Seattle? Austin? New York? Dallas? Chicago?
I live in Texas, but I do have to warn you, it gets cold here from time to time when the wind blows in the winter. sometimes
[EDIT] - Of course, outside America might be a good fit too, there are so many places, and it seems like you've got pretty much free reign -- you've got a pretty rare chance I don't think many people get (though we all decide our daily lives, I don't think many people get as clear a decision point as you have right now), enjoy it
I applied to SJSU, they have a Master's program with emphasis on mobile development. But after the budget cuts they seem to be really struggling, bureaucratically. I haven't heard anything from them other than "we received your documents, we'll process them within a week". That was two months ago. I haven't really followed up with them and asked what's going on, which I guess is a sign that I'm not really passionate about that idea...
Thanks for sharing your story. I remember reading something similar a few weeks ago here on HN.
It may be the combination of 10+ years at one company, plus a gap. It could be something else. Have you asked those friends for an update what happened after you sent your CV?
In my (limited) experience, even though people say there's a shortage of qualified software engineers and it's a great market for them now, it's always hard to find a good job. Key word being "good". Unless you're a "rock star" that has written a book and is being hired to speak at tech conferences. Companies are still being picky, even if they can't afford to be.
Thanks for this link! I've been reading a lot of blogs lately, but haven't seen this article. I've seen the TED talk mentioned in the article, and it was an inspiration to my idea, along with the Four Hour Work Week of course.
Quite a few people seem to be able to make a living as indie developers. But I wonder how many fail, without making their story public. People like to read about success stories, but not about failures.
I've also read Ferriss. Interesting ideas but I'm not sure how applicable it'd be. I like the idea of work hard for 10 yrs and take "off" a year or two better. :-)
If you ever want to meet up and chat, feel free to ping me. I've been doing indie development for ~3 yrs.
> You should think twice about what your motivaions are, do you want to become an entrepeneur? Or you just want to be happy with your job? Dont make the wrong choices for the wrong reasons.
This is a great question. I think my main goal would be autonomy. Being able to go hiking in the morning and then work through the night. I never understood why we're forced to spend the days pent up in office buildings.
The other thing: Since I was a kid with a Commodore 64, I've been wanting to develop games. Just small, quirky, but fun and captivating games. This might be the chance to go after that childhood dream, as silly as it may sound.
That's exactly what I'm already working on. I have a domain name secured, an app in the Android app store, and if I do make the jump, I'll change my LinkedIn to "Founder, <company name> LLC" or something like that.
I could use my C# skills to port the app to WP7/8, and I might even buy my first Apple computer and learn Objective C. Exciting prospects!
No advice as to whether you should do it, but if you do, stuff like this will be useful to cast your adventure as "legit" if you want to return to the standard world later. I'd definitely work on leaving a trail/portfolio of your work as you go.
I used the retirement calculator my brokerage firm has on their website. According to their Monte Carlo simulation, I have about 10 years to financial independence (90% chance that my money doesn't run out before I die), income, savings rate and expenses remaining at the same level. That happens to be around $1 million in savings in today's dollars. It's tempting on the one hand, but on the other hand: 10 damn years!! I don't know if I can do it.
It's weird, I'm hoping that the decision is somehow made for me. My company being acquired or forced to downsize, offering severance packages... But alas, it doesn't seem to be in the cards.
Ha! Yes, ten years feels like a very, very long time just lately. ;)
There's nothing wrong with coasting when you know you're moving in a good direction, which it seems clear you are. In your situation, you have the chance to sit back, observe, and carefully consider the environment (in addition to consulting whatever oracles you consider the most wise) and then decide when or whether you should strike out with any given idea.
Unless you're throwing yourself on the mercy of an incubator on the strength of your resume, which in my opinion is a laughable gamble for kids who don't know better, you will want to think long and hard on what you want to do and how you want to do it. Once you can answer those questions for yourself (as you are the only one to whom you answer, and you'll never find a more forgiving situation), you'll have your direction.
Once you take it... well, that's another story. ;)
My lease is running out in November, so that's the time frame I've given myself to see if it gets any better. The good thing is that time doesn't run against me. Okay, maybe opportunities for indie devs in the mobile market may be shrinking, and it might be harder to find a job in your forties than in your thirties, but I can wait a few months and carefully consider all the options.
Points well taken. Yes, indie opportunity is not what it was, but it's most certainly still there.
I can't speak to ageism in the market, though we all know it exists... hopefully your skills speak for you. My best weapon in the last decade has been the interview; if you enjoy and excel at that, plan on getting most of what you want. :)
I don't know what your qualifications are, but if you are interested in freelance web/Android work, please drop me a line. Info is in my profile. I have nothing waiting at the moment, but I do get a fair amount of leads.
A couple thoughts, some more depressing than others.
You could probably get three to six months off pretty easily. If just asking wouldn't work, you could hint a relative is on their last legs and make a firmer request? A few months would probably clarify the issue in a way we can't for you.
Consider looking for a new job. Partly to judge the market, and the market's take on you, and partly to actually look for something much better. You could negotiate a six-month late start and have a vacation while you decided if the job really was for you.
Maybe you could already afford to retire - in Costa-Rica or Thailand for random example - and could buy and rent property there as a fallback nest egg in case this really was your retirement, but otherwise not costing so much as to hurt your savings assuming you'll want to try to retire here.
And lastly, what's the chance that retirement savings is going to be here when you want to retire? Are you paying attention to where it is enough to avoid the next bubble? Land would still be valuable to live on, rent, while currency-denominated assets could easily hyper-inflate. Some assets can be seized, or lost in war, others - or remotely stored ones - perhaps less.
All that said, do it! Don't make any commitments, just start by taking vacation, ask for leave when that's out, and quit when that's done if you still want to stay away.
I've been thinking a similar thing. It's probably not very smart, but one idea would be to move to Honolulu. Same cost as the Bay Area, but much more beautiful and no tech echo chamber.
If anyone has a suggestion about equally beautiful places in the US that are cheaper, please share! Virginia Beach? Fort Lauderdale?
