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Graduating soon, at a crossroads

andrew.ark

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Hey all,

I posted this in another subsection of the forum, but I thought this subsection might be a better home for the post.

I just finished up The Millionaire Fastlane, and I don't think I've ever read a piece of literature that spoke to me more than this book. To give you a brief background, I'm a math major at a top state school in the US, graduating in December with a 4.0 (which I'm aware in this forum means virtually nothing). I'm also graduating with a negligible amount of debt, thankfully. About a year ago, I decided to really take control of my education, and I began to teach myself how to program. Fast forward to today, and now I'm quite good at programming, and I can honestly say that programming was the only useful thing I got out of college despite teaching it to myself (i.e. college was useless to me from an educational standpoint).

Because of my passion for coding, I decided that I wanted to work as a software engineer when I graduated, preferably at a large tech company (Google, Facebook, etc.). Currently, I'm working as a data scientist at an F25 energy company for the summer, and this job is the reason I discovered the Millionaire Fastlane. Only after a few days, I realized how much of a scam (for lack of a better word) the 9-5 life is. I'm building out models that make/save my company hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, and I'm getting paid 30 an hour for it. Huh? I realize this can come off as bratty, but I know for a fact I can do better.

Here's where my crossroads intersect: in my free time outside of work, I've been incessantly doing interview prep (Leetcode for you tech savvy readers). The thing is, Leetcode is almost only useful for interviewing, and outside of it, it teaches you problem solving skills (which is vital to any profession) but not really anything else. On the other hand, I have a startup idea that I really believe in (who doesn't lol), and it passes the litmus test/commandments that MJ lists out in TMF for a solid business. My business partner and I quickly built out an MVP, and we think with a year's worth of solid work, we can have something that could be quite profitable. Now, I can't really do both interview prep and this business all at the same time, because as MJ says, monogamy over polygamy. I really want to just say screw it to the dreams of being a software engineer at Google because my current job has shown me that I despise the 9-5 life, and a job at Google will be virtually no different. However, I'm afraid of graduating college with no job. I'm lucky enough to say that I come from an upper middle class family, so I wouldn't be on the streets if my startup failed, but there's still that fear that I'm shooting myself in the foot by not focusing my time on recruiting (again, this is probably part of the slowlane brainwashing I've been taught my society and family). This entire situation has been causing my overall discipline to dwindle due to paralysis by analysis, and I need to make a decision ASAP so that I stop wasting time switching between interview prep and working on the startup.

With all this being said, what would you do if you were in my position? I believe that I have the capability to create something for myself, and I hate the 9-5 life. However, I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by not getting a good job at a top tech company.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to learning from all of you in the future.
 
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Vigilante

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I'd take a job, and let someone else pay you for a while to learn how to run a business while you continue to build out your side business into a real platform. However, I am likely in the minority opinion on this.
 

andrew.ark

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I'd take a job, and let someone else pay you for a while to learn how to run a business while you continue to build out your side business into a real platform. However, I am likely in the minority opinion on this.
You wouldn't be worried about the golden handcuffs? This might be incorrect, but I have this notion that as soon as I start full time work, I'll be stuck there because the only time I'd have to work on my platform would be on the weekends, which definitely wouldn't be enough for my goals.

Furthermore, I do understand that working in a business helps you understand how a business runs, but could I really gather that from working at a huge company like Google? Seems like that kind of knowledge/experience is only gleaned from working at smaller businesses, where you'll likely have more exposure to all the different sides of the organization. Again, I could be wrong.

Thanks for the response. P.S., how do I get the little badge that says "Read Millionaire Fastlane " on my profile page? Haven't been able to figure that out lol
 

Vigilante

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Vigilante

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You wouldn't be worried about the golden handcuffs? This might be incorrect, but I have this notion that as soon as I start full time work, I'll be stuck there because the only time I'd have to work on my platform would be on the weekends, which definitely wouldn't be enough for my goals.

Furthermore, I do understand that working in a business helps you understand how a business runs, but could I really gather that from working at a huge company like Google? Seems like that kind of knowledge/experience is only gleaned from working at smaller businesses, where you'll likely have more exposure to all the different sides of the organization. Again, I could be wrong.

Thanks for the response. P.S., how do I get the little badge that says "Read Millionaire Fastlane " on my profile page? Haven't been able to figure that out lol

Ultimately you're going to have to make that call. You're leaning towards FREEDOM.

I worked for Walmart corporate, and let them pay me for a while during which I studied their best practices. And then I used that to convert.

However, you may be a wild pony in which case you may never be content to work for someone else. That's the Millionaire Fastlane (and maybe moreso UNSCRIPTED ) book effect. You know too much about the script to ever fit in as a cog in the system.

Ultimately, you are the only one that can make this call. And I propose you probably know most of the arguments for and against. :)
 

andrew.ark

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Ultimately you're going to have to make that call. You're leaning towards FREEDOM.

I worked for Walmart corporate, and let them pay me for a while during which I studied their best practices. And then I used that to convert.

However, you may be a wild pony in which case you may never be content to work for someone else. That's the Millionaire Fastlane (and maybe moreso UNSCRIPTED ) book effect. You know too much about the script to ever fit in as a cog in the system.

Ultimately, you are the only one that can make this call. And I propose you probably know most of the arguments for and against. :)
You clearly know what you're talking about so I appreciate the feedback. Interesting how you're able to read between the lines of my post and see what kind of person I am. I'll definitely take your opinion into account when considering what everybody else has to say.

Thanks again!
 

Vigilante

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You clearly know what you're talking about so I appreciate the feedback. Interesting how you're able to read between the lines of my post and see what kind of person I am. I'll definitely take your opinion into account when considering what everybody else has to say.

Thanks again!

Tag me when you make your decision.
 
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Odysseus M Jones

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With all this being said, what would you do if you were in my position? I believe that I have the capability to create something for myself, and I hate the 9-5 life. However, I don't want to shoot myself in the foot by not getting a good job at a top tech company.
Take the job, build your credit rating, get credit cards, use them & pay the full balance each month.
Build your lines of credit.
Take low interest loans even if you don't need the money. Invest it at a higher rate than you pay, it's not difficult to find safe returns.

Then when you've learnt business at Google, played with side hustles, saved some cash & got a huge line of credit for emergencies spread your wings.

Every structure needs a solid foundation.

And Rome wasn't built in a day.

I am likely in the minority opinion on this.
That's because few on this forum have life experience.
Because they read the books they think a job is the plague.
These youngsters think they can walk out of school into a Fastlane business.
Can't put an old head on young shoulders.
 

andrew.ark

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Take the job, build your credit rating, get credit cards, use them & pay the full balance each month.
Build your lines of credit.
Take low interest loans even if you don't need the money. Invest it at a higher rate than you pay, it's not difficult to find safe returns.

Then when you've learnt business at Google, played with side hustles, saved some cash & got a huge line of credit for emergencies spread your wings.

Every structure needs a solid foundation.

And Rome wasn't built in a day.


That's because few on this forum have life experience.
Because they read the books they think a job is the plague.
These youngsters think they can walk out of school into a Fastlane business.
Can't put an old head on young shoulders.

Hm, interesting take. The only upside I see to taking a job at a top tech firm besides what you listed is the ability to build a reputation. Yet I just can't seem to get past the fact that I'm going to be slaving away to something that isn't truly mine for 2-3 years of my life.

What's your take on what @MJ DeMarco did? If I recall correctly, he jumped into "side hustles" straight out of college, and while it didn't pan out over the first few years, it taught him how to properly run a business. Would this sort of knowledge/experience be available from working at a large company like Google?

Quick edit: I do have a solid credit line and rating already ;)
 

Odysseus M Jones

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Hm, interesting take. The only upside I see to taking a job at a top tech firm besides what you listed is the ability to build a reputation. Yet I just can't seem to get past the fact that I'm going to be slaving away to something that isn't truly mine for 2-3 years of my life.

What's your take on what @MJ DeMarco did? If I recall correctly, he jumped into "side hustles" straight out of college, and while it didn't pan out over the first few years, it taught him how to properly run a business. Would this sort of knowledge/experience be available from working at a large company like Google?

Quick edit: I do have a solid credit line and rating already ;)
In other words you want answers that validate how you feel. Confirmation bias.

There'll be along shortly, plenty of young guns here.
 
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andrew.ark

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In other words you want answers that validate how you feel. Confirmation bias.

There'll be along shortly, plenty of young guns here.
I don't think I'm seeking validation of my thoughts. My desire is to not get a job and instead start a business, but if someone can make a solid case that it's just not the right move, then I will look for a job and table my desires. Your argument hasn't really convinced me simply because your only real point is that I need a solid foundation (see: money) in order to properly start a business. As I said in my post, I'm lucky enough to say that I come from an upper middle class family, and I have a place to stay and food to eat if I fail. If I was in a different situation, say coming from lower middle class, I wouldn't have even created this post.

With this in mind, I personally believe that my time would be better spent trying to build something for myself rather than just tabling it for a few years while working at a job that I don't feel fulfilled from. I know that I feel best when I've just finished coding for 10 hours straight, working on something that I personally decided to work on, and I want to continue to chase that feeling. I don't think a job will provide me the time or energy to do that. But I digress.

I see where you're coming from, and I appreciate your input. I will use it when making a decision. Thank you.
 

Vigilante

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As a side note, I LOVE people like you. Willing to wrestle with this, willing to listen but knowing the decision is yours alone, willing to take risks, and willing to GO FOR IT. Eventually, you will win. Now it is just figuring out how to get there.

My guess if MJ weighs in here is he will lean towards the accelerator. There's nothing in the Millionaire Fast Lane that talks about playing it safe or by the script.
 
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andrew.ark

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As a side note, I LOVE people like you. Willing to wrestle with this, willing to listen but knowing the decision is yours alone, willing to take risks, and willing to GO FOR IT. Eventually, you will win. Now it is just figuring out how to get there.

My guess if MJ weighs in here is he will lean towards the accelerator. There's nothing in the Millionaire Fast Lane that talks about playing it safe or by the script.
Haha thank you for the compliments. Another boost of motivation.

I'd love to hear what MJ has to say. Let's hope.
 
G

Guest1413tpa

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I'd take a job, and let someone else pay you for a while to learn how to run a business while you continue to build out your side business into a real platform. However, I am likely in the minority opinion on this.

You are not in the minority, I 100% agree. Life has had a sick sense of humor with me... from my low points to high points. I joke about this, but I am literally a 27 year old that has gone through as much as a 57 year old. It changed me. Its made me better equipped to deal with Life's shit and also how the world REALLY is.

With out working for a few Private Equity owned companies, I wouldn't have learned what to do and what not to do... now I am looking and building my mini PE portfolio slowly.

I wouldn't have learned about the ins and outs of Salesforce if I didn't dive into roles focused around it, now I am looking at creating training to break the mold on how people use it.

I would suggest you find a job that aligns with what you want to build as a business, that will allow you to learn and also get paid while doing so (taking care of two worries at once). Pursue the side business in weekend and night hours, or during company down time.
 

andrew.ark

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You are not in the minority, I 100% agree. Life has had a sick sense of humor with me... from my low points to high points. I joke about this, but I am literally a 27 year old that has gone through as much as a 57 year old. It changed me. Its made me better equipped to deal with Life's shit and also how the world REALLY is.

With out working for a few Private Equity owned companies, I wouldn't have learned what to do and what not to do... now I am looking and building my mini PE portfolio slowly.

I wouldn't have learned about the ins and outs of Salesforce if I didn't dive into roles focused around it, now I am looking at creating training to break the mold on how people use it.

I would suggest you find a job that aligns with what you want to build as a business, that will allow you to learn and also get paid while doing so (taking care of two worries at once). Pursue the side business in weekend and night hours, or during company down time.
Yet another post pushing towards the job. Looks like I have some serious consideration and thinking to do. Thanks for the input.
 
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Greg Behnke

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I would take the job in your situation. Don’t underestimate the relevant experience you learn while on a job how the ins and outs of a company work. Make sure when you sign a contract that you don’t relinquish any ip or creations to the company you decide to go with. You can always work a couple months while the business gets traction. Working at the job may also give you more insight into the viability of your business. Meanwhile you still have 6 months till graduation so I would be putting in as many hours as possible into the business now when you have time and maybe you would have to make the decision and you can just do the business.
 

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