My Name is Damien Doumer,
I'm a software engineer from Cameroon, currently leaving in France. I love to code, and I have a blog where I have been sharing articles and tutorials frequently for years now. I've read all of MJ DeMarco's books and I love his authenticity, I'm a big fan. I've pursued a few entrepreneurial ventures in my short career, but that was when I was in Cameroon and had to do freelancing on online freelancing platforms like Upwork, Fiverr to have a little bit of money while I was going to college.
I come from a poor background but I succeeded in winning a few awards thanks to my software development skills, then moved abroad to further my studies. I succeeded in paying my tuition fees, completed my studies, and landed a good job as a software engineer.
While I was a student, I found a need in my community (African citizens leaving abroad) and started building a platform to provide services to solve this need.
I looked over the internet and found a few competitors already offering similar solutions, but they weren't user-friendly, and lacked several features as MJ would have said it (I found ways to skew value and feel a gap that was present). I had the skills, and the motivation. I spent more than a year building this platform on my own, in silence, alone and when I was nearly ready to launch, A new competitor came up who did the exact same thing I implemented and this shattered my hopes of success. In the beginning, I thought (Don't be discouraged) people around me told me not to be discouraged, but as I was finalizing the development of my platform, I was noticing updates on the competitor's platforms and regular improvements, customer support, etc, and the features I was implementing where being implemented by them at a quick pace. This made me notice that I was competing against a whole team, I tried to find a cofounder, but didn't find one. I was deeply demoralized and gave up on the project.
In the meantime, as I landed my new job, I went to a company that will keep me close to the African market, hoping to learn as much as I could from them, and how they conquered the difficulties they faced. I've been working there as a software engineer for more than a year now, and I noticed a big need they have in their operation. This need can help my company considerably increase its profit. This need is felt by several other companies too. I've been actively researching how to solve this need since it doesn't only require technical skills but knowledge in several other fields. I'm determined not to repeat my mistakes again.
This time, I found a cofounder first, a friend of mine who has a similar work ethic to mine. The problem is, I want to propose my solution as a partner to my employer (create my own company), and not as an employee. I don't know how my employer will react, since I'm actually occupying a key role in the organization. I'm afraid they don't receive it well and ask me to let go of it.
I'm also afraid to quit my job since I don't have anybody to rely on in case anything goes bad, instead, my family back at home relies on me. I have so many fears, that is why after re-reading MJ Demarco's books several times, I decided to be more present on this forum, to stay motivated, and not to give up this time, even if I come across the most difficult challenges I've ever faced.
I'm a software engineer from Cameroon, currently leaving in France. I love to code, and I have a blog where I have been sharing articles and tutorials frequently for years now. I've read all of MJ DeMarco's books and I love his authenticity, I'm a big fan. I've pursued a few entrepreneurial ventures in my short career, but that was when I was in Cameroon and had to do freelancing on online freelancing platforms like Upwork, Fiverr to have a little bit of money while I was going to college.
I come from a poor background but I succeeded in winning a few awards thanks to my software development skills, then moved abroad to further my studies. I succeeded in paying my tuition fees, completed my studies, and landed a good job as a software engineer.
While I was a student, I found a need in my community (African citizens leaving abroad) and started building a platform to provide services to solve this need.
I looked over the internet and found a few competitors already offering similar solutions, but they weren't user-friendly, and lacked several features as MJ would have said it (I found ways to skew value and feel a gap that was present). I had the skills, and the motivation. I spent more than a year building this platform on my own, in silence, alone and when I was nearly ready to launch, A new competitor came up who did the exact same thing I implemented and this shattered my hopes of success. In the beginning, I thought (Don't be discouraged) people around me told me not to be discouraged, but as I was finalizing the development of my platform, I was noticing updates on the competitor's platforms and regular improvements, customer support, etc, and the features I was implementing where being implemented by them at a quick pace. This made me notice that I was competing against a whole team, I tried to find a cofounder, but didn't find one. I was deeply demoralized and gave up on the project.
In the meantime, as I landed my new job, I went to a company that will keep me close to the African market, hoping to learn as much as I could from them, and how they conquered the difficulties they faced. I've been working there as a software engineer for more than a year now, and I noticed a big need they have in their operation. This need can help my company considerably increase its profit. This need is felt by several other companies too. I've been actively researching how to solve this need since it doesn't only require technical skills but knowledge in several other fields. I'm determined not to repeat my mistakes again.
This time, I found a cofounder first, a friend of mine who has a similar work ethic to mine. The problem is, I want to propose my solution as a partner to my employer (create my own company), and not as an employee. I don't know how my employer will react, since I'm actually occupying a key role in the organization. I'm afraid they don't receive it well and ask me to let go of it.
I'm also afraid to quit my job since I don't have anybody to rely on in case anything goes bad, instead, my family back at home relies on me. I have so many fears, that is why after re-reading MJ Demarco's books several times, I decided to be more present on this forum, to stay motivated, and not to give up this time, even if I come across the most difficult challenges I've ever faced.
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