Itching to quit my job now but should I wait for bonus?

[Clint Emeka]

Hey everyone,

I’m 22 and I’ve just started my first corporate job as a new-graduate software engineer at a well-known tech company. I’ve only been working here 4 months but I am so certain now that I want to be an entrepreneur. Executing on ideas has never been one of my problems, I act quickly and I absolutely HATE waiting once I’m firmly hooked on an idea. My dilemma is that right now I’m REALLY itching to quit my job so I can dedicate my whole day to execute some business ideas I’m really keen to get to work on but if I stick around in this job for 10 months I’ll receive a stock bonus currently worth over $100k. I’m really itching to quit now but I’m restraining myself because I think a $100k bonus could buy me a few years to work on my business without worrying too much about bills. I’m already so sure I don’t want the corporate lifestyle. I’m willing to fail over and over again for years until I produce a successful business even if that means working part time on the side just to pay the bills. Though would it be smarter to just wait 10 months to receive my bonus and then quit? I’d really appreciate everyone’s thoughts.
I’m glad to be joining such a great community. Thanks for your help! Also, it’s also worth mentioning that I want to start working on my business ASAP before life potentially makes it even harder with kids, committed relationships, etc.

 

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[Johnny boy]

Do both by carving out the time you would spend wasting time at work, hanging out, going out for drinks, friends, playing videogames, etc. When I started it was:
6am wake up
7am interview potential employees
8am work as a car salesman
in the less busy hours at work I was at my computer growing my company, running ads, getting insurance quotes, managing employees working
4pm get off work and go finish up the work employees screwed up or didn't get done
7pm give quotes for other jobs or keep working
8pm go home and do other work like setting up our automated email response system, learn about stuff in my industry
10pm go to bed

All day every day. I was living at home at the time.

I worked before work. I worked at my other work. I worked after work and I worked after the work after work.

If you have a work from home arrangement you are golden. You should be able to spend almost 40% of your entire day dedicated to starting your business. Lots of life is waiting. I like to combine things that allow me to pursue them both fully because they fit into each others' waiting periods. My lawn care company runs itself for half of the year usually. So I can spend half of the year doing other things. Your job likely has a large amount of free time built into it and you can use that free time to build your business.

Listen to the 4-hr workweek as an audiobook for an hour or two a day and listen to it twice a year.

View: https://youtu.be/6BXGnE3OHp8


You'll realize you don't even have to work as much as I did and still do both your job and your business. You can become much more efficient.

 

[OMDA]

I waited a few months to get a bonus before quitting and bailing to europe for half a year.

Have you started to build something on your own yet? Have prospective clients? Are you afraid about IP issues with your employer? Also, are you fully vested with that bonus?

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I wouldn't quit a good job unless you've met some guidelines. Of course, this isn't "one size fits all" but I think it applies for 75% of the world.

From The Great Rat Race Escape ...

 

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[Clint Emeka]

I waited a few months to get a bonus before quitting and bailing to europe for half a year.

Have you started to build something on your own yet? Have prospective clients? Are you afraid about IP issues with your employer? Also, are you fully vested with that bonus?

Yes I’ve started building two online products that work together hand in hand. There’s a steep learning curve for both so I need to invest a lot of time and effort before seeing any results. My job is actually pretty mentally taxing so there’s not enough energy left to progress in my business at a pace I think would be reasonable. The full bonus is actually over $400k vesting gradually over a 4 year period. The first $100k just vests about a year in. I don’t really care to stick around for the rest of the bonus because I really would rather just be working on my own business even if I won’t (good chance) make as much money in the same time period. As far as getting clients, my business model is online software so the first thing I need to do is to build a minimal prototype, advertise it and measure how the market reacts to it. I don’t have a prototype yet. Like I said the learning curve is really steep so i think just making a prototype would take so long if I keep squandering all my time and energy to this job that I frankly do not give a s**t about no matter how much they pay me. Legit the only thing that’s keeping me around is the idea that the money that vests after year 1 could buy me more time to work in my business.

 

[Clint Emeka]

I wouldn't quit a good job unless you've met some guidelines. Of course, this isn't "one size fits all" but I think it applies for 75% of the world.

From The Great Rat Race Escape ...

View attachment 38834

 

[Clint Emeka]

Do both by carving out the time you would spend wasting time at work, hanging out, going out for drinks, friends, playing videogames, etc. When I started it was:
6am wake up
7am interview potential employees
8am work as a car salesman
in the less busy hours at work I was at my computer growing my company, running ads, getting insurance quotes, managing employees working
4pm get off work and go finish up the work employees screwed up or didn't get done
7pm give quotes for other jobs or keep working
8pm go home and do other work like setting up our automated email response system, learn about stuff in my industry
10pm go to bed

All day every day. I was living at home at the time.

I worked before work. I worked at my other work. I worked after work and I worked after the work after work.

If you have a work from home arrangement you are golden. You should be able to spend almost 40% of your entire day dedicated to starting your business. Lots of life is waiting. I like to combine things that allow me to pursue them both fully because they fit into each others' waiting periods. My lawn care company runs itself for half of the year usually. So I can spend half of the year doing other things. Your job likely has a large amount of free time built into it and you can use that free time to build your business.

Listen to the 4-hr workweek as an audiobook for an hour or two a day and listen to it twice a year.

View: https://youtu.be/6BXGnE3OHp8


You'll realize you don't even have to work as much as I did and still do both your job and your business. You can become much more efficient.

Thanks this makes sense. I’ve actually read the four hour work week and loved it. Currently my job is pretty taxing on me and I’d probably burn out if I constitently spent all my nights working on a side business for years. Maybe the job will get easier, I am new after all and I’ve been thrown into the deep end but I guess we’ll see. I prefer the idea of focusing on one thing at a time but I know we can’t have it all

 

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[Kevin88660]

Hey everyone,

I’m 22 and I’ve just started my first corporate job as a new-graduate software engineer at a well-known tech company. I’ve only been working here 4 months but I am so certain now that I want to be an entrepreneur. Executing on ideas has never been one of my problems, I act quickly and I absolutely HATE waiting once I’m firmly hooked on an idea. My dilemma is that right now I’m REALLY itching to quit my job so I can dedicate my whole day to execute some business ideas I’m really keen to get to work on but if I stick around in this job for 10 months I’ll receive a stock bonus currently worth over $100k. I’m really itching to quit now but I’m restraining myself because I think a $100k bonus could buy me a few years to work on my business without worrying too much about bills. I’m already so sure I don’t want the corporate lifestyle. I’m willing to fail over and over again for years until I produce a successful business even if that means working part time on the side just to pay the bills. Though would it be smarter to just wait 10 months to receive my bonus and then quit? I’d really appreciate everyone’s thoughts.
I’m glad to be joining such a great community. Thanks for your help! Also, it’s also worth mentioning that I want to start working on my business ASAP before life potentially makes it even harder with kids, committed relationships, etc.

Find a friend as co-founder?

 

[Frinys]

Thanks this makes sense. I’ve actually read the four hour work week and loved it. Currently my job is pretty taxing on me and I’d probably burn out if I constitently spent all my nights working on a side business for years. Maybe the job will get easier, I am new after all and I’ve been thrown into the deep end but I guess we’ll see. I prefer the idea of focusing on one thing at a time but I know we can’t have it all

I'm a developer myself, and I quit my full-time job 1.5 years after I graduated to focus on my own startup. These are my thoughts:

The first months as a software engineer are exhausting. This is because you are in a constant state of learning. This diminishes over time. Right now, you should focus on learning as much as possible. There will come a time when your brain has the capacity to work on your own project after work. For me, it took around 6-7 months.

Most probably, you're working with people more skilled than you are now. These people are gold mines. You can learn extremely much just by watching how they code, approach challenges, and structure their work. You won't learn this as easily on your own. Use your time wisely, and learn from these.

You say you've been "thrown into the deep". Is this because the tasks you have been assigned seem too complex for your current skill level? If so, do you think that you'll be able to avoid these complex tasks by starting on your own? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you will meet these complex tasks on your own too. The difference is that on your own, you have no one to ask for help.

Have you executed an idea successfully before? If not, then I guarantee you that you underestimate (1) how long it takes to build the product, (2) how long it takes to get customers, and (3) how much money you are going to burn each month. In other words, your savings are going to run out before you earn enough to live on your startup.

You probably see your daytime job as a hindrance to the success of your ideas. This is just an illusion, and most likely, you will find another hindrance if you quit your job now. As others have advised, I too advise working on your idea/startup after work for now. Only consider quitting your job after you have your startup up and running and have at least some income from it.

 

[Clint Emeka]

I'm a developer myself, and I quit my full-time job 1.5 years after I graduated to focus on my own startup. These are my thoughts:

The first months as a software engineer are exhausting. This is because you are in a constant state of learning. This diminishes over time. Right now, you should focus on learning as much as possible. There will come a time when your brain has the capacity to work on your own project after work. For me, it took around 6-7 months.

Most probably, you're working with people more skilled than you are now. These people are gold mines. You can learn extremely much just by watching how they code, approach challenges, and structure their work. You won't learn this as easily on your own. Use your time wisely, and learn from these.

You say you've been "thrown into the deep". Is this because the tasks you have been assigned seem too complex for your current skill level? If so, do you think that you'll be able to avoid these complex tasks by starting on your own? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but you will meet these complex tasks on your own too. The difference is that on your own, you have no one to ask for help.

Have you executed an idea successfully before? If not, then I guarantee you that you underestimate (1) how long it takes to build the product, (2) how long it takes to get customers, and (3) how much money you are going to burn each month. In other words, your savings are going to run out before you earn enough to live on your startup.

You probably see your daytime job as a hindrance to the success of your ideas. This is just an illusion, and most likely, you will find another hindrance if you quit your job now. As others have advised, I too advise working on your idea/startup after work for now. Only consider quitting your job after you have your startup up and running and have at least some income from it.

Yeah this is very fair. I slept on all the comments I read last night and I saw some truth in most of them. I realise I’m somewhat frustrated and need to be more patient. I have no doubt that the other engineers are more skilled than me and that they’re a gold mine. Where I was conflicted was wondering whether much of the skills I’ve still yet to learn from them would be relevant to my own business. In terms of being thrown in the deep end this partly comes from proprietary and very company-specific knowledge. After thinking through this I should probably hide my time and wait until I feel comfortable in my job before quitting because that would mean I’ve learnt as much as I can. I appreciate everyone’s comments by the way and didn’t mean to sound dismissive of that’s how it came across - I’m just a frustrated guy challenging other people’s opinions to wean out all the quality advice
Also, did your startup already have some income by the time you quit your job?

 

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[Clint Emeka]

Find a friend as co-founder?

Nope. I’ve slept on everyone’s opinions and calmed my frustrations since last night and now some things are getting a little clearer. There’s clearly a lot of stuff I could improve on before quitting the job which is kinda unnecessary right now. I guess I just need to be more patient and wait until I feel more comfortable in my new job. That way I’ll have more time and energy to grow my own personal projects

 

[Clint Emeka]

I wouldn't quit a good job unless you've met some guidelines. Of course, this isn't "one size fits all" but I think it applies for 75% of the world.

From The Great Rat Race Escape ...

View attachment 38834

I’m just realising MJ DeMarco wrote this. Thanks a lot I slept on what you said and realised you were right! I definitely have a lot of things to work on before quitting my job. Quitting would’ve just been an act of frustration.

 

[Frinys]

Yeah this is very fair. I slept on all the comments I read last night and I saw some truth in most of them. I realise I’m somewhat frustrated and need to be more patient. I have no doubt that the other engineers are more skilled than me and that they’re a gold mine. Where I was conflicted was wondering whether much of the skills I’ve still yet to learn from them would be relevant to my own business. In terms of being thrown in the deep end this partly comes from proprietary and very company-specific knowledge. After thinking through this I should probably hide my time and wait until I feel comfortable in my job before quitting because that would mean I’ve learnt as much as I can. I appreciate everyone’s comments by the way and didn’t mean to sound dismissive of that’s how it came across - I’m just a frustrated guy challenging other people’s opinions to wean out all the quality advice

It's okay to be frustrated, as long as one doesn't make it affect one's decisions. And it seems like you figured the right thing to do. Not quitting will also teach you how to discipline yourself, so that you get more done after work. And you will have money to experiment with marketing, servers, etc.

Also, did your startup already have some income by the time you quit your job?

No, and that was a mistake. I had an MVP ready, but no income. I survived on my savings for quite some time, but after my savings ran out, I had to get another job to make the ends meet. I was lucky and got a part-time developer job, there aren't many of those. If I were to choose again, I would've kept my previous job much longer.

 

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[Clint Emeka]

It's okay to be frustrated, as long as one doesn't make it affect one's decisions. And it seems like you figured the right thing to do. Not quitting will also teach you how to discipline yourself, so that you get more done after work. And you will have money to experiment with marketing, servers, etc.

No, and that was a mistake. I had an MVP ready, but no income. I survived on my savings for quite some time, but after my savings ran out, I had to get another job to make the ends meet. I was lucky and got a part-time developer job, there aren't many of those. If I were to choose again, I would've kept my previous job much longer.

Yeah that makes sense. I'd considered the part-time developer route but with my experience, having just come out of college, I think it would be smarter for me to just stay in this job for a while. Also since I've only been working remotely and I've never actually seen my colleagues face-to-face I think there's a chance I could learn a lot by the time we go back into the office as I can interact more closely with them and see how they work. I think the rational part of me says its probably smartest to stick around long enough so I can at least work physically alongside my colleagues and learn as much as I can from them. Occasionally the frustrated self comes out and tries to sabotage good progress . My family has been telling me to cool down and be patient. Part of the reason I joined this forum actually is as a kind of insurance policy so that I can talk to people going through a similar process and have them slap some sense into me next time I find myself itching to act too quickly. Luckily I learned the value of good communities like this early enough as I attended a pretty prestigious university and I had some really intelligent close friends that would slap sense into me whenever the academic pressure would start to send me off the rails.

 

[Ing]

I would wait till the bonus.
Wait until your business needs more time while you already 20 hours working and having some success already.

 

[Clint Emeka]

I would wait till the bonus.
Wait until your business needs more time while you already 20 hours working and having some success already.

Solid advice

 

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