Need advice: Entrepreneur to full-time job

10 points by richsin 11 years ago | 24 comments

So, in short, I'm burned out. I did consulting (Web/Biz Dev) for local businesses for almost 8 years.

I am guilty of sticking to a small group of clients that paid very well and completely stopped growing my business. I don't even have a website or business cards anymore. 2 months ago, I stopped doing work for them completely, the work was soul crushing.

My decision now, for many reasons, is to join a company even as low as a junior front end developer or growth hacker. Reasons for starting back at junior if need be:

1. My web projects have sucked over the last 3 years, I started focusing on business development and did really well for them with that also, but they hired cheap developers and the work became completely unacceptable for a portfolio. Their expectations were too high and budget too low. I had spoilt them over the years.

2. I want to work on a team again. My first time I worked for a startup, we knocked it out the park. That role was in sales. Being on a team building products and being around people again is really intriguing to me.

3. I just turned 30 and having never finished a degree (actually finishing one online for personal reasons). I feel completely lost. I have little confidence in job hunting and feel completely off my game. I'm not used to having my career in another person's hands.

Here is where I need help, but any advice or guidance would be appreciated:

- How can I get a junior front end position or growth hacking position? Should I do some mock projects for a portfolio? How many, what kind? I fell out of touch with some of the modern workflows, but have been spending all my time catching up to getting back to my A game with JS and such.

- Any suggestions on the type of roles that may be a good fit for me apart from what I mentioned?

- How do I get in front of companies and show them that I am an excellent hire?

Thanks for reading this far and I look forward to anything you guys have to offer.

andrewfarah 11 years ago |

>How do I get in front of companies and show them that I am an excellent hire.

If it was flattering for 37signals (read: influential company) to see this -- http://jasonzimdars.com/svn/ it will be even more flattering for not-yet-famous-company-X to see something similar.

1. pick a company that solves a problem that's interesting to you. or who's founder said something that resonated (in a talk, interview, or essay) 2. research their founding team 3. write / build / hand-craft / hand-deliver something (website, message in a bottle, anything, things non-digital like hand-written letters are particularly effective). 4. offer or do something unsolicited (logo, find a new customer, write effective copy for a campaign) 5. don't attach a resume. just write clearly, use nice paper, and expect nothing in return.

bonus: follow up if / when you don't hear back.

There is a line between irritating and hungry. You won't always be the latter but aim for it.

Do this 2 or 3 times, to companies that aren't yet big names (look through http://angel.co), and you'll floor their founding team with your level of effort and at least land an in-person.

Don't pick the job, pick the people and the problem. You'll find sufficient motivation later.

richsin 11 years ago | |

Brilliant.

First, I want to thank you for the thoughtful reply. Just like many of you here on HN, I love the internet. It's my life and I've seen it evolve since I was 8. That feeling of never getting the opportunity to even interview for companies you're passionate about is hollowing. I'm glad to see that I am approaching this all wrong.

I really like this approach, I don't mind putting in the work to do some building for each company I choose to apply to. Will start this immediately.

bhaumik 11 years ago | |

Second everything here. Mark, also an entrepenuer, built a website [1] for his application. After each interview, he produced another piece of content to illustrate his ideas as a follow-up. This dedication certainly played a big factor in joining our team.

[1] http://www.hithinkfulimmark.com/

csmdev 11 years ago | |

I'm going to be that guy and say that this is a bad idea. When you're jumping through hoops to get attention, people get used to it. And they start expecting it by default. Especially when it's for a job.

andrewfarah 11 years ago | | |

That's especially true in the case of 37signals. It was novel the first time someone built a website just to get hired. The 2nd time it was probably still cool. By 5th, 6th or 10th time, the gesture likely lost its novelty.

There isn't a playbook for doing something worthy of a company's attention (sans warm intro). But there's something to be said for non-traditional, creative outreach.

richsin 11 years ago | | |

I agree with you, setting expectations is an art.

However, I am ready to go above and beyond at any position I am at for my own personal reasons, so it won't be much of a stretch, just a taste of what's to come.

Good point, though.

zhte415 11 years ago | |

I agree with all tgese points, especially 2: reaearching a team can be a great way to find inspiring people to learn from (and with)

cblock811 11 years ago |

Get in front of companies by:

1) Tapping the network you likely have 2) Go to events like Meetups. Make yourself visible. 3) Might want to build that website and portfolio so you can show what you did. Sounds like it should be easy for you to throw together 4) Start applying to jobs. There are tons of positions for people with your skills. I'm sure you can make it happen. If you want to do front end then do that. If you want to be a growth hacker then you'll probably get in even more easily.

richsin 11 years ago | |

Hey,

My network is non-existent as it's mostly local businesses, never really networked with other entrepreneurs or developers.

Any advice on how to leverage meetups or what I should display for my portfolio?

awillshire 11 years ago |

Hi Rich,

Look around for the kind of company you want to work for. Explore outfits mentioned on HN, but also on sites like TechCrunch.

When you find a few, explore their tech stacks and see if any interest you. You don't need to be an expert in the technology, but you need to like it.

Can you visualize a kind of dream role there? It's great that you're ok to start over (I love starting over, like re-learning French or re-reading my ancient copy of K&R).

Look for best practice in CV's - google them and see what makes sense and what doesn't. Revise your CV so it's better. Apply lots, fail lots, take the agile approach to job hunting. Don't get disheartened when you don't get the one you really want, you WILL get there!

Cheers, Andrew.

richsin 11 years ago | |

Andrew,

Thank you for the advice. This is all very new to me.

You mentioned visualizing a dream role, this is a fascinating thought. Since I wore many hats over the years as an entrepreneur, if I were to create this dream role, could I market/suggest it to companies I am applying to?

Surely this would probably only work with smaller companies, of course, but do you think this is a possibility?

Thanks

awillshire 11 years ago | | |

Hi Rich,

I would definitely take that approach, as long as it aligns with the company's own vision. Employers tend to like the idea that you have goals of your own - as long as you stress that you're happy with the entry level role and working your way up. All the best and keep persevering!

Cheers, Andrew.

ctseng01 11 years ago |

After being on your own for 8 years, do you really want to leave your career in another person's hand? The corporate jobs really aren't as safe as 8~10 years ago. People get laid off all the time from their corporate jobs.

I hope that it gives you comfort in knowing the corporate people have a lot of fear going the other direction, too.

You survived on your own for 8 years, that should give you a lot of confidence. You have done Bus Dev, you can sell yourself in a job hunt; you have learned web development w/o a college degree, you can learn JS and PHP - the languages and DEV platform are getting easier and easier.

nameless1 11 years ago |

You seem to be inherently motivated. As noted you have transferrable skills that are desirable, and an ability to showcase them. So do so. If this is where your passion lies, all the better.

Read up: Quora.com Study up: Khanacademy.org

Any potential workplace you meet with will glean far more from your enthusiasm and expertise of a topic than most degrees.

Hire character, train skill.

Lastly you have to consider relocation as part of the equation. Got to go where the work is. This may lead to a step back in lifestyle, but is just part of the ride...

richsin 11 years ago | |

Appreciate the kind words. I am very interested in relocating just wanted to go out a bit prepared before I jump into a new city.

Any advice on how to showcase my skills to garner some attention?

nameless1 11 years ago | | |

Build a website that reflects the latest work you have to show. If you're embracing UI/UX, read up on the latest and incorporate those ideals:

http://www.quora.com/What-will-be-the-biggest-web-design-tre...

http://www.quora.com/What-are-the-best-resources-for-learnin...

Most importantly, think different.

jason_tko 11 years ago | | |

Hi there - I just quickly went over your posting history on HN, and I'm interested to have a chat with you. I'm on jay.makeleaps on Skype !

richsin 11 years ago |

My job hunt feels like an episode of Seinfeld: