Comment by mattgreenrocks
5 days ago
TBH, it sounds like you don't quite know what you want yet. That's fine, but until you figure out what you're aiming at, you'll be plagued by FOMO until you nail it down. Realistically, you'll probably have to sit in this discomfort until you get a clearer vision.
> My only option is to jump between jobs and swim in somewhat the same salary range, until AI will replace
That's the mind virus that the CEOs want you to have.
> I have a SaaS that generates pennies
Most people's initial independent ventures don't make any money, so give yourself some credit here.
> I would love to switch to being self-employed either via consultancy or having my own business, but I can't seem to figure out how to make the switch.
Limit risk by requesting a reduced working schedule at your current gig and do more independent work in the time you get back.
I know what I want, but I'm afraid that it's not possible to achieve this. I want full autonomy (as much as possible) over my time and the kind of work I do, while still making at least the same amount of money I make now.
So it would be something like a line of people who are willing to hire my services, while I decide what to work on and how to do it.
> That's the mind virus that the CEOs want you to have.
What do you mean by that?
The current zeitgeist is extremely anti-employee: mass layoffs in a lot of BigTech, and DOGE sadistically slashing federal employee jobs. All of this is meant to send a message that you, an employee, should be more compliant. For some, however (like yourself), the natural reaction is to step back and realize that you don't want that at all. It's an extremely healthy reaction, actually.
Concretely, as I said, I'd look at chiseling time off of your main job to work on other things. This will require a lot of patience (and maybe a job switch to somewhere where that is acceptable). You will probably lose money in the short term.
I'm not the best person to give advice on this, so take that into consideration.
But I think you need to have a fairly decent skill in networking.
I've been slowly building up my skill in networking (randomly approaching people on LinkedIn). It's currently slowly paying off in that I think I will have one friend that is working in FAANG.
I've had 10 conversations so far with people from FAANG (or related). I found most of them okay conversations. However, with this guy, the conversation was genuinely fun and I realized I could consider hanging out with him no matter what his title is.
So why not synergize and look for people that work in prestigious places that I also genuinely enjoy?
Once enough people know you, work will slowly roll in.
That's my strategy moving forward.