My own hack: I've started bootstrapping in a totally unknown country. This way, even if the project fails, I won't feel like I've lost my time or my money, because of the great time I had discovering a new country.<p>Besides, choosing a cheap country to live in means you have more runway to bootstrap. Here in Vietnam, I spend less than $700 / month, so I have almost no money concerns.<p>I've written about it here: <a href="http://gregschlom.com/post/2300487726/geographic-arbitrage-hedging-your-risk-as-a-startup" rel="nofollow">http://gregschlom.com/post/2300487726/geographic-arbitrage-h...</a>
This gets more difficult the older you get - corporate job, kids, mortgage, etc...<p>I dropped out of college during my last year because I couldn't handle the thought of not putting 100% of my chips down on my idea. After all, the university will always be there to collect tuition.<p>It has taken me over 3 years of blood, sweat, tears, missed payroll, busted relationships and credit card debt to get to the awesome place I am now: great salary, 13 employees, two awesome VCs backing me and the team.<p>It's been one hell of an experience, but i encourage anyone able to take the risk to do it. I've learned 10x what any MBA student would in just a few years.
Personally I just rephrased it...<p><i>How do you get over the fear of working jobs like this for the rest of your life and not doing what you know your heart wants to do? Quit and start a startup.</i><p>Works great if you're me. Your results may differ.
Stop thinking, just do it. The worst might be to spend a couple of months working on a project you love; the best might be to spend a couple of years working on a project you love.
What's the fear? Most startups fail, so you should be mentally ok with failing. (Of course, you should try with all your might to succeed, but just realize that even ALL your might may not be enough. :)<p>Save up enough money to self fund for a while. Put a lot of effort into it, learn a lot, do some cool stuff, and consider that worth your investment. If it succeeds, that's a great bonus!
Just think of the fear as practice for all the times at the startup you'll be terrified that you've wasted N years of your life on something that suddenly looks bleak. Then try to erode it with rationality, or just think about how much fun being successful will be instead.
Very interesting point of embracing the fear associated with starting a startup. I thoroughly believe in working with individuals who have something to lose; without fear true motivation and commitment are far from commonplace.
What is the worst case scenario? Your startup fails and you get a job again? If the worst case scenario is that you're back where you are right now, then it's not a big leap to make.
These are my thoughts, although I'm still figuring things out and haven't had break-out success yet.<p>1. Launching a startup is a big deal. It's a great thing to do, but it's not for everyone and it shouldn't be taken lightly. If you're young and considering doing this, try working in one first. Start with one that has already raised capital and can pay you reasonably well-- no, you won't make the $85-100k available in corporate jobs in take-home cash; although if the company's successful, you'll do a bit better than that-- and learn on someone else's dime and risk. This means you <i>won't</i> get all the glory if the startup's a home run. It does give you a chance to learn what startups are about. If you can't find a startup you like, find a larger corporation and become an "intrapreneur".<p>2. Network and learn in your 20s. Zuckerberg is the exception, not the rule. Most successful startup entrepreneurs are going to be in their 30s; and most of those people spent their 20s diligently (and invisibly) working hard to learn about technology and also about people. Meet venture capitalists and see how they think. Meet (and become one of) the smart programmers you'll want to hire and see how they see the world. You're going to need a strong network if you want to do a startup because (a) you'll need meetings with investors and clients, and (b) you'll need a safety net if the startup doesn't work out.<p>3. Remember that startups aren't <i>that</i> much riskier than corporate jobs. The five-year survival rate of new companies isn't the infamous 10%, at least not when discussing serious technology companies with tech-savvy, full-time founders. It's actually about 50%. Now consider a corporate job: a lot of people end up "pigeonholed" with low visibility and minimal chances of advancement (once new people are being hired into the spots you deserve, this has happened to you) in corporate jobs. They fall off the "fast track" and will never get back on. This has more to do with political luck than skill or work ethic, and what are the odds of it happening? About fifty-fifty, after 5 years. So it seems to be a constant that any time you take a new job, there's about a 50% chance that you'll either lose that job, or it won't be worth it to come in to work, 5 years later. When you're young, the half-life of a job is probably less than that. In this light, startups aren't actually that dangerous. If you're 22 right now, there's over a 90 percent chance that you <i>will</i> lose a job involuntarily (layoffs, health problems, political misfortune, business failures) in the next 40 years. It turns out not to be such a big deal.