Ask HN: Have you started a business because nobody wanted to hire you?

I’m trying to find a job right now and it isn’t going well. I have my PhD in computer science and I’ve run my own bootstraped company before and took it to over a million in profit for a couple years. I want to find a job as a engineering manager or something similar, but the feedback I’m getting is I don’t have enough corporate experience for that type of job, because I’ve just been doing my own thing for so long. I could find a job as a programmer, but I really don’t want to. After running my own company, I just like management better. And I know I wouldn’t enjoy programming for someone else for 8 hours a day.<p>So, I’m currently starting a tech business, but it is just going to take a bit to get started and it may not work. So in the mean time, I’m going to work on starting a plumbing company. I live in an affluent community and I think I can get the plumbing business to $400k-$500 a year, with just myself and a van. I’m going to just hire a plumber to take calls with me until I get comfortable going on calls on my own. I apprenticed this fall with a plumber; I like the work way more than programming and got an idea of how much I could expect to make. Which is way more than I could make programming for someone.<p>Thinking back on it, as my PhD was finishing up, I was having trouble finding a job, which was one of the things that pushed me to start my own thing anyway.<p>So I guess not being able to find a job and starting my own thing is something I have done a few times now. It is way more motivating to start something when you have no other good choice.

A famous anecdote along these lines are the whatsapp founders.<p>I haven’t done so personally yet but it’s starting to look like I might consider this route.<p>Several years ago, I would have leaned toward a SaaS business targeting some super niche vertical, not to make 1000x VC style rocket-ship returns of course, but as a way to bootstrap into a nice business. I get the sense most verticals with a TAM worth going after are now very competitive.<p>Interested to see if people see opportunities in non-tech routes.

I worked in construction for 20 years. I thought I was doing the right thing by going back to college to advance my career but it didn&#x27;t work out like that.<p>I only got half-way on my route to becoming a surveyor since I simply could not afford the time away from work. So I found myself in a situation where I was better qualified than my boss but not so well qualified that there were many alternatives other than looking for similar work elsewhere.<p>By then, at the age of 40, I was, in the eyes of potential employers, over qualified for the roles I was applying for or just too old. So I gave up.<p>After a spell of unemployment while tinkering around with different ideas I fell into web development and started earning a bit of money. I figured I may as well pursue this since there wasn&#x27;t anyone around at the time to tell me not to. After struggling for a few years I got to the stage where I was earning as much as I was in my previous career so stuck with it.<p>Some years later I have a lifestyle business that enables me to travel whenever and wherever I like and work whatever hours I want to (within reason). I don&#x27;t earn a huge amount of money but I do earn enough to live on and save for my retirement.<p>I&#x27;m reasonably happy with the way things worked out.

I did.<p>It was 2012. I was kind of 33.000 USD in debt, wife pregnant with the first baby.<p>Trying to interview at significant companies (Dell, HP, Atlassian, etc.) none was given me nothing.<p>One friend of mine who had access to the HR feedback said I was too confident and I should try to appear less skilled as the manager was kind of afraid.<p>The situation was so bad I had a google spreadsheet with places I sent resume, results and etc. Kinda my personal job analytics.<p>(checked the spreadsheet now...that was depressing)<p>No money, no jobs, a kid on the way and wife declared:<p>--- &quot;It is very disappointing having to pay the bills for you.&quot;<p>Then I got one call from a person willing to do consulting, they had some problems with their billing system.<p>Solved the problem and watched them work thinking about how I can help them more. I saw two employees matching online payments with the billing system.<p>That struck me... The whole process was old and archaic and prone to errors. So I propose to them do a payment processor.<p>They had that idea before, and another specialist told it will cost 300K and 1 year to make it, so they are not sure about all that investment.<p>Well, I offered: 1. I do for you in 2 months; 2. I want X% of payments 3. If I fail, you don&#x27;t pay anything; 4. Honesty<p>Now we are on the 3 years going strong, and I think I will expand it more. I am not rich but I can pay some bills, and my customers are pleased.<p>Six months ago I asked my customer: &quot;When was the last time you had a billing or payment problem?&quot;<p>And he really paused and realized that it was long ago.<p>Got my Cheque and sent a cake to their team. Win-WIn<p>Tl-Dr; Being a loser is a TEMPORARY stage keep fighting and looking for opportunities to serve and help your customers make more money.

Absolutely. I wanted to move away from the technical side of business as I really enjoy the commercial aspects too, but once you’re a CTO, it’s very hard (and unusual) to become a CEO in an established business.<p>Now I get to do a bit of everything I enjoy.

Realizing the amount of value you can create as a programmer working for a company is an eye-opener.<p>I&#x27;ve worked at a startup making millions of dollar in revenue every quarter. Realized that I was just making someone else rich and got paid in pennies. Quit the job and took the plunge.

I&#x27;m starting my own software consulting business. I only have about 1.5 years of experience (full time), mainly self taught. I just recently started to go look for clients and realizing that after learning programming, now I have to learn sales, lol.

I started consulting. Now it would be really hard to go back to doing a single aspect when as a consultant, I get to do many (GUI&#x2F;computer vision&#x2F;graphics&#x2F;embedded).

I am thinking about it a lot lately. I have worked with a high growth startup (outside SV) for 2 years. And another year with a SV based but slightly less growth startup in early stage. Last year I emigrated to EU for a new job. After few months I din&#x27;t like the job. I stared looking for a new job and I am getting lowball offers from everywhere. I am thinking if it makes more sense to start my own business instead of finding that perfect job.