- Thoughts on why I want to leave (also focused on what I want to do)
- I know I don’t want to stay at FB, and I’m feeling burnt out so I want to take time off. But before just jumping back into another big tech PM role (which I feel reasonably assured I will be able to do in the future), I should take time off to reset, do things that I’ve been putting on the back burner because of work, and hopefully explore an alternative path in entrepreneurship (which is an itch I have been needing to scratch and would likely regret not at least trying).
- I've felt that building things (and starting businesses around those things) would be the way I'd like to spend time even if I didn't need the money. In my scenario there is at least a chance of financial reward, so it’s good I am doing what I love and enjoying it in the base case.
- Add some thoughts about how I was thinking about things before making the decision to leave
- Add some thoughts on my specific timing considerations this half
- Craft into broader story/narrative/arc going back to college (or before), and thinking about the timing of when to do this, as well as anxiety about it at end of last year and the moment I decided
- Summarize this or a related post into a twitter thread to pin to top of my profile
- What I expect
- What I want to do/accomplish
- what outcomes am I okay with?
- Start up
- Writing + projects
- Personal website
- Misc art projects? e.g. Self contained biome
- Learn python?
- Life
- Sailing skipper?
- Fitness
- Mental model shift
- Embrace serendipity
- How I will spend time
- (e.g. volunteer at HRCS + therapy dog.. writing.. reading.. exercise.. surf/kiteboard + local travel, meeting people, eating healthier).
- maybe paraglide (something like airbutlers but in northeast?)
- Product consulting? Build Self-Sustaining Eco-Sphere
- maybe makerspace/classes?
- What will I feel restless about or regret not going?
- e.g. bucket list type things like traveling etc that I wish I would have done (harder with my commitments)
- Risks/things to watch out for
- Burn rate - need to keep an eye on finances (can offset through part time work, accelerator, reducing spend, etc)
- Work life balance and relationship with Kate if I do pursue start up
- Timing around when to go all in on start up (i.e. I wait too long and then it becomes financially inviable)
- FOMO on other things I would like to do if I had no other responsibilities
- Day-to-day impatience with progress (overestimate what we get done in short term, underestimate long term)
- Discipline and time management (get one of those time tracker cubes?
- Loneliness
- Lack of structure
- How I won’t spend my time / waste time?
- Mindlessly scrolling on social media — think about initial period of “disconnection”, removing such apps, not focusing heavily on work, etc
- Think about travel I might want to do
- (london, sweden, berlin, japan, seattle, ski south america, paraglide?)
- state college
- How will I accomplish start up goals
- idea discovery/exploration/development
- networking, cofounder search
- See list here
- What are my biggest concerns?
- Moving from big tech mindset to start up founder mindset (and skillset), building a large company and managing many employees, recruiting, deciding what kind of company I want to build (short term to exit, long term VC backed, bootstrapped), balancing work/life (and partner relationship), opportunity cost of time/flexibility in early 30s, financial impact (not as much), unknown unknowns, finding technical co-founder, timing/macro concerns, keeping motivated to actually take the real leap if working by myself (too easy to just find another job), self-motivation and staying productive/not procrastinating, losing interest in the company after a while, macro environment/risks
- New costs
- (e.g. new computer, angel investing, VITAL membership, travel, wedding).
- List of people to talk to, meet ups to attend, process for building network.
- could join https://course.founder.university/
- Materials/ideas I could share to describe what I'm doing confidently
Time to re-connect with old creativity, looking back, higher volume of ideas (and quality to some extent)
Post-quit options:
Relax, establish healthy exercise habits, read, work on personal creative projects, research ideas, write + build portfolio
Stanford non-resident practitioner fellowship
What alternative jobs might I want to do after this? VC/Investing? Tech companies: Twitter, Spotify, Google, Start ups.. real estate/proptech?
Funny 'Zine a la Phroth (but maybe white collar/tech satire)