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David Choe

Founders, Bootstrapping & Part-Time Work

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Hi everyone! Curious to hear the community's thoughts on this. As a fully boot-strapped company, we're having to build the plane while it's flying and try to keep the lights on at home. That being the case, we're starting to look for and think about part-time work to try and pay the bills. What are y'alls thoughts on this? What are the upsides (apart from income) and what are the downsides for those who've been through it. I know this is a sensitive topic. People expect founders to be fully into our startups and work and as much as we do, if basic needs aren't met, the startup will suffer. I think it's worth talking about this more.

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Archisman Das
I have been in a similar situation in past. Your first and foremost goal is to not die. Part time freelancing helps you keep the lights on. However, at the same time it can be distracting. So, if you can find consulting gigs that are in someway linked to the product you are building, it can act as a win win situation
Spencer Kerber
Totally in that situation as well! The balance between financial stability (mental health) and focused work is a tough one that is going to be different for everyone. Ultimately we have limited time to "invest" in our best 1 or 2 ideas. It's probably important to make sure that your best effort is going to the places with the best personal return on time invested. Sometimes that investment should be back into one's own finances and mental health. Things are different when venture capital investment is in the mix. Venture money should be able to remove the personal financial anxiety / living expenses enough that the balance should probably be more on the startup and less on side projects in my opinion.