This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

How did you "make the leap" from employee to founder/bootstraper?

Karol64·Aug 04, 2022

Posted in:Advice

Hey elphas, I'm feeling lost rn. Just left my last job and really not sure what to do next. I have no financial pressure so money is not a concern, and I am trully looking to work on a long-term project that will bring me fullfillment.

Heres a bit fact about me:

- Been working in tech in the past 6+ years

- Hopped between 2 verticals

- Hard skills: design(UX) and develop(frontend)

- Soft skills: Communication ( I always have the best communication skill within my team)

Since a few years ago I've been thinking about getting out of the traditional career path. I have no fantasy of working for big co's like FAANG and not interested in climbing the career letter/earning a lot of money. I'm specifically looking up to people like Peter Levels who built a business with a one man team (and I'm actively looking for FEMALE role models who went through similar path and made it) but I'm not sure where to start, since I grew up with typical employee mindset and nobody around me has that kind of "business sense" that made a breakthrough.

Any advice is welcome! I'm specifically looking to connect with elphas in this community since most "indiehackers" online are average white males who I don't resonnate that much with.

cadran·Aug 05, 2022

Hi there! It’s great that you know what you want and feel comfortable pursuing your own path. My advice is to start building something small that is interesting to you and solves a problem for you. The simpler the better! you will learn a lot working on a project like that and hopefully acquiring real customers / users. If you don’t put too much pressure on it to be a success then you have the option to learn from the project and continue to iterate if it’s not working or you aren’t enjoying it. Over time you’ll get a better sense for what types of projects you like to work on and what types of projects people will pay for.I’ve done quite a lot of that type of side project building. Elpha actually started as a side project, too.Hope this is helpful!

Karol64·Aug 05, 2022

Thx so much! This is very practical advise =D

sakshishukla·Aug 06, 2022

Hey Karol, I’m not sure if I’d call myself an indie hacker, but I am a woman whose been working on her own (taking gigs and scaling by adding more team members) so I understand how daunting it must be feeling. I’ll suggest you try working (part-time) in early stage startups where you can explore your interests. Or like me, you can start taking projects that fit your niche and join communities where you can brainstorm ideas and learn from people. You can also join some cohorts that teach you how to build side projects. As for female role models, honestly, I have no names :( which hurts me.