It’s been some time since I wrote something (36 days, to be more exact). Lifelogging was the goal when I started this blog, so I think it’s time to “formalize” it.
I’ve been blogging anonymously for some time, but now I want to blog more here, associated with my public identity. Partly because 1) blogging anonymously can create some personality issues 2) my english is still very shitty, so this will definitely help me write more concise thoughts in a foreign language.
I’m heavily inspired by Julian Lehr’s, PotHix’s, Derek Silvers’, and Pieter Levels’ blogs, so I’ll probably write in a similar way here.
Where I was
It’s been eleven days since I left my job at a local startup. I left because I want to try to build income from a online product, and also because I feel much more comfortable freelancing than in a 9-5 job.
The money and job security were nice, really nice. I bought some cool shit and had an overall nice lifestyle, but one thing didn’t make sense: I wasn’t taking much risk.
Hold on. Let me explain.
I’m 17 years old. 17. And as you may know it, the ability to take risks decreases as you get older. I believe that everyone has a window in their lifespan where they can make abrupt moves, but this window closes as you get older. You keep accumulating responsibilities, bills, relationships, etc, and one day you wake up and realize you are relying on someone else for income and all your dreams are now just post-adolescent fantasies.
So, I better take all the risk I can handle before I get older, or I’m gonna end up as a frustrated adult that didn’t had the courage to test his ideas in the real world.
To put it simple: when you’re young, risks have little consequence and possible high rewards. This changes as you get older because you have more to lose.
Where I’m now
My current situation isn’t that glamorous. Well, maybe a bit.
I’m coachsurfing in a friendz apartment, in my hometown. Most of my days are spent in coffee shops, malls or in a coworking space called Armazém da Criatividade.
Is that what they call living the dream? 😁
The apartment is in a cool condo with a pool, sauna, jacuzzi and all this fancy stuff, so I’m cool for the moment.
I have approximately three months of runaway cash and my current focus is on finishing some contract works that I took before I left my job.
After I’m finished with these contracts, my focus is clear: build/expand a online product.
Where I’m heading to
Before you say I’m just naive or that leaving my job to build a digital product is just wishful thinking, consider the following:
- I already have a working product with paying customers that I dedicate virtually none of my time to;
- I have some knowledge and connections in the local market, so selling locally and managing remotely is a fine option;
- The money I need to pay my bills and to keep me alive is ridiculous. $400 is more than enough to cover my expenses here and to pay for food.
So my strategy is to explore opportunities I already know in the local market, so I can leverage up my cashflow.
If you don’t know the Brazilian software market, you should. There’s a lot of million-dollar sectors here that SaaS companies simply fail to meet. There are a few great SaaS companies here, and lots of mediocre ones. And often worldwide services don’t operate here or don’t have a Portuguese version of their products.
This can be my opportunity to go right into these small niches and leverage up from there.
Business is more important than code at this point.
Yes, I have lots of ideas for global products and Product Hunt launches, but my priority should be to build a livable income that doesn’t come from a job or contracts, then I can think about other stuff.
Conclusion
I think the most important part to remember here is to keep the whole process open. By writing down these thoughts I reduce my anxiety and make the road more clear.
I know it’s definitely not going to be easy, and the probable outcome isn’t what I’m expecting, but I’m ok with that.
Even if I fail completely in this endeavour, I’ll still win (remember all the talk about risks above).
I intend to collect and expose here a series of metrics in the next posts, so I can effectively measure how I’m going. This one has been more like a journal entry so these thoughts don’t vanish forever.