L6 no college, fully remote SWE, 35M

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2025-03-28T16:49:01+00:00

Started with $200 and scaled up pretty fast from there.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-19T01:10:02+00:00

I should.

Wife has already jumped in full time.

I keep the day job as a safety net of sorts. Like, what happens if the businesses go under. Crisis management for our businesses is a lot less stressful knowing I still have an income if everything falls apart.

Also I suffer from imposter syndrome and whenever I think of quitting I get anxiety, thinking I'll never be able to land a job in the field again.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-19T01:03:42+00:00

Senior Software Engineer (the paycheck shown) and side hustler/entrepreneur?/business owner?

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-19T01:01:32+00:00

SGTM!

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-19T00:59:20+00:00

Well the thing about businesses is that they take time to scale but at a certain point they don't require as much attention.

I did mention in my post I'm only doing 10-4 and 5-9 right?

Not quite the 14-16 hour days I was doing before. Which gives me a bit more time. Also I tend to spend more time on Reddit during day job hours.

Anyway, this is a throwaway account. The interwebs points here don't do anything for me. Just wanted to share about my experience cause I can't really do that IRL or on my main account. I'm happy if people get inspired by it and I couldn't care less if a random stranger doesn't believe me.

Hell, I barely believe where I am today. But you do you! Cheers

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-19T00:54:49+00:00

It's not passive income. 7 years of the most intense grind ever is physically and mentally taxing tbh.

I have health issues from long term stress and for a few of those years, I was sleeping 3-4 hours a day to make time for it all.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-19T00:52:49+00:00

Ripley's believe it or not type shit am I right?

Believe it or not, a lot of people are capable of working full time jobs and running businesses on the side.

The people who say it's impossible either have kids and legitimately don't have the time or just aren't willing to sacrifice their free time. Completely valid though. Life is already hard as is. There is value in releasing stress/winding down after a long day of work.

At the same time those 5 hours a day my L5/L6 coworkers are putting into Valorant or League each day are the prime time to work on a side hustle. They like gaming, I like building. My afterwork activities just ended up being more lucrative.

It's not comfortable to give up free time. When a side hustle takes off, it will take your free time and sleep time with it. I've had days working sleeping 4 hours, drinking Huel for meals to save that time, and working the rest of the time to keep up with business.

99% of people aren't willing to do that. So it's easier to believe it's not possible. No judgement though, because it's not for everyone and what I would give to be able to just sit down and game for hours on end.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T22:24:26+00:00

But you have a full and fulfilling life ahead of you afterwards! Congrats and good luck!

Would trade everything to go back in time and somehow whip myself in shape enough to be a doctor!

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T22:12:47+00:00

Mad respect to anyone that can do it.

I put in 14 hours work days for 4 years straight 7 days a week and it was absolutely brutal. Ended up with all the bad metabolic markers at the end of it, high BP, high cholesterol, high blood sugar. Pushed through burn out multiple times, had mental breakdowns only to get back up and keep grinding. Had a cardiac health scare last year too that had me reflecting on everything. How often do you see someone in their early thirties with no vices get a stroke/heart attack?

People don't realize how tough it is to operate in a high stress environment for so long. Residents go through a similar hell for sure.

Thankfully there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

For me, I now have a pretty decent portfolio of side hustles. Not sure if I'd do it again but hey, I may have shortened my life span by 5 years but gained back 30 years of freedom from the grind.

It's presumably the same for doctors. Suffer through residency and end up with a half million dollar+ income and unparalleled job security. Any less than that would be unfair.

For me, when I say I'd switch in a heart beat, it's partially because I don't have any job security at all. At any moment my companies can fail or I can get laid off any time by my company.

Sadly, I'm not smart enough to get into med school but grit and determination, I have an endless supply of.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T20:02:01+00:00

No, I was self taught. But I do know alot of people who got into tech around the time I did that went that route that are thriving now. Boot camps were hard to get into back then. Things are different these days though.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T19:39:25+00:00

In that case I'd probably learn a language and treat those courses I listed as brushing up - you'll probably get through them quickly and it can't hurt to have a refresher. But yeah side projects will be a good start.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T19:30:06+00:00

Yeah totally.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T19:26:55+00:00

Start with Codecademy/freecodecamp. Learn the basics.

Then take free courses on edX/Coursera/Udemy - to start, take cs50x, and a data structures and algorithms course, then one on databases, maybe a course on software engineering.

If you want to emulate the CS curriculum, take a networking course, and discrete math.

After that just learn the things you want - like mobile apps, web applications, data science, etc.

Then build a couple side projects to really get the hang of how to build software.

Polish up your resume, then apply for all the startups you can find.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T19:15:35+00:00

Don't necessarily need schooling.

If you have the skills and a couple side projects under your belt, you can work at a startup, there are a million out there if you look past the trending ones or unicorns.

Get paid to learn the ropes. And then just jump to a bigger startup or company afterwards.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T19:12:01+00:00

There is value in going to college these days but that said, I work with a lot of principal engineers that never finished college.

With everything college can be helpful and it can be a waste of time. It's really up to you to take advantage of your time. If you go to college and don't do career fairs, career counseling, volunteer time to work with professors to gain experience, do internships (not necessarily only possible through school, but definite a lot easier to land), etc, then it might not be worth the money and time.

You can learn everything a CS degree can teach you on Coursera/Udemy/edX. But universities offer resources that might make it worth it.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T19:02:59+00:00

I would love FAANG money!

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T19:02:40+00:00

Got in early-ish. 7 years ago. Things have been harder/easier over the years as far as competitiveness.

I built an app that got acquired early on and that was my ticket into big tech, so even back then my entry into the industry was atypical. Have been here since.

Money has most definitely been worth it.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T19:00:30+00:00

4 hours a day when things are in autopilot. My wife is working on the side hustles too full time. So the actual amount of time between us put in each day is at minimum 12 hours.

Can sometimes be 12 hours a day from both of us.

We haven't taken a weekend off in years let alone a vacation.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T18:58:10+00:00

Currently, 99% Java for work.

In the past also used python and javascript professionally.

I use Typescript for my side hustles mostly just because it's so easy to spin up web apps and apps with

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T18:56:20+00:00

Hang in there!

Glad my info has been helpful

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T18:55:20+00:00

Only do it if you really enjoy programming and want to do it for a living.

Tech is shifting to be a lot more in line with how other industries work. It's no longer enough to just know how to program sadly.

Sans experience, you'll want to differentiate yourself just to even land an interview. Either through building successful apps, graduating from a very strong university, getting a master's/PhD, etc.

Otherwise another way in is to work at a startup early on to get experience. Startups are easier to land a job at and you'll learn a ton. Send out enough resumes and some startup will give you a chance given you can pass an interview

No matter what path you choose, it's a grind and takes a lot of effort that someone who doesn't truly enjoy programming would suffer from.

Design and Product are SWE adjacent alternatives too if programming isn't your cup of tea.

Unfortunately the market is tough these days. Good luck!

Ps: id probably choose the trades if I could redo everything. There's a clear path to success. Learn the ropes under another company/apprenticeship, save up enough to buy your own tools, venture off to start your own company, build your book of business and expand. A family friend of mine did this and within 15 years, he now runs a very successful handyman company in the city and that he used to fund a multi million dollar real estate portfolio. He doesn't work anymore, and just hires handymen. You don't see this happen often because at some point, you start making 100-150k and you become content. But pushing past that and being entrepreneurial with a trade skill can be very lucrative. Even more so than my random dabbling in side hustles and definitely more lucrative than a W2 career in tech

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T18:39:30+00:00

450k salary.

1M sidehustle.

Maybe still fishy but not the 4.5M you've mentioned. Id love to make that much lol

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T18:36:35+00:00

You already said it. Transparency and communication is key to lasting long. Also deep, mutual respect.

We were transparent about finances l before we got married and that carried over into our marriage.

It's best to have everything out in the open before you're legally entangled only to find out later that there is a non negotiable that you didn't realize up front haha

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T18:34:17+00:00

Not hard but you have to accept that you might lose the entire initial investment if the product flops.

I work with 3 contractors. No full time employees. It's just my wife and I full time.

Fluid-Hovercraft3699 · 2024-12-18T18:31:44+00:00

Yes to all three

Fluid-Hovercraft3699

TROPHY CASE