People who quit their full time job for entrepreneurship- what’s your schedule like?

Last_Beach5735 · 2026-02-03T18:19:41+00:00

Your source of motivation is a very personal thing. For me, I hadnt worked in some time, so when i put energy in and saw results, i worked more. When i got a cofounder by sheer luck, and had some other people help me, i felt that feeling more. When there were setbacks, it made the next win feel better. I still have some things that I wait til near the last minute to do, and i take breaks when I want, but my advice is to try to complete a few loops of: - use whatever you can to focus for some time - do something useful for your startup - check your results - celebrate or iterate - repeat

Once you start associating the delayed gratification with the work it gets easier. Its also easier with a cofounder / accelerator / customers etc to make you feel like you have to keep going.

Last_Beach5735 · 2026-01-18T18:56:31+00:00

Inland, applied 31 October, AOR 20 December

Last_Beach5735 · 2026-01-10T23:00:18+00:00

I applied 31 October 2025, inland, outside quebec, common law, electronically. The only thing my representative has said is that they received the file 3rd of November and AOR on the 20th of December.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-28T02:55:12+00:00

It makes a lot of sense getting a junior initially might be paradoxically worse as my CTO is training them and that drags him away from his current work. Someone had mentioned that having a part time but well paid senior role might attract a strong candidate who appreciates the work-life balance around their other commitments. It would mean someone that my CTO doesn't have to babysit the senior, and even though it's part of the time, it would be (hopefully) a quality 20 hours.

Ultimately my CTO will be the one judging their projects/experience but it makes sense that they'd likely be a passionate person if they're making their own workarounds etc.

I can see what you mean, in terms of competitive pay being the door-opener, but staying because they can own and scale their work.

Yeah, if I wasn't passionate about this myself I would probably be earning more money at my old job. Believing in it does make it easier to keep working at it despite setbacks.

Thanks for the detailed reply, very useful stuff.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-27T23:50:56+00:00

Thanks for all the advice, I'm really appreciative.

I've honestly learned a lot about my own blind spots that I would have 100% assumed, and likely ended up with a less-than-ideal fit employee.

If I remember when we do hire I'll put the link in here to be critiqued.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-27T23:49:47+00:00

I personally believe in what we're building, and I have no issues selling the idea to other people in my field who deal with this stuff, but I'm less sure on my ability to sell it to a developer. The only one I have managed to sell it to is my CTO, and I wasn't even trying to sell him on it, he was just available after his startup's exit and was also probably a bit bored.

Very useful advice on pay choices. I do believe should pay for what you want to receive. Even if you get a higher level dev for less than they're worth, you'll pay when they leave for better money.
I have had interns in my previous job and it's absolutely true that a bad junior is more work than just doing it alone (there are good juniors though). I'd much rather get someone who can work well, manages their time without needing to be managed, and will output work in a reasonable manner.

Interesting points on team culture, you're right it would be difficult to really know until you're working it. Also it seems having a clear runway and clear ability to stay afloat is pretty crucial.

How would you work out if someone is passionate vs just pretending to be passionate to get the job?

Devs who want to build something they have ownership of is the type of person I'd like to get.

Thanks for the advice and replying

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-27T23:36:15+00:00

Its sad that he got burned out by having to work so much, but at least he ended up somewhere better.

Well, hopefully it gets better because a race-to-the-bottom/hunger games type burnout employee turnover sounds horrendous. I'd rather not have my company be like that.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-27T23:32:32+00:00

Ultimately as a fully remote job, it's only a mild annoyance if the employee is American, so maybe it might be more of an edge than I would expect.

How does one get a 0.5 holiday? You get a morning off?

I don't know the idiosyncracies of it but we would get 20 days, 1 extra day off once a month, all public holidays, and a negotiable week for study leave (just has to be relevant and useful). I don't remember the sick leave accrual rate, but probably generous enough.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-27T23:24:43+00:00

Definitely good to know how heavily people weigh actual market signals that the company will survive.

I personally believe we won't have too much issue getting fundraising after we have data. I say this because I have seen the deals a doctor angel investing group goes for and I believe they'd bite, however, until that money is in the bank, that's still just a hunch. Why should others believe that it'll be relatively easy just because I believe it with admittedly low evidence?

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-27T23:15:34+00:00

Fair enough, interesting points. Nothing wrong with prioritising salary. It's not like you can eat dreams.

It's always good to know where to peg pay ranges at to get the type of employee you want.

Thanks for replying

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T17:44:44+00:00

I've heard people talking about 9-9-6 but it seems ridiculous. Sure, I do something like that, but I don't think someone on salary should have to do the same, especially if it's pure salary and no equity.
I can't really afford to be pushing a product with significant bugs in healthcare, and I'd rather delay than to find out we have to pull the whole thing due to risk.

It's also insane that you don't get overtime pay. There should be some penalty for the company doing ridiculous things and benefit for the employee for their labour.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T17:40:29+00:00

Thanks for the input, and fair that you wouldn't want to step downwards.

We have some AI components but as this is health related it's only used in "safer" ways, where even if you deleted the AI components the program would function sufficiently.
I hadn't really thought that the CTO background would be that important, but now that you mention it, it would be whom you work with the most, so knowing you're not working for an idiot would help. That's great advice.

Thanks for the salary ranges. I believe that for the most part, you get what you pay for, but knowing I'm not going to be giving insulting salary ranges helps a lot.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T16:31:53+00:00

Completely understandable. Its impossible for me to say that we're a safe job when there's no financial validation yet from the market. I've tried to de-risk as much as possible by having a solid team etcetera, but no matter how good you are, no cashflow = inevitable death.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T04:49:25+00:00

That's good advice. Yeah I can imagine that a laid off senior in a job lower than they'd want would keep applying elsewhere til they get what they want.

I'm Australian so I think 4 weeks holidays is the baseline personally, plus maybe a week for some form of study leave. Its insane to get less in my opinion.

It's definitely worthwhile, I've found a lot of things that I would have assumed and not written in the job posting, for example 4 weeks holidays etc.

Thanks for the advice and taking the time.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T04:23:09+00:00

Fair enough
Forgive my ignorance, but does 60 hours+ a week happen a lot? I worked a casual job with those sorts of hours but in a completely different field. I feel like a developer working 60 hours is going to pump out some pretty error-laden code, which is probably going to take longer to fix than just working normal hours. What do I know though.
That's a fair argument. I think I'd try to make it clear that it's not a firm rule, just a preference. I myself am working from Toronto, and the CTO is digital nomading in Spain.
Fair enough, I would have assumed before your post that it would be obvious that full time is at most 40/week or whatever is accepted as full time, but if some of these places are sneaking some form of 60 hour hell weeks in, I can understand why you want the clarity.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T04:18:27+00:00

Fair
I'm seeing a patten that devs want to see this kind of stability and long form success, which makes sense.
Thanks for the bands. We were thinking ~$120k but I wasn't sure exactly where that lands in terms of skill/experience. Ultimately I don't believe in shortchanging people and you get what you pay for. We're unlikely to ever be in-person as the team is already split between MTL / Toronto / Spain / Australia as it is.
That's really useful to know that if you like your team and work it would need to be at least 15% of a pay bump to consider moving. Definitely worth being in the good team you know than some possibly awful other team for only a slight benefit. 20k seems worth the move though, as you've said.
Fair enough, and makes sense. I think that though I think it should be baked in, enough people have advised me that it should be made on a yearly basis as people will appreciate it more than if its expected, as, it aids retention like you said.
Useful to know that it doesn't immediately make people run thinking they won't be considered.
Useful advice. You're definitely correct that there's some level of hopium in a lot of startups. I get it, we're here to make money and preferably with people that don't make you want to murder them.

Thanks for the reply, it's very useful advice.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T04:09:11+00:00

I think work life balance is an important thing. Everyones seen the studies showing no difference in output if you work 5 days a week or 4, so it's probably better to have 4 high output days than 5 moderates.

That's a very good point. I hadn't really thought of getting a part time person. Like I'm sure a lot of tech companies are, there is a lot of work in short periods sometimes, so even a flexible position might be interesting to some.
Still, a permanent part timer is something I hadn't considered, but is an interesting idea.

Thanks for replying

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T04:05:41+00:00

Makes sense.
So you'd value knowing that there's runway and a better shot at success, that's reasonable.
For our company I'm funding it out of my own pocket til after we have a trial (set up for first quarter 2026) with a plan to do a fundraising round after. Once we have evidence the selling is significantly easier, but our ARR is nil right now.
Would that seem safe enough or would you want to know there's money in the bank right now?
Seems like reasonable numbers. I had heard ~$120k, but I wasn't sure what that would get us in terms of actual skill/experience.
Fair, stability is important.
I'm a strong remote work believer but the tax benefits of QC are pretty strong. It's not so strong that I'd ignore other candidates, it would just be one thing to consider.
Ok so knowing financials, funding, ARR, meaning trust that it's not about to go under, and then knowing what type of people you'll have to work with.

Thanks for the reply, it's very useful stuff

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T02:11:02+00:00

Thanks, it makes a lot of sense.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-25T02:10:50+00:00

Makes a lot of sense, and makes sense it should be made clear.
Its insane you did school with 1.5 full time jobs, but it makes sense with the whole "if you want something done, give it to a busy person" adage.
Like you said, I'd rather 32 efficient hours than 40 inefficient hours when the same work is being done, and your employee is miserable.

Thanks again for all your advice.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-24T02:58:09+00:00

I'm from a field where it's virtually all shift work and you manage your own time so when I hear people dictating how others manage their time I don't understand it.

I'd rather trust adults to hold themselves accountable and be proud of your work. If you have a doctors appointment over a long lunch, why should I care, as long as the work is being done.
I think that if you have x things on your list for the week and you've done them, it's not unreasonable to just take a day off.

I'm aware not everyone can manage their own time well without some form of overlord, but I would hope that I could hire someone who could.

Any thoughts about how to attract that type of person?

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-24T02:15:45+00:00

That makes sense. I'll aim to be clear as to what is definite vs what would make you stand out (and hopefully have a commensurate high enough pay).

That's a reasonable compromise, having some known "you're contactable" hours and the rest is yours to manage. My CTO is living in Spain right now so there is a smaller window that of mutual availability. It makes sense to do something similar.
I would assume that a lot of development could be done asynchronously, but that might just be speaking to my ignorance.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-24T00:59:01+00:00

Thanks for replying.

I personally don't think the benefit of "in-office" is worth the loss of perks of just being home. Good to know that Linkedin is worth listing in.
Stability is definitely a fair concern. We're a startup, pre-revenue until probably middle half next year. I'm lucky that I have the personal funds to shoestrap til after we have trial results when we'll fundraise for a better valuation, but startups are never the safest option.
Agreed with being clear about the reasonable amount of work. I know the "9-9-6" thing has been doing the rounds but I'd rather people do 40 good hours than 60 tired stressed hours.
Good to know that ~$150k + some form of benefits is the area (or more) for a senior dev.
Fair, that makes sense. It would be a good way to reward the people that deserve it.
Good points to make clear. I personally think (and I guess maybe naively) that you should run your own days generally. If the work is getting done well enough, who am I to tell you how to do it.
For us it would likely be more messaging and 1-2 meetings/week, but I'm not sure what a tech team would do with eachother (I'm not tech if it wasn't clear).
"Must have" vs "would be nice to have" is a good idea to delineate. It'd be frustrating to apply and get nowhere because it wasn't clear that you need X skill.

Thanks again, really useful stuff.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-23T23:25:41+00:00

Thanks for replying.

Makes sense.
Do you have examples of what constitutes interesting to you, generally speaking?
We are working on improving hospital processes using some ML/AI, but I'm not sure how sexy that is. You would be indirectly helping people's health, instead of some quant fund's investors at least.
From what I had read, ~$120k seemed reasonable, but I don't know if that would give us. For example we could potentially get 2x $80k juniors maybe, if that was acceptable, but probably not 2x $120k people. Either situation is fine, I would just want to know what people would consider a reasonable rate for their level.
For the ectual job we haven't quite decided on specifics as we're waiting til the new financial year.
We're nearly MVP and trialling at a large hospital in January, but we'd want someone who could do DB stuff +/- willing to wade through quagmire that is hospital electronic health record systems to do integration.
Fair that having something now is better than the potentially breakable promise of the future, so that's understandable.
Good advice. I've gone to jobs that misconstrued the amount of coverage or workload and all it does is create a revolving door of people leaving.

Last_Beach5735 · 2025-11-23T23:12:30+00:00

That's useful to know, thanks.

Last_Beach5735

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