I was laid off from my FAANG SDE job last week after 3.5 years. I am 25. I was offered about 4.5 months of severance, have no dependents, and no visa issues as I am a citizen.
Now I’ve faced a decision… I expect to get an internal offer to remain at the company on a different team for the same compensation. It’s a good team, but I’m not totally pumped for the type of work I’d be doing. I can either take it and forfeit my severance or leave and either go all in on a startup idea I’ve been building (with some minor investor backing) or look externally for other jobs. It could also be a combination of the latter options if the startup is a failure.
I think I’m just looking for some encouragement to take the leap of faith. It seems like the best time to take the chance given the circumstance, but it’s tough to turn down a hefty tech offer in this market.
At 25, with your experience, all of those options will be good for you. But you only get a few shots doing something for yourself before life starts to push you towards finding something that gives you more security.
On the other hand, very generally at avg age for more successful entrepreneurs is around mid/late 30s, before then, you need to develop business management, people management and project management skills; otherwise you end up being a founder that struggles with actually running the business, which I see often.
So looking for another job that exposes you to more and gives you the 3types of management pointed out above would be a good next step, you will always find new startup ideas to work on and capitalize, but you want to have enough skills and “level up” to take advantage when those opportunities arise.
I wouldn’t stay put even on a different team since it would limit my exposure to other approaches and styles of work
Firstly, entrepreneurship isn’t for everyone. I think it’s easy to see all the upside of it but really hard to grasp how gruelling it can be.
If you have the drive, ambition and the $ to carry you through while you potentially don’t make money for years, then go for it. Not saying it’ll be that tough or it’ll take that long to be revenue positive - but it’s important to consider that possibility.
With your FAANG background though, it’ll be very easy for you to jump back into the job market I would think, so you have that security.
Go for it!
I left a large corporate comp to buy small companies and then started others. Absolute rush!
Once you realize you can be dropped anywhere and just make $, it’s a liberation and it’s a weapon.
Started 5, bought 2. 2 failures so far, now playing with house $ and am self made wealthy with happy family and kids.
It’s 100% doable and even if you fail who cares just get up and do it again. One will work.
Just don’t take tiny swings, take bigger swings so you have a real shot at size and scale. Biggest regret I’ve had is wasting time on something too small.