undo.studio is a journal about creating a calm, bootstrapped software business from scratch.

by JC Jump to all posts ↓

Three months to make a living

21 March 2024

Yesterday was my last day at a startup I co-founded. After four years, I felt it was the right time to move on, although the company itself will go on without me.

What am I going to do next? I’m giving myself three full months to create a product that can make me a living. That means on July 1st, if I don’t find success, I will start applying to jobs.

If, on July 1st, some product I’m making is small but growing, and I can extrapolate how much it will earn in the near future, I won’t look for a job. If all my attempts at making a living by building something of my own are failing to get off the ground, or are earning trivial amounts of money, then I will start looking for a job.

Three months is certainly not much time when it comes to building and marketing a software product, but what I’m looking for by the end is to at least see an “off the ground” trajectory. Also, having this constraint makes it more serious. It forces me to be diligent and focused, cutting out unnecessary things. By having this constraint, I hope to find the essence of what can grow into a product I’m proud of, that aligns with my values, and that I enjoy working on every day.

Over these next three months, I’m going to extensively document my process on this blog.


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