People ask what my safety net was when I started.
There wasn't one.
Burned the boats because I didn't have boats. Just convinced myself I'd figure it out. No evidence. Just vibes.
Stupid in hindsight. Worked out anyway.
Built my first product working full-time with a commute. 2 hours at night. 4 hours on weekends.
Wasn't fun. But "no time" wasn't true. I had time. Just had to give up Netflix and pretending I'd start "someday."
First year I made less than minimum wage if you counted the hours. Didn't matter. I was building something.
The money comes later—or it doesn't. But you won't know until you're in it.
The Safety Net Question
Everyone asks the same thing:
"How much runway did you have when you started?"
"What was your backup plan?"
"How long could you survive without income?"
The honest answer: I had no fucking clue.
My "safety net" in 2022:
- $3,400 in checking account
- $0 in savings
- $47K in student loans
- $1,200/month rent I could barely afford
- Full-time job I was about to quit with zero notice
Backup plan: Figure it out or die trying.
Runway calculation: Never did one. Too scared of the answer.
Why No Safety Net Actually Helped
The conventional wisdom: "Don't quit your day job until you have 6-12 months of expenses saved."
My experience: Having no safety net made me move faster, not slower.
Here's why:
1. No Comfort Zone to Fall Back On When failure means actual consequences (can't pay rent), you don't fuck around with perfectionism.
2. Forced Resourcefulness $3,400 budget meant no expensive tools, no fancy office, no paid marketing. Had to find creative solutions.
3. Customer-First Mentality Needed revenue immediately. Couldn't build for 6 months without customer feedback.
4. Speed Over Strategy No time for elaborate business plans or market research. Ship fast, learn fast, adapt fast.
The paradox: Having nothing to lose made me more likely to win.
The Netflix vs Building Hours
Everyone says "I don't have time to start something."
I said the same thing. Until I tracked my time for one week:
My 2022 time audit:
Monday-Friday:
- Work: 9 hours (including commute)
- Sleep: 7 hours
- Meals/hygiene: 2 hours
- Free time: 6 hours
Saturday-Sunday:
- Sleep: 16 hours total
- Meals/errands: 4 hours
- Free time: 28 hours
Total free time per week: 34 hours
How I was actually spending it:
- Netflix/YouTube: 15 hours
- Social media scrolling: 8 hours
- "Hanging out" (doing nothing): 6 hours
- Video games: 3 hours
- Actual building: 0 hours
- Pretending I'd start "someday": 2 hours
The lie I told myself: "I don't have time."
The truth: I had 34 hours. I was just using them terribly.
The 2+4 Formula
When I got serious, here's what I did:
Weeknights: 2 hours of building
- 6:30 PM: Get home, eat dinner quickly
- 7:00 PM: Open laptop, start coding
- 9:00 PM: Stop, no exceptions (burnout protection)
Weekends: 4 hours of building
- Saturday: 2 hours (morning when brain is fresh)
- Sunday: 2 hours (afternoon after errands)
Total building time: 14 hours per week
What I gave up:
- Netflix after work (was watching 2+ hours nightly)
- Weekend "hanging out" time
- Most social media scrolling
- Video games entirely
- Staying up late for no reason
What I kept:
- Full-time job (needed the income)
- Sleep (7 hours minimum)
- Weekend mornings (sanity preservation)
- Time with people I actually cared about
The result: More progress in 6 months than in 2 years of "when I have time."
The Minimum Wage Year
Year 1 financial breakdown:
Hours worked on side project:
- 14 hours/week × 52 weeks = 728 hours
Revenue generated:
- Month 1-6: $0
- Month 7-9: $847 total
- Month 10-12: $4,200 total
- Year 1 total: $5,047
Hourly rate: $6.93
Federal minimum wage at the time: $7.25
I was literally making less than minimum wage.
And it felt fucking amazing.
Why the Money Didn't Matter
Because I wasn't optimizing for money. I was optimizing for proof.
Proof that:
- I could build something people wanted
- I could learn skills I didn't have
- I could create value from nothing
- I could stick with something longer than 3 months
The $5,047 wasn't income. It was evidence.
Evidence that this could work. That I could work. That "someday" could become "today."
Year 2 revenue: $28,000 Year 3 revenue: $127,000 Year 4 revenue: $340,000+
The progression only happened because I started at $6.93/hour.
The "Someday" Trap
For 3 years before starting, I had elaborate plans:
"When I have more savings..."
- Never saved enough because lifestyle inflation ate raises
"When work gets less busy..."
- Work never got less busy, just differently busy
"When I learn [programming language/skill]..."
- Never finished learning because there's always more to learn
"When the market conditions are better..."
- Markets are always uncertain, always changing
"When I have a good idea..."
- Good ideas come from building, not from thinking
"When I find the right co-founder..."
- Right co-founder appears when you're already building something
The pattern: "Someday" is always one condition away. There's always a reason to wait.**
The breakthrough: Realizing "someday" meant "never" unless I started anyway.
The Stupid Decision That Worked
Looking back, quitting with $3,400 was objectively stupid:
- No market research
- No customer validation
- No technical expertise in my target market
- No network in the industry
- No backup income source
- No clear business model
Any reasonable person would have said:
- "Save up first"
- "Validate the idea"
- "Learn the skills"
- "Build a network"
- "Have a plan"
All good advice. All reasons I would have never started.
Because perfect conditions never come. Preparation can become procrastination. Planning can become paralysis.
Sometimes you have to be stupid enough to start before you're ready.
What My $3,400 Actually Bought
Not much in terms of runway. But everything in terms of mindset:
1. Forced Customer Focus Couldn't build in a vacuum. Needed revenue immediately. Had to talk to potential customers from day one.
2. Constrained Creativity Limited budget forced creative solutions. Built MVP with free tools. Found customers through free channels.
3. Real Urgency Couldn't afford to spend 6 months "perfecting" the product. Had to ship fast, learn fast, improve fast.
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4. Authentic Motivation When rent is due and account is low, you find out what you're actually willing to work for.
5. Rapid Learning Needed to acquire skills quickly. No time for perfect courses or theoretical knowledge.
The $3,400 wasn't funding. It was a forcing function.
The Full-Time Building Transition
How I actually quit my day job:
Month 1-6: $0 revenue
- Keep day job, build nights/weekends
- Live on salary, spend nothing on business
- Prove I can build something people want
Month 7-12: $0-800/month revenue
- Still keep day job (revenue too low)
- Bank every dollar of side project income
- Prove I can monetize what I built
Month 13-18: $800-2,500/month revenue
- Revenue covers basic expenses
- Give notice at day job
- Transition to full-time building
Month 19+: $2,500+ and growing
- Full-time on project
- Revenue replacing and exceeding salary
- Scale what's working
The key: I didn't quit until the math worked, not until I felt ready.
Common Objections (And Honest Answers)
"What if you had failed completely?"
I would have gotten another job. The job market for decent developers was good. I wouldn't have starved.
"What about health insurance?"
I risked it for 8 months. Stupid? Yes. Fatal? No. (Don't recommend this approach.)
"What if you had dependents?"
I didn't. This approach works for single people in their 20s-30s with marketable skills. Not universal advice.
"What if the market had changed?"
Then I would have pivoted or started something else. The skills compound even if the specific idea fails.
"What about retirement savings?"
I was 28 and broke. Retirement wasn't the priority. Building income-generating assets was.
What I Learned About Safety Nets
Having a safety net can be a trap:
1. Reduces Urgency "I can afford to take my time" often means "I'll take forever."
2. Enables Perfectionism More runway = more time to "perfect" instead of shipping.
3. Delays Customer Contact Financial buffer can delay the hard work of finding paying customers.
4. Creates Option Paralysis More choices (because you can afford to explore) can slow decision-making.
Not having a safety net forces clarity:
1. Customer-First Focus Need revenue immediately = talk to customers immediately.
2. Speed Over Polish Can't afford to perfect = ship fast and improve based on feedback.
3. Resource Constraints Drive Creativity Limited budget = find free/cheap solutions that often work better.
4. Clear Success Metrics "Can I pay rent this month?" is clearer than "Is this scaling optimally?"
The Uncomfortable Truth
Most safety net advice is risk management for the wrong risk.
The risk everyone prepares for: Running out of money while building.
The actual risk: Never starting because conditions are never perfect.
The math:
- 90% of people with "perfect conditions" never start
- 30% of people with no safety net who start succeed
- 0% of people who never start succeed
Better to be in the 30% group than the 0% group.
What I'd Do Differently
With hindsight, some adjustments:
Keep the no-safety-net urgency, but:
- Set up basic health insurance (worth the $200/month)
- Have one month rent saved (not six months)
- Tell a few people the plan (accountability)
- Track time more carefully from the beginning
Don't change:
- The urgency of needing revenue immediately
- The constraint of minimal budget forcing creativity
- The customer-first approach driven by necessity
- The speed of execution driven by desperation
The core insight remains: Having nothing to lose made me more likely to win.
For People Waiting for Perfect Conditions
If you're waiting to start until:
- You have 6 months of expenses saved
- You've learned everything you need to know
- Market conditions are perfect
- You have a detailed business plan
- You feel "ready"
You're optimizing for the wrong thing.
Perfect conditions don't exist. Readiness is a feeling, not a state.
The question isn't "Am I ready?" It's "Am I willing?"
Willing to:
- Work 14 hours a week on something that might fail
- Make less than minimum wage for a year
- Give up Netflix for building
- Start before you feel ready
- Figure it out as you go
If yes, you already have everything you need.
If no, no amount of preparation will help.
Action Steps for the Safety-Net-Less
This week:
- Track your actual free time for 7 days
- Calculate your real minimum viable expenses (not comfortable expenses)
- Identify what you're doing instead of building
- Start something small that could generate $1 in 30 days
This month:
- Establish 2+4 formula (2 hours weeknights, 4 hours weekends)
- Cut one major time waste (Netflix, social media, etc.)
- Ship something imperfect to one potential customer
- Track hours worked vs revenue generated
This quarter:
- Generate first $100 in revenue (proof of concept)
- Build consistent building routine
- Learn one new skill you need for your project
- Decide: keep day job or transition based on actual math, not feelings
The goal: Prove to yourself that you can build something people want, even with no safety net.
Why I'm Sharing This
Because the internet is full of "save for 6 months first" advice that keeps people from starting.
Because safety nets can become safety blankets that prevent action.
Because most successful founders started with less than they want to admit.
Because waiting for perfect conditions is the most dangerous thing you can do.