jnich

I’m caught in a weird place with a tough choice so it would be great to hear some feedback. I’m a product manager at a mid-size software startup (not in SV) earning 110K. The money is good, but I do not find my work fulfilling and wish I had more time towards my projects. I’ve worked at large tech cos before and started a company previously which was acqui-hired (not for much). One of things I’ve built generates a small amount of revenue right now. If I had some time to dedicate to that, I might be able to grow the business.

I haven’t finished the last year of my degree and want to finish it. I’m 26 years old (no dependents) and don’t think it would be hard very hard to find a job after graduating.

In order to graduate, I will likely have to drain my savings. So when I do graduate, I’ll be around net zero after tuition + monthly expenses.

There are essentially two options that I can see:

1. Go to school full-time. Work on my side project(s). Graduate in a year. Find a job I find fulfilling or if projects are doing well, focus on that. This will leave me in a fairly tight spot financially if I can’t find a job afterwards.

2. Continue working and finish school part-time. Quit and find something better after I graduate. Ignore side projects.

I really want to go with the first option but think it might be silly financially. What if I can’t find a job? What if the market goes through a downturn? This may just be jitters.