Comments on: Going Solo

By: Ryan J.

Ryan J. — Tue, 06 May 2008 10:37:23 +0000

Congratulations Benji, …must be incredibly exciting! Let Elise and I know when you make it to the OC/LA area

By: Donnie Hale

Donnie Hale — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 19:53:26 +0000

I was forced by circumstances to do the same thing about 15 months ago, and now I wish I’d done it a decade ago. We didn’t hear a lot on your move to Boston. What happened with that, and what led to you going out on your own?

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 23:21:42 +0000

Congratulations Benji!

Any SLC trips planned any time soon? Missing Utah winters yet? :)

By: Matt

Matt — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 22:25:14 +0000

Congrats! This is me being jealous.

By: gyurisc

gyurisc — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 06:35:27 +0000

Best of luck with your new venture! :)

By: Max Ischenko

Max Ischenko — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 16:18:00 +0000

Good luck! I’m sure you can pull this off and start a successful company.

The great thing about working solo is the flexibility you gain — being able to research/grab the opportunity is much more simpler than when you’re on a payroll. That’s my experience at least.

By: Rizal

Rizal — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 05:03:46 +0000

Congratulations and all the best.

By: benji

benji — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:46:14 +0000

Well, it was actually pretty easy for me to find contract work.

I’ve maintained really good relationships with all of my former employers, so it really only took a couple of phone calls to set up the arrangements. Basically, I called them and said “Remember me? I’ve decided to start my own company, and I’m looking for some consulting work to help me bootstrap. Are you interested?”

Fortunately, I didn’t have to exhaust my whole network of contacts, so I have several fallback options if I lose one or more of my current clients.

Once I contacted those companies and established that they were interested in my work, we spent a few weeks talking about potential projects, defining the particulars of the relationship, etc.

All in all, everything has really worked out well for me in this regard, so I’d have to count myself as very lucky.

By: JD

JD — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 22:29:10 +0000

Great news.

I have been ‘planning’ to go for a long time now but not been able to pull the plug. Good to know that you made it.

On another note, I am surprised that you are able to find contract work in area as specialized as AI Research. It will be interesting to learn more details.

Good luck!