Three Months After Amazon: My Journey, Lessons, and a Scorecard

An update on my three month journey.

(Photo : Sunrise at the Ganga river in Varanasi, India)

Three months ago, I quit my job at Amazon in February 2023 and wrote a LinkedIn post about it. Below is a three-month update on my journey after leaving Amazon, my learnings, and a scorecard.

My journey so far

In the first month, I took it easy. This break helped me decide on my next steps, leading me to make a couple of decisions:

1. I decided to try multiple ideas, as the probability of a single idea working out is minuscule. Pursuing more ideas will maximize my chances and learnings.

2. I chose to work independently. While collaboration is good, it slows me down. At this stage of my journey, I am most productive working solo.

My decisions were reinforced after I got introduced to the SmallBets community where I met multiple builders trying out many small ideas to learns what works and not.

I began shortlisting my long list of app ideas that fit my criteria. In the process, I started using ChatGPT to assist me. Amazed by its capabilities, I decided to work on PlaylistGeniusAI.com and ReviewHeroAI.com. Fast forward four weeks, these apps are being used by thousands of users and I made my first dollar on the Internet independently.

Learnings

During this time, I encountered a few surprises and some expected outcomes.

Things that surprised me

1. I still don't have all the time in the world
   I assumed my full-time job was consuming all my time and that after quitting, I would have unlimited time to work on all my ideas. I was wrong. I still had limited time and had to manage daily chores (e.g., kids' activities, household chores, social activities, etc.).

2. I am most productive only during certain hours of the day
   My most productive hours (for brainstorming, coding, writing, etc.) are between 10 am and 2 pm. In all my full-time jobs, most of this time slot was spent in collaboration activities like daily stand-ups and meetings.

3. Executing in constraint environment produces better results

   I have set a time constraint for every new idea I work on. For example, I do not spend more than two weeks on an idea from concept to launching the MVP.

4. I am surprised with the number of successful independent tech professionals

   I learned about many independent tech professionals who earn their living through various SaaS and info products. I also joined the Small Bets community, where members regularly support and motivate each other through shared experiences and knowledge.

5. I don't miss work

   This is surprising because I did not expect it. I am not able to articulate the reasons yet, but if they become clearer, I'll share them in my upcoming updates.

6. My story resonated with many

   My post of LinkedIn on “Why I Quit my Job?” connected with numerous individuals who reached out to share their views, journeys, and internal debates.

Things that did not surprise

1. I do miss the paycheck

   For 15 years, I had been accustomed to receiving a paycheck every two weeks. The first few weeks were awkward, but the habit is wearing off quickly.

2. Healthcare costs remains one of the biggest expense for my family

   I am on Amazon's COBRA plan, which costs us (a family of 4) $2,000/month. I am going to look for alternatives to reduce this cost.

3. Making money independently is hard
   As a full-time Software Engineer, I was never worried about whether my work would make money for the company. Making money independently is challenging, and I have identified gaps in my skillset that I need to address.

4. Spending time with my kids is the best
   As I had expected, spending time with my two kids (5 years old and almost 3 year old) is a wonderful experience. I am fortunate to have the opportunity to spend quality time with them at this age.

5. I love to build
   Bringing ideas to life gives me incredible satisfaction and joy.

Scorecard

• 1 - Pursue new hobby: gardening

• 1 - Sickness week

• 1 - Travel week to Canada

• 2 - Applications built

• 2.5 - Number of times working out at the Gym per week

• 100s - Code commits

• $62.56 - OpenAI expenses

• $102.72 - AWS expenses (includes domains registrations)

• $18 - Total Revenue from PlaylistGeniusAI

• $0 - Total Revenue from ReviewHeroAI

• 401 - Number of users for ReviewHeroAI Chrome Extension.

• 15,000 - Number users for PlaylistGeniusAI.com

• 33,000 - Playlists created using PlaylistGeniusAI.com

Next Steps

I am three months into my one-year journey, and I have loved every moment. Yes, this journey is costly, so I will be pouring all my efforts into making it sustainable.

I will continue to build, learn, and iterate.