Job → side project → quit

Who this is for

You have a job you can’t or won’t drop yet, and an idea you want to test. This is one of the channel’s core stories: over 40 episodes feature founders who built while employed, and Pat Walls’ own origin, told across several of his solo videos, is the template (How did you build it alongside a job, and how did you decide to quit?). Many guests did it for one to six years (Christian Konnerth · Christian Konnerth (Sep 2025) ▶ 06:56).

The route at a glance

1. Protect a fixed daily block around the job.
2. Keep the job while you validate, and manage your energy.
3. Expect a long slog.
4. Quit on a concrete signal, such as revenue replacing your salary.
5. Build runway: savings, lower costs, a deadline.
6. Decide with your family, and keep a fallback of employable skills.
7. Expect the first months after quitting to be hard.

Step 1 — Protect a fixed daily block

The how is remarkably consistent: a fixed daily block, usually early in the morning, rather than bursts at weekends. Matt Robinson worked 6am to 9am before his job at Meta (Matt Robinson · Matt Robinson (Jul 2026) ▶ 08:45). Ben Bozzay did focus-heavy development from about 5:30 to 8:30am and lower-focus marketing in the evening (Ben Bozzay · Ben Bozzay (Jul 2025) ▶ 05:45), and Dickie Bush woke at 4:30am to write for two hours (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 09:45).

The presenter’s own version, from Pat Walls, was two focused hours in a Starbucks straight after work, later also from 6am, after reading Deep Work (presenter · How I Built A $1M Business Fro (Jan 2024) ▶ 03:56).

Smaller doses can work. Ramsri Goutham batches everything into one Saturday-afternoon slot and reports $8,500 a month from two apps on about two hours a week (self-reported) (Ramsri Goutham · Ramsri Goutham (Jun 2025) ▶ 02:38) (Ramsri Goutham · Ramsri Goutham (Jun 2025) ▶ 00:57).

Step 2 — Keep the job while you validate, and manage energy

The main argument for keeping the job is that you don’t have to build from scarcity (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 03:51). Karl Hughes says going full-time from the start would have put a lot of pressure on him (Karl Hughes · Karl Hughes (Oct 2023) ▶ 10:16). As Christian Konnerth puts it:

(Christian Konnerth · Christian Konnerth (Sep 2025) ▶ 05:50)

Energy is the real constraint. Alex Goldberg moved to a larger company for a true 9-to-5 so he could close the laptop at five (Alex Goldberg · Alex Goldberg (Mar 2024) ▶ 02:03). Konnerth, who developed from 8 to 11pm, later negotiated a four-day week (Christian Konnerth · Christian Konnerth (Sep 2025) ▶ 03:17); Ania Wysocka also worked four days a week with her employer’s knowledge (Ania Wysocka · Ania Wysocka (Aug 2025) ▶ 05:50). David Bressler used parental leave as a bounded window to ship an MVP (David Bressler · David Bressler (Feb 2024) ▶ 02:36).

Common mistake: assuming evening coding will always work. Konnerth’s evening motivation dropped in summer after full days of development (Christian Konnerth · Christian Konnerth (Sep 2025) ▶ 03:25), and Sebastian Röhl could not code his own apps after eight hours of programming at work (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 12:02).

Step 3 — Expect a long slog

Wysocka had no weekends or social life for years and says there are no shortcuts (Ania Wysocka · Ania Wysocka (Aug 2025) ▶ 05:58). Brett Williams ran DesignJoy alongside a job for 3.5 years (Brett · Brett (May 2023) ▶ 02:59); Konnerth calls his path a six-year marathon (Christian Konnerth · Christian Konnerth (Sep 2025) ▶ 06:56). Lukas Hermann waited 224 days for his first dollar (Lukas Hermann · Lukas Hermann (Jun 2025) ▶ 02:56).

Step 4 — Quit on a concrete signal

The cautious camp waits for a hard signal. Goldberg waited until the site replaced his 150K salary (currency unstated) (Alex Goldberg · Alex Goldberg (Mar 2024) ▶ 04:39). Bush says quit once the side project reliably beats your salary (Dickie Bush · Dickie Bush (Jul 2024) ▶ 09:54). Ryan Chen watched the share of revenue from repeat buyers (Ryan Chen · Ryan Chen (Feb 2025) ▶ 09:33), and Ken set an organic revenue target in advance (Quit threshold) (Ken · Ken (Sep 2026) ▶ 06:44).

The leap camp argues that staying too long is the mistake. Brett, who stayed 3.5 years, says:

(Brett · Brett (May 2023) ▶ 10:20)

Brett’s figure at quitting is inconsistent in the source (“80k a year” against the host’s “$80,000 a month”) (Brett · Brett (May 2023) ▶ 03:02).

Step 5 — Build runway

Save first. Angus Cheng says to save for multiple years of no income (Angus Cheng · Angus Cheng (Jul 2025) ▶ 09:36), and warns that with only a few months of runway you probably won’t make it (Angus Cheng · Angus Cheng (Jul 2025) ▶ 09:32). Cut costs: several guests, Bhanu among them, moved back in with their parents (Bhanu · Bhanu (Jan 2026) ▶ 04:06). Set a deadline: Röhl gave himself a funded 12-month sabbatical (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 12:10).

Step 6 — Decide with family; keep a fallback

Robinson made it a joint decision with his wife (Matt Robinson · Matt Robinson (Jul 2026) ▶ 12:57). Obligations raise the stakes: Nick Buzz was scared because of a mortgage and car loans (Nick Buzz · Nick Buzz (Sep 2024) ▶ 10:40), and Shervin Shares says take big risks while you have few obligations (Shervin Shares · Shervin Shares (Apr 2023) ▶ 02:08). Ramsri stays employed by choice, partly because of his family (Ramsri Goutham · Ramsri Goutham (Jun 2025) ▶ 02:55).

Employable skills lower the real risk. Jay reasoned he could get a big-tech job again (Jay · Jay (Sep 2026) ▶ 02:00). Röhl actually went back: he returned to his old job, kept the apps on the side and quit again once they grew (self-reported) (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 04:44).

(Jay · Jay (Sep 2026) ▶ 02:13)

Step 7 — Expect hard first months

Röhl’s first six months were very hard with little revenue (Sebastian Röhl · Sebastian Röhl (Jun 2025) ▶ 04:23), and Paul Millerd says the months after quitting were really hard (Paul Millerd · Paul Millerd (Dec 2023) ▶ 03:22). Kevin Espiritu had basically no personal income for six months (Kevin Espiritu · Kevin Espiritu (Mar 2024) ▶ 05:31). Cheng’s income fell from $10,000 to $200 a month (self-reported) (Angus Cheng · Angus Cheng (Jul 2025) ▶ 07:01).

Where guests disagree

• How much traction before quitting? Wait until income replaces salary (Alex Goldberg · Alex Goldberg (Mar 2024) ▶ 04:36), versus leap earlier because full-time focus itself grows the business (Brett · Brett (May 2023) ▶ 10:15).
• How much runway? Multiple years (Angus Cheng · Angus Cheng (Jul 2025) ▶ 09:32), versus Shervin’s $5,000–10,000 in the bank (Shervin Shares · Shervin Shares (Apr 2023) ▶ 02:56) and Julien Nahum’s view that six months off is not a big risk (Julien Nahum · Julien Nahum (Nov 2024) ▶ 16:23). The presenters’ view: Pat quit with $12,000 and found it motivating (presenter · Matt Robinson (Jul 2026) ▶ 07:53), while adding that there is no right or wrong answer (presenter · Matt Robinson (Jul 2026) ▶ 04:58).
• Is escaping a job you hate a good reason? Domenico Gagliardi uses side projects to build a way out of the 9-to-5 (Domenico Gagliardi · Domenico Gagliardi (Oct 2025) ▶ 07:39); Bozzay says get a better job instead (Ben Bozzay · Ben Bozzay (Jul 2025) ▶ 07:02).

What can go wrong

• Many exits are not chosen. Six episodes describe forced exits, which is a different path: Matt Giovanisci was fired when his boss found out about the side project (Matt Giovanisci · Matt Giovanisci (May 2024) ▶ 03:05), and Bozzay was laid off at about $3,000 a month, below his expenses (Ben Bozzay · Ben Bozzay (Jul 2025) ▶ 04:18).
• The business may still be small. Robinson notes quitting risks his income if customers leave (Matt Robinson · Matt Robinson (Jul 2026) ▶ 07:27), although the episode title frames it as a “$30K/Month SaaS”.
• Luck is part of some stories. Shervin had investment assets and parents who housed him (Shervin Shares · Shervin Shares (Apr 2023) ▶ 03:46); Jay’s confidence rested on already having landed a big-tech job (Jay · Jay (Sep 2026) ▶ 02:22).

How strong is the evidence

Medium. Independent guest sources per step, with Pat’s own story counted once and repeat guests (Brett Williams, Alex Goldberg) counted once: daily block 10, keep the job 8, long slog 8, quit signal 9, runway 8, family and fallback 12, hard first months 6 (the weakest step).

• Pat’s side-project story recurs in several of his solo videos; it is one source, and his line that some guests stayed until $80,000 a month is an unverified host claim (presenter · Matt Robinson (Jul 2026) ▶ 10:41).
• Pat’s quitting trigger was a newsletter sponsorship from Klaviyo (presenter · How I Built A $1M Business Fro (Jan 2024) ▶ 06:10). The amount is conflicting ($12,000 in one video, $112,000 or $122,000 in others as captioned), and Klaviyo is a commercial partner. Starter Story itself is now owned by HubSpot.
• Salary and revenue figures are self-reported, and headline salaries are often title or host framing.
• Survivorship: guests are mostly people for whom quitting worked; Marc Lou’s return to a job after years without revenue is a rare counter-example (Marc Lou · Marc Lou (Aug 2024) ▶ 09:41).

Go deeper

Building a business alongside a job · When to quit your job · Deep work for founders · A founder’s daily routine · Designing a business around your life · How did you build it alongside a job, and how did you decide to quit? · Pat Walls · Validate before you build · Services → productised → product