#21 Why Michael Lynch Quit Google to Work for Himself as a Solo Founder
Feb 16, 2021
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Meet Michael Lynch, a former software engineer at Google turned solo founder and blogger. He shares insights on his course to hit the front page of Hacker News, the journey to financial independence, and the impact of going solo. Discover the concept of early retirement, managing expenses, and the challenges of starting a bootstrapping business. Learn from his experiences and get inspired to take control of your career and financial future.
Michael Lynch launched a course called 'Hit the Front Page of Hacker News' that teaches strategies for getting blog posts featured on the site and covers topics like choosing the right topics and improving writing skills.
Michael Lynch discusses his pursuit of financial independence and the freedom it provides to work on projects driven by interest rather than financial obligations.
Deep dives
Michael Lynch's course on hitting the front page of Hacker News
Michael Lynch, a former software engineer at Google, has recently launched a course called 'Hit the Front Page of Hacker News.' The course teaches strategies for getting blog posts featured on Hacker News and covers topics such as choosing the right topics, improving writing skills, and handling failed submissions. Michael's own success in getting 80% of his blog posts on the front page, with 4 reaching the number one slot, has attributed to his business's success. The course offers valuable insights for bloggers looking to increase traffic and improve their writing.
Michael Lynch's experience creating his first course
Michael Lynch shares his experience creating his first course, which took longer than expected. Inspired by the success story of another entrepreneur, he had expected to finish the course in 40 hours, but it ended up taking him about 200 hours. Despite the challenges, he appreciates the learning experience and values the feedback he received. He reflects on the possibility of starting with a smaller info product, like an ebook, to make the process more manageable. Overall, he sees value in the journey of creating his first course, even though there are things he would do differently in hindsight.
Michael Lynch's journey towards financial independence
Michael Lynch discusses his pursuit of financial independence and the importance of having enough money to live without worrying about finances. His interest in financial independence began at the age of 25 when he wanted to take time off to travel. Realizing the impact of delaying his dreams, he saved two years' worth of expenses, quit his job, and backpacked in South America. This experience led him to recognize the appeal of financial independence and the freedom it provides to work on projects driven by interest rather than financial obligations. He learned about the concept of the 4% rule, which helped him redefine his view of retirement savings and the attainability of financial independence.
Michael Lynch's insights on effective writing and business storytelling
Michael Lynch shares his insights on the power of effective writing and storytelling for business success. He emphasizes that writing compellingly and sharing personal stories can bring attention to a business and create a connection with potential customers. He highlights the influence of his blog, where he strategically chose topics and learned the importance of making blog posts engaging and relatable. By presenting the story of his product, TinyPilot, and its development journey, he successfully drove traffic and sales. He believes that developing strong writing skills is a valuable asset for entrepreneurs and recommends focusing on crafting engaging narratives for business success.
Michael Lynch is a software developer and blogger. He used to work as a software engineer at Google, but he decided to quit and now he's a solo founder, and blogs about his experience.
He's recently launched the course Hit the Front Page of Hacker News. The course teaches everything he has learned about Hacker News after getting many of his original blog posts to hit the front page. It covers the site's unique culture, how to choose topics, improve your writing, and what to do if your submission fails.
We also talked about going solo founder, and his financial independence journey.
Highlights
00:00 Intro 00:41 Who is Michael Lynch? 01:58 Hit the Front Page of Hacker News 03:04 Courses vs e-books 04:00 How many copies were sold 05:04 Beta-testing the course before launch day 07:19 Financial Independence and becoming an entrepreneur 08:16 Financial Independence and travelling 09:16 The shock of going back to a normal job 11:08 Planning for Financial Independence by building a business 12:37 Mr. Money Mustache, the 4% rule and Early Retirement 14:16 How much you make vs How much you save 14:33 What does he want to do when he retires early? 15:12 Life expenses and business expenses 15:49 Negotiating a big salary at Google by getting multiple job offers 18:30 Financial choices in your 20's and the optimum strategy 23:05 A good salary for boring work isn't fun 25:56 Bootstrapping is very different than the startup life 26:48 Having freedom and control over the direction of your product/business 28:40 Prioritizing and evaluating business ideas 31:05 How to do market research 32:57 Lessons after quitting Google: content strategy, marketing, and distribution 36:59 Keep yourself motivated and don't put too much pressure on yourself 39:49 Advice to anyone who wants to quit their job and start a business 42:36 Final remarks