Weekend Warrioring · Entrepreneurs in Residence

Weekend Warrioring

How’s everyone’s weekend going? Working, with family, taking it easy? I’ve taken a proper break from the laptop and honestly feel great for it.

It’s a three day weekend here in Prague, temps are dropping below freezing next week, and with a client project starting on the 24th, I’m taking some R&R.

I wanted to chat about something that keeps coming up with people here. Juggling priorities. Most of us are in a similar situation:

working full-time
or working with clients
and building an idea on the side

When I was starting out, the full-time job felt like “real life”, and the product I wanted to build was the dream. The escape. The thing that would replace working for someone else.

But once I actually switched from full-time to client work, I realised something fast:

in a job you have one boss
with clients you have many
the problems you hate in full-time work often show up in client work too
some clients are great, some are not, and you’re still a service at the end of the day

I didn’t appreciate how much stability and domain expertise full-time roles gave me until later. And now at 37, the idea of stability sounds… pretty nice. Not because I want to stop building, but because a stable base means you build better.

That’s why I’m shifting again. Moving from short 6 to 8 week MVP sprints towards more long-term 6 month+ minimum. The hoep being that different rhythm, different responsibilities etc fits my life better right now.

A quick version of my path so far:

full-time roles
freelance PPC and analytics
consulting
internal tools
growth engineering
running a voucher publisher for 5 years
back to client work
now interviewing for senior engineering roles in Prague
still building products on the side

It’s not been a straight line. I’ve traded one boss for many. Learned a lot. Lost money. Made money. Lost more. Dealt with net-90 and net-180 cycles where affiliate revenue vanished overnight because someone changed policy. If someone had explained all that upfront, I might have chosen a different business to scale entirely.

But the upside is resilience. Adaptability. Comfort with risk and chaos. I know many of you are somewhere along the same path. Maybe at the start. Maybe halfway. Maybe deciding whether to make the jump.

For me this group isn’t really “how to build a product”. It’s more:

how to build a life that can support you while you build a product
how to stay stable mentally and financially
how to get clarity around priorities
how to avoid burning out
how to move with intention rather than panic

I’m pretty open about my own gaps:

I miss colleagues
I’ve never really found a long-term co-founder
my girlfriend is endlessly supportive but she shouldn’t carry the emotional load
being a UK guy living in Prague adds its own layer of weirdness
I’m leaning towards a portfolio approach: some employment, some consulting, some products

So yeah, have a think about where you’re at:

full-time and building on the side
freelance and trying to stabilise
wanting more freedom
wanting less chaos
or just exploring what’s next

Wherever you are, it’s valid. If this group helps with anything, I hope it’s giving you a stable foundation so whatever you choose to build, you’re doing it from solid ground.

Where are you at this week? Drop a comment below. I'll go first.

I'm working

I'm chilling

It's complicated

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