General
Share and discuss tech, products, business, startups, or product recommendations
Start new thread

Is it better to be a founder, freelancer or employee? (Personally for you)

by
•

I'll be honest – I've never liked the feeling that someone "owns" me.

So being employed was very distant to me. [As if I had no power over my income.]

And being a founder gave me a greater sense of "ownership", but also responsibility. And, when things are not going well, and business is going poorly, you don't really want to be a founder in bad times. :D

Freelancing probably worked out best for me – delivering a service, while also protecting your income and time... although the time part is probably the most exhausting (sometimes the tasks are beyond my strength, and I have to make things up, no social & health insurance, chasing people with paying invoices, etc.). But despite that, it's still my choice.

What suits you the most, and what advantages/disadvantages have you noticed for your preferred choice?

403 views

Add a comment

Replies

Best

Being an employee (depending on the employer) affords you the opportunity to learn structure and deepen your skillsets (for some). For me, I always looked at it from the angle of the minute I stop learning is the minute I go back to being a founder instead of an employee to solve problems I have gained experience in.

 But you can learn many things, as well as the founder, but also as an employee or freelancer, too. :) Everything is about the angle of view :)

Founder for me. Not because it's easier or more profitable it's not but because being a solo dev means every decision, mistake, and win is yours. That ownership is hard to give up once you've had it.

I think I value ownership too much to fully enjoy traditional employment 😅

But at the same time, founder stress looks mentally exhausting long term. Feels like your brain never switches off.

Freelancing seems like the best middle ground for now, freedom + control, but it also comes with instability and constantly selling yourself.

Still figuring out the balance honestly.

You may be a part of a System, a link in a chain that incorporates these three roles: employee, founder, and freelancer. A kind of problem solver.

But what we really need is a genius who can establish that system. Yet we are what we are...

As for me, I am considering becoming a founder while still remaining an employee at some company.

The freedom of being a founder or freelancer is hard to beat. For me, it is about the autonomy to choose projects that truly excite me. The stability of being an employee is nice, but the growth curve when you are on your own is so much steeper. It is definitely a choose your hard situation!

Most people start as employees, and that’s not a bad thing. Employment gives you financial stability. The key is making sure you don’t trade all your time for money. Leave enough room to build something of your own. Freelancing is really just another version of employment. Instead of working for one employer, you work for multiple clients with more control over your schedule and the kind of work you take on. But the same principle applies: don’t overbook yourself to the point where you have no time left to build your own future. The goal should eventually be independence, building your own product, business, or service. Personally, I prefer running my own business because it gives me the freedom to fully apply my creativity, vision, and way of solving problems. When you build for yourself, you’re able to create on your own terms and directly see the impact of your ideas. That’s the path that fits the way I think.

i think each one teaches a different type of freedom honestly.

employment teaches structure, freelancing teaches self-reliance, but building a startup teaches emotional resilience, because some days you genuinely have no idea if what you’re building will work and you still have to wake up and continue anyway

It was depends on the personality, If you want security = employee with monthly income not to much of worries and i know some people that really prefer this 😃, but in the other side if you are looking for independence and higher income freelancers and founders are the choice, but not everyone can be a founder nor a freelancer! it comes with big responsibilities and it has a bad side also :s
Been employee for over 15 years, last 2 years I been a consultant and that’s been the best time ever , no more drama or working overtime for free… just work on whatever task is given…

I've had mutliple business ventures that didn't work out and working a 9-5 job has personally never been ideal for me. A remote job or freelancing with different companies is probably I would say are also the only things that seem to be working out well for me!

First
Previous
1234
Next