There is a particular piece of advice that seems to follow developers everywhere:
"“You should start your own company.”"
Build a SaaS. Create a startup. Launch your own product. Start freelancing. Build your personal brand. Create passive income. Become a founder.
And I understand why people say it. Especially in tech, there's this idea that if you're capable of building things, eventually you should stop building for other people and start building something of your own.
But here's something I've realized about myself: I actually really like building for other people. And yes... I like getting paid for it. Very much, actually.
I don't dream about being a founder
There, I said it. I don't wake up every morning thinking: “How can I disrupt an industry today?”
Sometimes I wake up thinking: “That website would look so much better if we changed this animation.”
Different dreams. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that.
I love the process of someone coming to me with an idea that exists mostly in their head and saying: “Can we make this?” Then I get to figure out how.
- What should the experience look like?
- How should it work?
- How do we make it fast? Accessible?
- How do we turn the messy thing someone described over a WhatsApp message into an actual product?
There's something satisfying about building someone else's vision
One of my favourite parts of development is taking something that doesn't exist yet and making it real.
A business owner has an idea. A designer has a concept. A company has a problem. Someone has an ugly old website that desperately needs help.
And then I get involved. I don't necessarily need to be the person who came up with the original idea. I like being the person who says: “Okay. Let's figure out how we're going to build this.”
“But why don't you build your own thing?”
I get asked this a lot. And I think part of the confusion comes from assuming that building and owning are the same thing. They're not.
I can be deeply invested in something without needing to own the company. I can take responsibility for an important project without needing my name on the building.
I can make decisions. I can solve problems. I can mentor people. I can take ownership of my work. I can become extremely good at what I do.
"None of those things require me to start a company."
I actually like being an employee
This probably sounds controversial in certain corners of the internet. Apparently you're supposed to hate having a boss. You're supposed to “escape the 9–5.”
But honestly? I like being part of a team. I like having a problem to solve. I like having people to collaborate with. I like knowing what I'm responsible for. I like getting paid for the work I do.
I like being able to finish something and think: “Damn. We actually built that.” And then, ideally, getting paid again next month. Beautiful system. No notes.
That doesn't mean I don't have ambition
Choosing employment doesn't mean choosing stagnation. I still want to become a better developer. I still want to work on bigger projects. I still want to earn more. I still want more responsibility.
My ambition just isn't necessarily ownership.
Sometimes ambition looks like building a company. Sometimes it looks like becoming an exceptional engineer. Sometimes it looks like becoming the person a team trusts when a complicated problem lands on their desk.
There is a difference between ownership and entrepreneurship
You can have ownership without ownership of the company. If I'm responsible for building a feature, I want to care about it. If something is broken, I want to fix it. If I see a better approach, I want to speak up. That's ownership.
Entrepreneurship is a different path. It involves things like finding a market, selling, fundraising, hiring, managing cash flow, and carrying the risk of the business.
I respect the hell out of people who do that. But enjoying software development doesn't automatically mean I need to want all of it.
I like being the person who builds
Someone can have the vision. Someone can have the business idea. Someone can understand the market. Someone can lead the company.
"And I can sit down and say: “Cool. Let's build it.”"
That's not a lack of ambition. That's knowing what part of the process I genuinely enjoy.
Because I've spent enough time in tech to realize there are a lot of things we're apparently supposed to want. Start a company. Build a SaaS. Become a creator. Become a manager. Become a founder.
I just really like building things for people who have a problem they need solved. And getting paid for making that problem disappear? Yeah. I like that part too.