This is the personal website of John Watson: father, software developer, artist, guitar player. Follow me on Mastodon or Twitter or Twitch or itch.io or GitHub.

Changes

I just posted this at Flickr but I thought ya’ll might be interested, too:

So, way back in August, I hinted that something big was going on at the fd house. Well, It’s been a very, extremely busy few months (has it only been three months?) but I’m in a much better position now to share what has been going on. Back in August, I quit my full-time, steady-pay, benefit-laden job to start a company with two friends. It is our second company together, actually. The first one, christianaudio.com, is doing very well. But we wanted to do something completely different; to diversify our portfolio, so to speak.

What’s the company? I can’t really talk about it yet. In a couple of weeks I’ll have a lot more to share. If you follow these sorts of things, hopefully you’ll be hearing about us. But even if you don’t, I think that many people who use Flickr will find the idea is really cool. And one of my partners is a bona fide rock star (so we’ve got that going for us).

I’ve already said too much. ;-)

On a personal note, trading up from “employee” to “self-employed” has been been one of the best things I’ve ever done. I’m working more now. But since I’m not bound to the 9-5 rhythms of an office, my time is much more flexible and I find that I have a lot more of it to spend with my family. I eat breakfast with my kids every morning instead of sitting in traffic. I’m taking Tuesday and Thursday afternoons off to take my son to soccer practice (where I’ve been roped into assistant coaching) without any of the guilt that used to be associated with it. I’ve traded in afternoon staff meetings for helping my daughter with her homework. Thursday afternoon she and I grabbed a milkshake after I picked her up from school.

In short, it’s wonderful. For the first time ever, I finally feel like I’m steering instead of just pedaling as hard as I can.

I’m starting to brag and I don’t mean to so I’m going to stop now. I just wanted to explain what I mentioned back in August and my relative absence from Flickr over the past couple of months. In a month or so, some of this activity should die down a little (I’m not asking much, just to dial it back from 11), and I can actually get out with my camera a little more. In the meantime, I apologize for not visiting your streams or commenting as much as I’d like. I hope you understand.

Comments

  1. Jacqueline on 2006-11-13 10:50:57 wrote: Oooh, sounds exciting. A company involving our beloved fd, maker of the flickr toys and a rock star? This is bound to be good. I am agog with curiosity.

  2. NickS on 2006-11-13 12:11:09 wrote: Hey, Congrats John, and Good Luck! Looking forward to hearing all the juice details.

  3. disneymike on 2006-11-13 12:40:41 wrote: Congratulations and the best of luck to you, John. I am so envious of your time with your children. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I’ll keep you in my prayers.

  4. siobhan on 2006-11-13 13:00:44 wrote: Good on you!

  5. Laura on 2006-11-13 13:14:59 wrote: How exciting ! I’m green with envy. More time with the kids AND more job satisfaction - it really does exist ?!? Can’t wait, can’t wait ….

  6. Mami Delux on 2006-11-13 19:17:01 wrote: well done!!… congratulations and best of luck!

  7. Jeannine on 2006-11-13 19:38:20 wrote: Congrats John! This sounds wonderful! Can’t wait to hear the details.

  8. Eric C. Snowdeal III on 2006-11-13 21:09:32 wrote: best of luck john!

  9. David on 2006-11-14 07:39:45 wrote: Wishing you all the success in the world.

  10. Damned Thing on 2006-11-14 09:29:59 wrote: Congrats and the best of luck. Myself and two others set up a company 5 years ago and it was a great move to make. Certainly it frees up your time and choices - I used work from home a lot in the beginning, but as the company expanded I now only work from home on thursdays. The only downside to watch out for is finding distractions everywhere during the day and working into the wee small hours in the evenings - fun initially, but eventually you just feel shattered.

  11. JGS on 2006-11-14 11:37:01 wrote: You’re not bragging. You’re inspiring. I know that is one of my goals, to become self-employed so I can have a similar flexible schedule and it is nice to see someone can make it work. I’m really happy for you and your lucky family!

  12. ski on 2006-12-07 11:41:00 wrote: Amen brotha to the self-employment. Though, it’s not for everybody and not everybody can succeed at it, but I think you were born for it. Sounds like you’re transitioning nicely from an “S” to a “B”/“I”. I’m overwhelmed in S-land now but investing more time into B and I so I can get out of the business of selling my time. http://www.amazon.com/Cashflow-Quadrant-Guide-Financial-Freedom/dp/0446677477 I can’t wait to hear about the launch of your next big thing!