Dave Martin

Don't quit your job. If you hate your job, find one that you do love. Keep your job and and start building something on the side.

It goes against the grain, but it's okay to want to stay intentionally tiny. Keep your job as long as you can. Stay a solo founder as long as you can. Stay under 5 employees as long as you can. You're not weird. There are other just like you!

Embrace constraints. They're often an advantage in disguise.

Reduce complexity. Get creative. Find ways to reduce or eliminate entire portions of your tiny business that can be automated or outsourced somehow.

Don't worry about revenue. To quote @timoreilly "Money is the fuel not the destination". Just talk to people, help them solve their problems, and find ways to make them smile. If you iterate and stick around long enough, the money will always follow.

Stop "hustling" 24/7. Take care of yourself. Exercise every day. Listen to your body. Take naps. Eat healthy. Get the sleep your body needs.

Instead of working the midnight oil, experiment with waking up at 4am every day for an entire week. Even with a family and full-time job you can still reasonably squeeze in 2-3 hours before you go to work each day. But don't be rigid. If you want to sleep in one day, do it.

Stay frugal forever. Find opportunities to get perspective on how blessed you are. Find 10 things to be thankful for every day. Be happy with what you have now, and stop caring about some silly made up future where you drive a lambo and live in a mansion.

Sell to businesses (not consumers).

Being "passionate" about the thing you work on is not necessary, being excited about it is. A good litmus test here: if you're not excited to wake up at 4am to work on it, you should probably find something else to work on.

Take a fast from side projects and work one day every week. Sunday is a great day for this. It's hard at first, but pays dividends down the road and will help you avoid burnout.

Have patience. Anything good takes time. Keep your job. Don't stress. Stay committed. Think long-term. Stick with it!

Find a small group of friends who you can bounce ideas off, and who will agree to help hold you accountable.

Stay independent. Taking other peoples money is a slippery slope. It will change you. It will change your product. It will change your business. It starts subtly at first, but it's always palpable a couple years down the line.

If you can find a way to tell a compelling story—something people naturally want to be a part of—you'll have a much easier time with marketing & distribution.

Stay focused. Don't get distracted by shiny objects. They're a trap. Put on blinders. Try and recognize when you're being distracted by other ideas. Write them down to get them out of your head, then put your head down and get back to work.

Use simple tech. Don't get fancy. Stop chasing the latest developer trends & tools. A simple understanding of functions and if/else statements in pretty much any language can build you just about any product.

You have unlimited potential! I believe in you. You're loved. Be fearless. Be focused. You can do this!