The Long standing joke in New York is ask anyone what they do, and they’ll reply with actor, comedian, start-up founder or some other lefty goal. Press them, though, and they’ll admit they bartend, wait tables, deliver packages… This is the hustle we’re all used to. There’s this thing called rent…
There are a few different ways I’ve seen people go for it. I’ve been here for 10 years, I’ve tried them all and I’ve seen lots of friends have at it, too. Here’s what I can take away from them all.
The burnout, not fade away
Most people, when they show up here at 22 or whatever, just dive in. You’re out every night, finding a job is secondary, and you run yourself ragged. If you’re lucky you’ve got a little savings, but at 22, $10,000 in the bank feels like it will last forever. So you go nuts, until panic sets in.
The good: You’re seen everywhere, and that makes a huge difference to people in NYC. The hardest thing to establish in New York is trust, and a lot of that is based solely on seeing someone more than once. This also increases your luck surface area, and good things are more likely to come to you.
The bad: If you were a big fish in a small pond before you moved here, like most people, you think you know something. So you inevitably learn the ropes the hard way and waste a lot of time. You make a lot of mistakes, and you spend a lot of money.
The outcome is that in two months or six months, you are exhausted, your money starts to dwindle, and you retire.
The long slow
This is the heart of it. You do what you gotta, and chip away at your passion. Some people get jobs they don’t care about, others, like me, set up freelancing, so we can alt-tab when we want.
The good: You can take your time. If you’re dilligent, and consistent, you meet a lot of people, and stand to learn a lot from them. You’ve got time to stop and smell the roses, and more importantly, modify your game plan as you trudge along.
The bad: Man, you get discouraged. Progress is slow, and it’s hard to keep your eye on the prize.
The after school special
Some people hit the ground running. Others are more responsible and try to eek out their passion during nights and weekends. Gary Vaynerchuk calls this hustle 2.0.
The good: you are a responsible adult, it’s low risk and feels way better than watching t.v. every night. You also have to take breaks every day (the day job) which means lots of time to think through what you’re going to do that night. It can be very productive!
The bad: any girlfriends or wives will not see you for months on end. It’s easy to lose track of the end goal chipping away every night. It’s tough to keep up momentum.
The hack-a-thon
The newest method I’ve seen for getting a project out the door is the hack-a-thon. Assuming you’ve got something that has a clear beginning and end, you can lock yourself away and get it done. It’s fun with friends! Just set very clear goals.
The good: it’s a shorter commitment, and you (hopefully) walk away with something tangible – a 3-song EP, an MVP of your new web app, a first draft of your new short story.
The bad: It only works for certain kinds of projects, with certain kinds of people. You won’t sleep for 3 days.
After fighting with New York for 11 years, I now think of projects in terms of the hack-a-thon to get me started, and then aim for a week or two of nights and weekends to polish it off, and see if I can get people interested. I’m promising myself, no more burning out!