Damus
Avi Burra profile picture
Avi Burra
@AviBurra
Funny story and a beacon to the nostr/bitcoin tribe ๐Ÿ™ :

As some of you may know, I run an AI team at a large fiat health-tech company. The job has been sucking out my soul for the past few years, but I persisted because the paycheck was very comfortable and helped me keep the lights on at home. It's been brutal working 10-12 hour days under high stress, hardly being around for my teenage son's final years of childhood, and then trying to make time for my passion projects in bitcoin, nostr, and AI.

Last week, I had enough and finally did what I had been stopping myself from doing for over a year. I asked my SVP to lay me off. He laughed and said that's going to be really tough because I run a high visibilty team and the optics would be terrible if I was laid off. ๐Ÿ˜‚

I pressed him some more and told him there was no way I could continue for much longer and he finally demurred and agreed to "see what he can do" ๐Ÿคทโ€โ™‚๏ธ

I'm going to take him at his word and assume the sweet axe will fall by the end of June, plus about two months of severance. That's about as much runway I have to start making a dent with all the projects I want to dedicate my time to:

- NosFabrica: health data and interoperability on nostr
- Casa Nostra: an umbrella for all my creative projects
* "Finding Home," my Bourdain-inspired food/travel/culture show
with bitcoiners
* "July 18," the sequel to my novel 24 that's 20% written
* "Plebchain Radio," my nostr and bitcoin podcast I co-host with
@QW
* "Rendezvous with Claude and Friends," my performance art
podcast
* "The Acceleration," my AI focused podcast
* "Waiting For Satoshi," a one-act play I'm working on, loosely
inspired by Waiting for Godot

Why am I sharing this with you?

Because Nostr is where the smartest builders, thinkers, and gentleplebs hang out. This is my tribe and I am asking for ideas and guidance. Now that I have taken the leap, how do I make sure a net appears? I want to go full steam ahead on all the projects I listed above, but also want to ensure that I'm not rug-pulling my family.
7214โค๏ธ60๐Ÿค™16โค๏ธ3๐Ÿ‘2๐Ÿ’œ2๐Ÿ‘1
cloud fodder · 39w
since you asked for advice.. prepare for failure. do you have more than just this severance runway? your failure plan should be a hard cutoff timeframe and maybe some extra time to recover before back to the grind. I think it's all good ideas, having done this myself many times and not regretted ...
โ‚ฟoniz23โšก๏ธ๐Ÿดโ€โ˜ ๏ธ๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น · 39w
I think there are too many plans you have. If you do a couple less and concentrate on the others and dedice more time to them, something nice will come up for you too. And your family can't stay broke with a boss like you friend ๐Ÿ˜‰๐Ÿค good luck
Ahi · 39w
We have obligations, but only one life. You do you. Especially "nosfabrica" and "finding home" sound interesting to me.
Totally Human Writer · 39w
Good luck! Enjoyed your film at BFF. Get out of the fiat world and you will fly 10 times higher.
Mโ€™shell · 39w
Leap and the net shall appear. Wishing you the greatest good ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿผ
CptKook · 39w
Interesting โ€œfinding homeโ€ idea. I was thinking about building a nostr native couch surfing app along those lines. It would be dope if we could link up more Bitcoiners in an intimate and informal setting for more meaningful connections.
Justin_Tokyo · 39w
All the best for this new chapter! Keep us posted on your progress and challenges. You should definitely tap into nostr:nprofile1qqs2rx4daefmcuwjttl0xegx0guh3tps64fq6dhv3nr56aagw2hhxkgpz4mhxue69uhhwmm59ehx7um5wgh8qctjw3usz9nhwden5te0dehhxarj9eehgcttv4ujumn9wsscakw4 for โ€œfinding homeโ€. Looking fo...
Lululuna · 39w
Excited for your next chapter!
GulagBound · 39w
Pray comrade. No greater wisdom than that which comes from above.
Stacking Functions · 39w
Congrats on listening to your inner voice! I highly recommend looking at 'Values based decision making'. Can clarify so much for yourself by asking the right questions.. https://video.nostr.build/451d320b636808a8d7d55967bb241f70b67420aef75e63c45914e9678d95b085.mp4
kmclash · 39w
Inspiring and thought provoking! Courageous! ๐Ÿซก๐Ÿซ‚
Satty · 39w
Hello, thank you very much for sharing. I just quit my job in an AI team too, but just to get another one... Thank you for sharing. I am definitely looking to opt out at some point as well, so I am very interested to hear how it goes. And also, I am working as a data engineer for AI teams, if ever ...
47 · 39w
let the universe take you on a journey best of luck sir ๐Ÿซก
shroominic · 39w
best luck! in my experience itโ€™s best to focus on your personal health after a burnout and then locking again on a project that you feel excited about
Jake Woodhouse · 39w
Short answer: action leads to clarity. Just go for it, and the path will become clear Long answer: probably best done on a podcastโ€ฆ ๐Ÿ˜œ
Piez · 39w
Good for you my brother! Best of luck on pursuing your passions!๐Ÿซก๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿ’ช
Kayne · 39w
Good luck. Enjoy the extra time with your family.
Achilles · 39w
Love it focus your time&energy on bitcoin&nostr combined with your dedication and proof of work everything is going to turn out awesome. Enjoy life on the bitcoin standard ๐Ÿงก๐Ÿ—ฝ๐Ÿ’œ
Akamaister · 39w
I want to do similar have several ideas for a novel and a number of businesses I run where I want to incorporate Bitcoin in the operations
SweedWick · 39w
LFG
Kontext · 39w
You cannot make sure, in any meaningful way, that the net appears. Freedom and uncertainty go hand in hand. All you can do is give it your best shot(s)*... and have faith ๐Ÿ™ * shots because some will miss. Don't cry over a missed shot, take another one. Godspeed, brother ๐Ÿค 
Bitcoin Sikho · 39w
having vision and then taking steps to achieve it is huge, youโ€™re on the right path all the best ๐Ÿ™Œ๐Ÿป
Sebastix · 39w
๐Ÿ’ช๐Ÿป๐Ÿ™ That takes courage! With what Iโ€™m always struggling with is following my gut feelings and then decide to what to pay attention too. It always more than just 1 thing and itโ€™s always more than 1 feeling. But itโ€™s my compass. But reading it is quite hard sometimes. So what I often ...
Fotoart · 39w
Could be the greatest example you give to your kid(s) (if you have any).
Dug · 39w
This is epic, and canโ€™t stop thinking about visiting my boss to ask him to sack me!!!! After being in the role for 12 years, this may be a useful little addition to my stack. ๐Ÿซก๐Ÿ™Œ
Phillip D. McCombs · 36w
How can I help?