What would a sales or customer service role be like at a large company like Facebook?

I've been where you're at *multiple* times. The advice I gave myself was to throw my arms up and just get a job and focus on being better at developing software, the act of coding, since thats what me/you are "passionate" about. If you want a business though, you have to first ask yourself, "Why do you want a business?". Is it because you want to be well known and show up in all the publications? Do you want to hire people and make decisions on where and how the company grows? What do you want? Saying you want a business is the easy part. You can code a platform and get it to the point of being able to be sold (which is great, but these days thats the easy part), but you need to do the other work: figure out what you want and set a goal and run towards it. As I read your question theres a lot more context that can be given to your situation that I don't know about, I dont know you, and havent talked to you, but I can tell that you probably aren't excited to actually talk to people and try to sell it, which is a lot of developers. Most developers think they can build it and customers will come, we've all heard that before, and that's the hard part I mentioned earlier. If you're looking for a suggestion, then my suggestion is: stop building stuff for now. Figure out your goal (not an idea, not a company, but a goal outside of the actual platform) and when the goal amps you up and gets you excited, you'll run down that path, until then, keep coding and getting better at writing software and in your off time, go do hobbies like kayak or something. Make yourself bored, it will come to you then.

Don't worry about the fact that you "failed". What you presumably did is work hard, and learn a lot, and probably created some quality stuff, regardless of whether it ended up being published. That's usually all your potential employers will care about. The people that work for companies that end up going out of business aren't considered failures. They generally produced quality work but their company may have just not been able to find / convince the right customers, which is equivalent to you not having found the right publisher. This is an optimistic way to look at it, but that doesn't mean it's not true in your case. I would publish whatever unfinished books you have on Amazon as e-books. Make a title and cover image. That way they're 'published' immediately, and each book will even get a DOI and/or PMID #. Then you can continue to edit them and finish them whenever you have time (see: https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/help/topic/A2KRM4C8E91086). Meanwhile, if you have other non-book writings, try publishing them as guest-blogger posts on other people's existing blogs. best of luck, Lee

Catch 22? Not at all...You need to project your weakness ( according to you) as a strength. Be open and bold about your online business. It is work experience and not a career break! You take that experience to the companies who are in the same line of business and you are very exciting for them. Please dont waste your time with recruiters. They have fixated ideas and mandates and can rarely identify or appreciate real talent. You need to get rid off your baggage you are carrying in your head. Your non-profit work would never become a business as your target customers cant afford to pay. Keep it that way and continue doing good karma. Join relevant LinkedIn groups based on your business and connect with like minded people. Target businesses in the same domain and directly contact them seeking appointments with hiring managers. Go as an entrepreneur and explore synergies. There is no shame in saying that your business did not work. But analyze why. If you feel that it is only because you did not promote it actively, then please go ahead and promote the hell out of it. Being an entrepreneur is the best work experience any employer can get as you would know the entire business cycle. You never know, your promotion, done in the right way may actually create more jobs!

Seems to me that versatility is actually your greater selling point. Yes, you could concentrate on 1 niche problem that you solve over and over again for various clients. Advantage: That streamlined approach would be efficient in terms of presentation and actual work load. Disadvantage: By promoting a very specific offering, you may be introducing yourself as the wrong tool for the job ... for most potential clients. If I stumble across you and find a landing page that stresses your ability to solve Problem X while I am dealing with Problem Y, then I assume you're less relevant than you might be. That does a disservice to your diverse skill set. You can marry the best of both worlds. Here's what I'd suggest. Clients will discover you both passively and as a result of active outreach. So 1. For your active marketing efforts, identify prospects where the client really needs you for Problem X, in which you're specializing. Introduce yourself as a specialist in Problem X (which is true). 2. For your more passive, less keyword-targeted online footprint, showcase your versatility rather than your specialization. That's also true. This way, you'll seem like a better fit for a wider group of potential clients. Instead of writing you off as a specialist, they'll consider engaging you as an IT "renaissance man". Narrow the focus of your presentation when you have narrowed your demographic. Widen that focus when the demographic is wider.

The decision to join a Startup vs a large corporation - and the associated pros and cons are not a static set - they vary greatly based on where you are, what your skill set is, what stage of your career you are in and so on. There are of course some that are universal (like being part of something new that might change the world) - but I’ll focus on some that are perhaps less obvious. I’ll give you 16 points to consider looking at two points within the career stage spectrum - they are by no means comprehensive. Just getting started If you are just entering the job market - right out of college (or not) a startup provides some really interesting opportunities: - Greater involvement / visibility in decision making. - Wider skill set use / development opportunities. - Greater opportunity for responsibility growth and promotion. - More flexibility in lateral moves within the company. It also comes with a unique set of potential downsides: - On the job training? Better be a self starter. - Amazing salary and benefits? Someday, maybe. - Uncertainty and instability of the business. - Resume implications. Seasoned industry pro Similarly, there are enticements at the startup level that make it a great choice for those of us with a few extra notches (and maybe holes) in our belts: - Leverage existing networks / partners and deep industry knowledge to accelerate success in the position and the company. - Elevate to a new strata of management (i.e. VP to CxO). - A chance to expand your personal brand. - Leverage market value for a larger equity position within the company. And with the rewards, come the risks: - Salary may be less than market rate. - Resume implications (can be seen as a step backward - depends on outcomes). - Stability / long term security concerns. - Wildly different work environment / comfort zone issue. In summary - Startups are awesome for a lot of reasons, and as a serial entrepreneur who can’t imagine doing anything else, my personal opinion would skew heavily towards the opinion that everyone should join a startup at some point. As with all decisions in life, being informed, entering into them with eyes wide open, knowing the benefits and risks and managing for them is required to make the right decision. I’m more than happy to chat with anyone considering joining a startup and tie it directly to their own situation.