I Bought a Year of Time for $200,000

Hi, I’m Wenting. I used to work for Adobe as a senior experience designer. During my time there I worked on several projects - Adobe Fonts, Adobe Illustrator on iPad, and Adobe XD. I specialize in Typography, a life-long passion of mine.

I am passionate about what I do, and I am happy about my $200,000 annual salary. Last Friday on July 30th, 2021, I finished my 6 years journey working on a job I absolutely loved. Today is my first day at my new job, cofounding a company with Hua Shu.

Leaving my well-paid tech job to pursue a not-so-well-paid startup life is a tough decision.  What makes it easier is a mindset that I have been put onto myself: I’m buying a year of time for $200,000. Who wouldn’t buy time with money if they can?

There are two main reasons why people spend money: a) for consumption, like foods, or movies; b) for investment. I’m buying my time as an investment. Compared to my cushy tech job, obviously, this is a really risky investment.

Staying at my corporate job would be similar to investing in an index fund. It averages at a healthy APY and thanks to compound interest, I will see a steady return over a long period of time.

Starting my own company would be similar to investing in cryptocurrency.  It is looking for that steep growth by bearing a big risk.  Over a short time period, I could lose everything or have a big gain.

This investment is made to myself. I have been aspired to be an angel investor. I ask myself if I am looking for opportunities to invest money in other people’s startups, why don’t I invest in my own startup? $200,000 for 50% equity, where else do I get a term sheet like that?

Warren Buffet says the greatest mistakes in investing are mistakes of omission, as opposed to mistakes of commission. I thought, what if I never invest in myself? Would that be my worst investment mistake? I would rather make a mistake of commission.

I will share daily for the first 30 days about my journey as a founder. I will share more about my problem space and ideas to solve them. My startup is about tech and typography. Follow me on Twitter to follow along my journey.