There aren't hard data obviously, but some factors to consider:
1. If you go off on your own and never really produce anything visible, it might not back up your claim that you were working.
2. Leaving the "game" during a soft time in hiring might be interpreted as you were probably laid off and then have been unemployed for a couple years, "working on your own thing". I remember seeing this in 2002-3 for people who became entrepreneurs in 2001.
3. Are you on a career trajectory? If so, leaving it will mean you will be on a different trajectory if/when you come back. It could be steeper, start higher, or be flatter, and start lower. If you went away in 1998 for 5 years, leaving a job at $60,000, and came back in 2004 you would be on a trajectory to be making hundreds of thousands. If you went away 5 years ago and are trying to get hired now, you've left a large amount on the table and might not find that job right away. But it's like the market, you can't predict the timing.
Before you jump off, test out your idea with people you will be selling it to. If you don't know any, that's a bad sign, go meet some. If you're afraid to meet them, you won't succeed. Think about how you'll bring the idea to market or find a cofounder who believes in you who can. If your early customers want to invest in you, that may be a very good sign.
Comments
There aren't hard data obviously, but some factors to consider:
1. If you go off on your own and never really produce anything visible, it might not back up your claim that you were working.
2. Leaving the "game" during a soft time in hiring might be interpreted as you were probably laid off and then have been unemployed for a couple years, "working on your own thing". I remember seeing this in 2002-3 for people who became entrepreneurs in 2001.
3. Are you on a career trajectory? If so, leaving it will mean you will be on a different trajectory if/when you come back. It could be steeper, start higher, or be flatter, and start lower. If you went away in 1998 for 5 years, leaving a job at $60,000, and came back in 2004 you would be on a trajectory to be making hundreds of thousands. If you went away 5 years ago and are trying to get hired now, you've left a large amount on the table and might not find that job right away. But it's like the market, you can't predict the timing.
Before you jump off, test out your idea with people you will be selling it to. If you don't know any, that's a bad sign, go meet some. If you're afraid to meet them, you won't succeed. Think about how you'll bring the idea to market or find a cofounder who believes in you who can. If your early customers want to invest in you, that may be a very good sign.