Excellent post. Thank you. I can't encourage you enough to work for yourself. Seriously, get out there and produce something in absolute freedom. I left the last job I'll ever have over 5 years ago, and I'm never looking back. I had been working on a side business for over four years before I left my job. I actually stayed a year longer than I needed to, financially. The lure of "security" is what keeps so many people trapped in situations they later regret. Risk is something we all need to grapple with and, like it or not, many of the "bosses" of the world today were able to manage that risk better than most. I, with my co-founder, run a small business now. We have a small, internationally diverse remote team and we do everything we can to create an awesome community. Our retention rate is crazy high, and we're proud of that. Interestingly, our team members don't necessarily want to share in the risk we see as owners. We've explored various options for sharing that risk, but they prefer the security of a steady paycheck. It's almost fashionable today to slander the bosses of the world and lump them in with evil. Many rightfully deserve that description. Others, I think, are ignorant. Still others love what they are doing and have balls of steel to manage risk and protect their team members and customers. I'd love to see more people building their own companies to better appreciate the effort required. I worked four years on my business while maintaining a full-time job. That was four years of 1am, 2am nights, 10-hour Saturdays, and working through lunches. It wasn't easy at all. But it was worth it.

Good luck to you. Find a boss you're proud to work for or work for yourself. Thanks again for a great write up.