--- title: Get paid while you're learning, working at a startup date: 2019-12-23T08:50:01.889Z edited: 2019-12-23T08:50:01.889Z author: Ismail Ghallou (Smakosh) canonical: https://smakosh.com/blog/get-paid-while-you-are-learning-working-at-a-startup reading_time: 4 min (831 words) Tags: javascript, web-development, career --- # Get paid while you're learning, working at a startup ## Life update If you haven't read my [previous article about the visas rejections](/visa-rejections-stories), I'd recommend you to do so as I mentioned there that I switched my job and the reasons behind such decision. ## Caution ⚠️ Please be aware that this doesn't apply or might not work for everyone, luck and other factors play a huge role in this to workout and I'm grateful for being very lucky that it did. ### Students loan debt We all know and aware of the student loan debt issue in the US, it exceeded \$1.2 trillion in 2014 according to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Student_debt#Statistics). ![US student loan debt chart](/assets/blog/student-loan-debt.png) Middle class families are the most impacted ones, as a result, most end up having financial issues even after the graduation of their kids, same applies in other countries but differently. > you could do your own research for the reasons and causes behind the issue ### Avoiding student loan debt I will share the approach I took but keep in mind that there are other better and bad approaches, I don't recommend any and I'm just sharing my experience. And keep in mind that I'm based in Morocco which offers the option of a low cost education and you're not forced to study at private schools. What I basically did is working with international clients while I was studying in a public school after high school, what I could learn today, will apply it tomorrow in exchange of cash. But I had to learn most of the stuff at home as I mentioned in [my previous articles](/visa-rejections-stories). > I had to sleep at 4am most of the time. I kept following that approach but in an exponential way when it comes to the technical side of the work I was doing, meaning that I've almost never done something repetitive and I try to learn to use something new when ever I get a task to work on. ## FAQ I'm pretty sure most of you will be questioning these questions: But how would you get those clients without any work to showcase? - I followed few tutorials, made an Intro using After Effects, posted it on YouTube, a videographer based in Canada left a comment which turned into a work I had to deliver. From making the same intro into making 2 brand logos for him and that's how this started. TL;DR, worked on my personal projects, showcased them and that's how it launched. Based on what do you know what to learn next? - I've been up to date on what's happening on the web community, I bet entirely on JavaScript and CSS, few factors contributed in that, which made me take that decision, here are a list of those factors: - A friend of mine - I started learning the front-end first - The rise of Node js that made JavaScript the first cross-platform language - It wasn't taught and fully neglected by our educational system, which meant more chances of landing a job in the future. > If you have more questions, you can add a comment below or DM me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/smakosh) ## Why working at a startup? > This is a part 2 of [this article](/one-year-working-remotely) My second year of working remotely was so fun & hard as I had a part time job as a React Native developer, working a total of 12 hours a day. I've been learning React Native on my spare time during the first year while working for Obytes, I had built and shipped few Android & iOS apps. > Notice the pattern? Build your own projects, showcase them with your skills and that eventually will contribute in landing a job. As I was living in my parents basement, it was like getting funded by a Startup to learn and acquire new skills, I didn't care about the financial side at all but focused on learning and acquiring knowledge. > [It was honestly like a seed investment with unlimited runway](https://twitter.com/smakosh/status/1211686250782040064) ## When to exit? As few startups exit (sellout) aka getting acquired by a large company, I did the same at the right moment as I've learned a lot compared to someone who has just graduated and joined a company. I had to decline many offers during those 2 years, even if they were offering double and triple the salary I was getting, I never mentioned them to anybody including my family as they'd most likely influence me to accept them. I had to support ageism and bullshit comportement of a board member working at the startup, until the time was right to exit and I resigned. ## When not to exit? If I got the stock options I was offered by one of the board members and if they were valuable, I wouldn't have quit especially if: - The startup was about to get acquired by a large corporation - The startup was highly profitable Otherwise, those assets will be considered just like an annual bonus. > Avoid getting brainwashed at all costs. ## Conclusion I would have taken other approaches and done things differently to end up with better results but let's leave that to an upcoming article on which I'll try to send a letter to my past self. --- _Originally published at https://smakosh.com/blog/get-paid-while-you-are-learning-working-at-a-startup_