quit my corporate job, so i decided to buy some mooncakes

an overly long recap of my life in 2024

• career shift:

  • i quit my corporate software engineering job in april 2024 after six years, wanting more meaningful work despite good pay and benefits.
  • i saved enough money (partly from crypto investments) to explore personal projects without immediate financial pressure.

• post-job exploration (april–june 2024):

  • i enjoyed my newfound freedom, trying hobbies like muay thai, longboarding (which led to a minor injury), reading, and building a pc (which i broke initially).
  • i traveled to see an eclipse in ohio with friends and spent a month in el salvador, mostly playing fortnite but also visiting family.

• creative pursuits (july 2024):

  • i joined buildspace season 5, worked on a web novel for six weeks, but shelved it due to lack of hook
  • i met nat at the irl event, sparking a vr collaboration idea.

• vr dance app development (august–september 2024):

  • i collaborated with nat on a vr dance app idea, entered a hackathon in san francisco, won third place, and attended meta connect to validate the concept.
  • i began coding the app (SwayXR) to teach dance in vr, aiming for an immersive experience beyond existing solutions like youtube or steezy.

• el salvador and cold start (november–december 2024):

  • i visited el salvador to scope living there, cut my trip short after acceptance into founders inc.’s cold start program in san francisco.
  • i started cold start in december 2024, working on SwayXR alongside 50 ambitious peers, focusing on refining features like video-based dance training.

• current status (january 2025):

  • i’m in san francisco, week 3–4 of cold start, refining SwayXR despite initial negative reddit feedback and my doubts about its viability.
  • i’m aiming to replicate in-person dance teaching in vr, exploring live feedback or instructor-led options, and planning heavy marketing next week.
  • i’m reflecting on whether pursuing this dream aligns with my goals, encouraged by positive peer feedback (e.g., from savannah, will, and ryan).

• personal insights:

  • i struggle with consistency post-job, value dance for its expressive learning (vs. muay thai’s rigidity), and see vr as a way to overcome dance access barriers (cost, location, time).
  • my long-term dream: i want to bootstrap a vr company in latin america to teach app creation and create jobs, avoiding a game-only focus.

  a special thanks to grok3 for summarizing 2 hours worth of rambling