The NY Times has an interesting new blog called "Shifting Careers" that focuses on new career patterns. The blog oftens discusses working at home and personal businesses. A recent post called "How Do They Pay The Bills" talks about the financial issues and risks associated with becoming a "free agent".
One of the comments to the post mentions dual career couples who use one of the partner's corporate job to provide benefits and income while the other partner starts a business. We call this the corporate soho hybrid model, and discuss it in our forecast reports. This model is very common in Silicon Valley and gets around many of the risks associated with starting a business or becoming a free agent. It is also a model many mompreneurs used to start their businesses. We've also seen many examples of the partner with the corporate job later joining the other partner's business once it is up and running.
This approach is so logical it is bound to become more common. Of course, this option is not available to single people.
It's a very useful approch that you have mentioned here. Lots of people I think can use this type of arrangemet in their career.
Thnaks
Posted by: Urvashi | April 06, 2009 at 12:00 AM
You are right, it has been around forever. It is also common beyond Silicon Valley. It is also a very obvious approach.
What is unusual about Silicon Valley, I think, is how many people build this type of arrangement into their career, start-up planning and relationships. We've even had people tell us they need to get married so they can do a start-up.
I also think - and this is totally anecdotal - that it is more common in Silicon Valley due to the high cost of living and start-up culture.
Posted by: Steve King | October 16, 2007 at 07:50 AM
This type of "Corporate SOHO Hybrid Model" as you call it, has been around for many decades, it's what people did after WW II.
Are you suggesting it is more often seen in Silicon Valley, than elsewhere?
ST.
Posted by: Stefan Töpfer | October 16, 2007 at 02:41 AM