Some context: - I dropped out when I was 15 to spend more time working (at the time consulting for F500s, later climbed to a senior-level job in advertising) and soon after found myself building companies. The first one didn't quite work out, but by 16 I had a good amount of experience in marketing and cofounded an ad agency with a friend (also 16y/o) that we grew to relative success (~500k rev.) - We got into YC, learned VCs don't invest in agencies, pivoted and raised 1.5m from VCs including Paul Graham. Several months in the pivot hadn't landed with users so we gradually whittled down our multicontinental team of 25 (managed by two 16 year olds lol) as we searched for a new idea. - Parallel to this a 3rd company/side hobby (a luxury brand) became extremely profitable, but I mothballed it to stay committed to the startup. - We worked on a new idea all through 2023 with 2 remaining employees, but by late December we were starting to realise the economics would never work. - By then I was so burnt out from the failures and 3 years of literally nothing except work, sleep, work, sleep that I eventually left in the aim of going to college, but couldn't get a school transcript in time for the 2024 cycle.
All the overachiever business stuff I did between 15-18 (much of it cut out for brevity) put me so far from the beaten path that I'm unsure what exactly I'm supposed to do in the ~1.5 years until the next college cycle. I cut everything in life from hobbies to friends to work relentlessly (14-16 hours a day) and I now have some kind of stockholm syndrome for obsessively working on complex and stressful problems. This has made it pretty hard (if not impossible) to enjoy doing "normal person things" like going on holiday or picking up hobbies, which has been the average advice I've gotten so far. (The hobbies that do interest me satisfy the blend of complexity and stress but require a lot of money (that I don't have) to get into -- Skydiving, biking, helicopter flying, mountaineering)
Several people have also suggested getting a job, but I'm in a weird position of having a lot of experience (across several industries/roles) and having no specialized experience (at an employable level) in one specific thing. Most people in this position would probably work somewhere in operations or bizdev, but again, I'm young, and I highly doubt anyone would hire an 18y/o over an MBA into a role like that, even if the 18y/o is much more experienced.
So, HN. What do I do now? -- And if I work somewhere, where?
Sounds dumb but IMO you should dial it back and ground yourself a bit more - friends you make a that age often stay for life. It's harder after.
Seriously though ignore internet advice
In and out of jobs when things didn't go to plan.
Here is what I can tell you about my experiences:
1. Learning to, and mastering how to sell is everything. No business starts with the best product because great products takes a long time to build. But every business needs revenue. Clearly you know this because you had a successful ad agency. But it sounds like you stopped selling that for what? Lesson: never, ever stop selling.
2. But the mistake you made was throwing away a 500k/y agency because your investors didn't like it. The mistake you made here was playing someone else's game. Lesson: play your game, and only your game.
3. Your desire to go to college is something I understand. You are in two minds (I think). Part of you wants business success, the other part wants stability. But there is a third option. This option I learned far too late. That is this: you do not need to work 100% of the time to be successful. You can build a successful business over time. With a team, over time. This is not something investors like. By accepting investors, you are forced to make quick (often stupid) decisions. Lesson: build one (or more) good businesses over time. Stick to it.
I want to make one thing stand out here... working 16 hours a day doesn't create success because it's 16 hours (I know some cleaners who work 16 hours per day in my building).
What nobody will be honest about is that there are only 1-2 things that actually move the needle. The other "activities" just make us feel like we are being productive.
You should not dismiss yourself in advance. Have you tried applying to the roles you are interested in? Until you've been rejected, your beliefs are all theoretical, and you have no idea what will really happen.
Also, if you are planning to go back to school soon, consider applying to internships. They would be a lot more flexible on the kinds of experience they expect, and they would also expect you to be leaving in the short term.
Finding the "normal person" things you enjoy is a skill, and it's useful to start developing that skill now. Sometimes the false feeling that you need to be productive all the time gets in the way of that.
While working hard has its place, so does focusing on friends and fun at a young age, there's enough time to be a grown up, and most people end up missing their carefree teenage and early-20s years.
My suggestion, buy a backpack, a ticket to south-east Asia, and following the banana pancake trail for a little while. You'll decouple, find friends easy, have fun, relax, and become ready for your next steps.
Best of luck.