Matt, a senior software engineer on Meta’s AI team, built Live Turney Golf — a SaaS that helps golf courses run tournaments — to $30K/month ($350K ARR, ~$800K run rate) while working full-time, and faces the decision of whether to quit his six-year career to go all-in on the business.
The business: Live Turney Golf
A web app (Next.js + Firebase) that replaces paper scorecards with QR-code check-in, real-time leaderboards, and live scoring for golf tournaments.
Originated from personal frustration: Matt played in local tournaments that used no software; the incumbent (Golf Genius) was deemed too complex and expensive by his club pro.
Built nights and weekends over ~4 years; grew to ~150 courses using the product.
First internet revenue created a “complete brain shift” — seeing strangers use and get value from something he built became a core motivator.
The career at Meta
Senior software engineer, 6 years at the company, working on AI.
Compensation and benefits are strong; a peer at Google reportedly made tens of millions on AI-team equity.
Experienced 6+ layoff rounds; survived so far but feels job security is no longer guaranteed.
Balancing both roles with two young kids has become unsustainable: early mornings (6–9 a.m.), late nights, weekend bug fixes.
The decision process
Core tension: financial safety and prestige of Meta vs. autonomy, ownership, and the pull of his own product.
Fear of walking away from a “steady great job” and losing income/benefits.
Countervailing drive: show his kids they can build their own path; spend time on what energizes him (Live Turney).
Wife was a key partner in the decision — supportive, recognized this was what he wanted, and valued the flexibility for family life (e.g., being dad during the day).
Pat (host) argues the “back against the wall” pressure can sharpen focus, but notes Matt has already de-risked the hard parts: validated demand, built product, acquired paying customers, knows how to prioritize.
The final decision: quit and go all-in
Layoffs occurred the week before; Matt was not affected, which made the choice harder, not easier.
Resigned in a one-on-one with his boss (a golfer, supportive); described it as feeling like a breakup.
Official last day marked the start of full-time focus on Live Turney.
Immediate priorities: go public with the business (LinkedIn, social), use full days for growth work, and optimize daily effectiveness.
Advice for building while employed
Time management is everything: block consistent windows (Matt used 6–9 a.m.) and protect them.
Build for a problem you personally live — passion sustains you through the grind; building for an unfamiliar market (e.g., dentists) leads to burnout when it gets hard.
The “hard part” (finding an idea, validating, getting first customers) can be done while employed; quitting then becomes about scaling, not searching.
What’s next
Full-time execution on product, distribution, and growth.
Goal: reach $100K/month and beyond.
Flexibility to integrate family life (park trips, parenting windows) into the workday.
