Hi I am 26 yo software developer. I've lost quite of my time since age of 18 up until 24 by not advancing with the pace I wanted and mostly unsuccessfully studying at UNI but not gathering work experience (I was fearful + thought I won't manage working aside studying CS) or thinking deeply about my future career. At age 24 I finally realized that I need to make a leap forward, ditched college and got a job as a frontend developer (doing UIs mostly). It is a decent job, I have gained a lot of experience in the field, the company I work in is really good when it comes to keeping its employees happy in every aspect - unlimited HO, got a raise multiple times, etc.
However I feel, with the work I do, that it is not for me. That it is not what I want to do ultimately. The biggest issue is that I have no relationship for the work I am delivering or the products I am creating. They are no my ideas and I feel like a mercenary selling his services only (whom I in fact am). I might have had a really productive day, but at the end of it I say to myself: "Okay, but how does the work I've done today serves me in the future?". The answer is that apart from experience I have nothing from it - it is delivered and the product owner is now reaping benefits from it (usually much larger than price of my work ofc).
So I've come to the realization that I want to be a product owner. I want to create my own products. This is where my current pitfall is.
I know I want to create my own products doing the similar work I am doing, however, not necessarily limiting to only my current skills and fields of knowledge. I know that I want to still create as a software engineer because (at least now) this is a passion for me. The problem is that I think I have no really good ideas to start with. I always depicted myself as that person who comes up with a great idea for an app or web platform that will serve to millions of people. However when I try to come up with some ideas, they are all funny and I doubt they would work in real world. I've also settled down with the thought that, at the beginning, it is more realistic to start at least creating products for some smaller clients on my own, which I feel is effectively same "mercenary work" but at least with a bit of bigger freedom in the creation process (and bigger income). However this is not easy to do on my own (it requires a team nowadays in most cases) and by grouping with or hiring other people I would be doing the same that the company I currently work for is doing.
Nevertheless, the point is, that I lack the inspiration how to advance forward by the transition to be "my own product owner" and the more I want to "brainstorm" some great idea the more I think it is far off from what would succeed in real world. I welcome any thoughts of inspiration or critique of my thought processes. Actually, any other point of view will enrich me.
