Yeah, you're a great one to give advice.
OP should suck it up and find something else full-time and then quit.
No one has espoused this view more than me here.
You are right in every rational sense, no sarcasm. I'm giving up a solid and reliable paycheck, and moving down to an unsecure, lower paying job - the potential is there though.
Unfortunately, people are stupid and let emotions dictate decisions. Turns out that I'm one of them, and I have tried time and again to make things work (well over a year). My performance has been superb up until Friday, but after that incident, my motivation is gone and the longer I stay, the more bridges that I'll burn. I've kept a fake smile and pleasant tone when dealing with people for the entire time - that's just not going to happen anymore.
But going back a bit, I do think there's potential and a huge learning experience at the start-up. I'll give it half a year to a year, then whore myself out if nothing happens. Or, I change my mind and whore myself out starting Tuesday evening.
Nah, if he hated it, there would have been no point. If you really hated IT, could you go back to an EE job? The longer he stays at that job, the worse it will get because he will hate it more and he will dig himself in a hole because the harder it will be to transition into a different field. That is the great thing about being young, you can take those risks.
Trust me on this, I know. I worked in the Civil field as an EE for three years. I hated it, but I decided to stay because I needed a full time job. I tried to get a job in another field. It never worked out. I even was willing to accept less pay or even a tech job as an EE. It still never worked out. Also, it's the same thing at every company in that industry. So, if the OP hated it there, he would most likely hate it no matter what company he worked for in that industry.
I don't specifically hate civil, I'm questioning whether I want to spend more time in this field - I do HATE the transportation sub-field though. Not only that, I'm not even working as an engineer: I'm a tech. A tech is the butt-boy of the office. He/she is not as respected and loved as administrative assistants, yet get all the shit jobs including secretarial work and the truly shitty jobs in the field. I've done photocopying, collating (read: photocopy, sorting, binding thousands of pages at a time), waded though and been dunked in ditches filled with muddy water and pesticides (adjacent to farm + golf course), Word editing / typing, scanning hundreds of pages individually on the screen, data entry, etc. I'm trying to get licensed as an engineer, how the fuck do I twist that into "technical experience" (I found a way)? The worst part is admin assistants get more training, more funding, respect, paid about the same, never have to leave the office.
P.S. I'm mid twenties.
Edit: Oh, and I should add that the PT job owner actually approached me to work full-time since I've been his only "employee" for the past 3 years. He's waiting on financing, and I proposed the PT thing to get out of where I am now faster. So, still unsecure, but not as terrible as it may look (OMFG, go from FT to PT).