This is very similar to me, minus the last step. Mind talking about how you got into executive / startup roles? Bridging the business-tech gap is also what I enjoy, so any pointers or first hand experience would be helpful to hear about.
- I got into the field because in my previous career (bank compliance), I spent an inordinate amount of time gathering data and summarizing it. The process took several hours per day and was extremely monotonous, but I couldn't do any actual work until it was done. I figured I ought to be able to automate the whole process, so I picked up a book on code and plugged away until I made it work. After that I was hooked and kept going down the rabbit hole until I could build entire web apps (and also understood how a compiler worked, which was what originally fascinated me).
- I like my job a lot, but it's very much building CRUD apps (or guiding others to do that). I'd like to work on technical problems of higher complexity, possibly scientific applications, so I'm trying to figure out how to get into that as someone without a formal education in it.
- I reached out to somebody on reddit /r/programming who had posted an ad. I told them what I had taught myself so far and why I thought I could be a useful junior dev, and they gave me a shot.
- My tip would be to let your curiosity drive you but stay realistic, responsible, and honest. The reason I've stayed satisfied in my career so far is that I haven't been too impetuous (e.g. leaving good jobs just to jump at something new), but I also haven't let myself get stale or bored for too long. So far it has served me really well.