Jack Yen · Operator

Left corporate.
Built the
way out.

13 years in tech. October 2024 I planned my way to a layoff and walked out with severance. 18 months later: 7 donut shops, 11 short-term rentals, custom software I built solo.

Get the playbooks → Follow on Instagram ↗
7 shops
Golden Glaze Donuts
11 units
STR/MTR · 3 markets
21 days
To build the ops stack
18 months
Out of corporate
// the story

Six figures, stock vesting, slow death.

I spent 13 years in corporate tech. Six different companies. Six-figure salary, stock vesting, full golden handcuffs. Every Sunday night I dreaded Monday and told myself it was just a season. I told myself for five years.

Then I made a decision. I didn't quit. I planned my way to a layoff and walked out with severance. By that point I already had 5 short-term rentals cashflowing and 12 months of savings stacked. I read the room — tech was deep in layoff cycles in 2024 — and let the timing work for me.

Eighteen months later: 11 STR/MTR units across Hawaii, DFW, and Tampa — more than doubled. 7 donut shops running on software I built solo in three weeks with AI. This site documents the playbook. Real numbers. Real timeline. Free.

// what i'm building

Four income streams. Zero W2.

Businesses, real estate, and markets. Each one earns differently. Together they replace what corporate used to pay.

01 / DONUTS

Golden Glaze 🍩

PE-style rollup. Reg D 506(b).

Acquiring and operating donut shops across DFW. Currently 7 locations, targeting 10 by year-end. Built the ops stack myself — Discord, custom dashboard, automated investor reports.

7 shops · 50+ employees · GP/LP fund structure
02 / HOUSING

FlexStay Housing

Own portfolio + managing others'.

Managing my own STR/MTR portfolio across Hawaii, DFW, and Tampa — displaced families, traveling employees, insurance housing. Also providing property management for other owners. Started with 1 unit while W2. Scaled to 11.

11 units · STR + MTR · Own + managed properties
03 / OPTIONS

Selling Premium

The wheel method. Monthly cashflow.

I used to buy options and gambled away a lot of money. Now I'm on the other side — selling premium using the wheel strategy (cash-secured puts + covered calls). Lower risk profile, consistent monthly income. Let theta work for me instead of against me.

Wheel strategy · CSP + CC · Monthly premium income
04 / SOFTWARE

Golden Ops

Comprehensive QSR ops tooling.

Built to run Golden Glaze. Discord-driven daily checkins, staff scheduling, inventory management, cash control reconciliation, investor dashboards, and performance alerts — 7 modules across 7 locations. Built solo with AI in 3 weeks.

7 modules · 7 locations · Replaced $168K/yr in SaaS
// free playbooks

12 free playbooks. No fluff.

Real-world frameworks I used to build software solo and engineer my way out of corporate. Get the bundle by email or comment the keyword on Instagram.

The build series
6 playbooks · For solo operators
STACK

The 4-Tool AI Build Stack

Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT, n8n. The exact tools and how they work together. Total cost under $80/month.

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PROMPTS

The 5 Power Prompts

"Act as a [role]" prompt templates that 10x the quality of AI-generated code. Architecture, build, debug, refactor, ship.

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ARCHITECTURE

Solo Architecture Blueprint

Frontend, backend, Discord, automation, deployment. The complete stack mapped, plus why this scales solo.

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MODULES

7 Modules That Replaced $14K/mo SaaS

Daily checkin, scheduling, inventory, cash control. Each module with build time and dollars saved.

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ROADMAP

The 21-Day Build Roadmap

Day-by-day what to build, in what order. The exact sequence that lets you ship production software solo.

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BUILDFAILS

5 Solo Build Mistakes

The mistakes I made building solo so you don't have to. Each one cost me about a week.

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The escape series
6 playbooks · For corporate prisoners
MATH

The Honest Math of Leaving

Hidden costs of self-employment, runway calculation, the real number you need before quitting.

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TIMELINE

The 12-Month Exit Timeline

Backwards from your exit date. Every milestone from T-12 to T-1, the non-negotiables for leaving with leverage.

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LAYOFF

The Layoff Play

How I planned my way to severance instead of quitting. The 5-step playbook nobody talks about.

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QUIT

The Clean Quit Conversation

When the layoff play isn't viable. The 4-rule script for resigning without burning bridges.

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DAYS30

Your First 30 Days Post-W2

Identity collapse is real. Week-by-week plan: recover, structure, execute, build the moat.

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CASHFLOW

Cashflow Vehicles Ranked

What works, what doesn't, why I'd never recommend long-term rentals for cashflow. 7 vehicles ranked.

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Following the
journey out.

I document everything publicly. Real numbers. Real wins. Real losses. The stuff most operators won't tell you.