Why I Started CCG Labs
Quick Summary Why I quit a stable role during an uncertain economy and chose to build something of my own.
The short version
I had a good job that I quit in the middle of the weirdest economy of my life in order to start my own business again. This post explains why I’d do something so brave and/or stupid.
I formed CCG Labs because my job was meeting my financial needs but leaving me hollowed out, tired, and bitter. On paper I had a good job with a great salary, decent benefits, and job security. I had all the things they tell you a 40-something husband, father, & primary bread-winner is supposed to provide.
So why, in such “interesting times”, would I throw that away and “bet on myself” again? All while the AI wolves are at the door, apparently trying to gobble up all the white collar jobs?
Great freaking question.
Why I Left
Before CCG Labs, I had a career that checked all my boxes. It kept my family secure, but it was also fulfilling. It offered challenges, opportunities for growth, a chance to shape things in a bigger way than “just writing code” ever could. Moreover: I felt mission-driven and built real bonds with real people. But… things change.
It took a while to accept, but my job and I grew apart.
The process was not short, nor simple, nor pretty. But 18 months of struggle produced this philosophical nugget (or post-hoc justification that lets me sleep at night):
It’s not your job’s responsibility to make sure your needs are being met.
A job is a transaction. And at least in the great state of Pennsylvania, both employees and employers can stop transacting at any time, for any reason.
So… after exhausting other options, that’s what I did.
When I accepted that the gap between my needs and what the job could offer wasn’t likely to close, I stopped being angry, and stopped spending my days throwing myself against a wall. And in that newfound calm and clarity I realized that my heart had already decided what to do months ago, and was waiting for my brain to catch up: it was time to do something else.
Taking Inventory of What Matters
But… what the hell was something else?
I took stock of the things I did and didn’t like across my career. Yes, this process was as boring as the table below. Two paths, one rubric:
| Self-Employment | Working for the Man | |
|---|---|---|
| Stability | income is a moving target, no safety net | steady paycheck, benefits, family secure |
| Autonomy | you’re the driver, choose the work | the org chart decides what and how |
| Voice | push back when something feels wrong | decisions happen in rooms you’re not in |
| Income | nobody wets their beak off your labor | the company keeps a cut |
| Flexibility | “choose your own 80 hours” | 8-5 but MS Teams 24/7 |
| Scale | you wear all the hats | a team and budget to swing bigger |
The line we’re always fed is that a salaried job with benefits is the safe, stable route through life. How’s that working out for everybody in 2026?
Why I Started CCG Labs
Based on what I value in my career, I’m clearly better off not reporting to a corporate structure. My former bosses would probably agree; I can “disagree and commit” but I have a hard time doing one without the other.
To sum it all up: I want to work I’m interested in, in a way that I’m proud to sign my name to. I want to do it in accordance with my own values and ethics. I want to work closer to customers and be able to see the smiles on their faces when I solve their problem, and have the opportunity to set things right when I am the problem.
So I decided to start a company. I called it CCG Labs.
CCG Labs does the stuff I’m good at: web design and custom software development, in line with my values.
Our tagline is “Digital Services for Humans.” I think that pretty much sums it up. Website design and custom software, done in a way that serves humanity, and lets me sleep at night.
Wrapping it All Up In a Nice Little Package
Back to the opening question: why quit a job and start CCG Labs during a time of Economic Clusterfuckery? (Pretty sure Adam Smith coined the term.)
Because “job security” is a story we tell ourselves to feel better about accepting less than we deserve in exchange for money.
Because I needed more from my work life to feel like myself again, and I needed the kind of control I’d never have as an employee inside a company, inside a bigger company, inside a private equity portfolio, in order to get there.
Now I control who I work with, what I build, how I build it, and whether the work makes a difference to anybody. Starting CCG Labs was the first time in 18 months I felt in control, and proud to sign my name to my work.
If you’re interested in more information about what we do and why we do it, our About page explains it all. And if you have a project and our way of doing things sounds like your brand of crazy, contact us any time.
One more thing. If you’re looking for an authority to confirm what I’ve been saying, the father of modern economics summed it up:
“Economic Clusterfuckery most often arises, not from malice, but from the natural tendency of individuals, pursuing their own interest, to mistake confusion for prosperity, and in the disorder of their actions, to imagine that the general good is thereby advanced.” - Adam Smith, probably