“I wasn't ready to make a big jump of becoming an indie hacker because I needed money as well. When I worked at IBM I had only the nights and weekends. I stopped IBM in June, two months ago.”

Use the day job as runway — quit only when the side project can pay you

Quitting too early is a bigger risk than waiting too long. Keep the salary, build on nights and weekends, and only leave the day job once the side project's revenue can credibly replace the paycheck.