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Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

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Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#271

Post by buildbot »

reaperman wrote: post #203
orochimaaru wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

[Edited to remove snark/barbs as per HN guidelines]. I am genuinely curious though - you seem like you've had a successful career and life. I typically assume people in your position are rather familiar with the basic math behind personal taxes, 401k's, HSA's, child tax credits, standard deductions vs. large charitable deductions, etc. I think I may have been grossly mischaracterizing a potentially large group of peo…

Unfortunately, it also could be an intentionally false statement in order to push a specific political viewpoint. For example, flat tax rates without income brackets. I don’t think it’s wrong to correct falsehoods strongly in general.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#272

Post by mitthrowaway2 »

ska wrote: post #147

Two tried and tested methods, neither guaranteed of course. 1) Be better than the overwhelming majority of your peers, and be noticed for this. You are quite likely to find interesting opportunities come your way. I do mean overwhelming though - small fraction of a percent. 2) Specialize in something most people can’t or won’t do. This includes difficult, obscure, and unpleasant work. In both cases some of the bigges…

Even if you're uniquely good at what you do, a lot of companies won't reward it. You do still have to look hard for those opportunities.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#273

Post by hanniabu »

keiferski wrote: post #221

It's interesting how so many people have an aversion to being a business owner / entrepreneur, and will instead put in so much effort to optimize being a well-paid employee, instead of learning how to start and run a business. These salaries listed are great salaries, no doubt, but they are not dramatically more than say, a guy running a successful local plumbing business. And the ceiling is limited as an employee, w…

Bird in the hand

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#274

Post by arrosenberg »

Rinzler89 wrote: post #249
keiferski wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get that, but if you’re trying to get a job at one of the best paying companies in the world, is the stress level actually that different? And there are plenty of examples (search on HN for them) of people running one person internet businesses and making a healthy living.

> is the stress level actually that different? Your liability is. Worst case scenario is you don't get hired, or you get hired, and then get fired. That the worst that can happen. FAANG isn't gonna come after you for damages if you accidentally brick something in production or are just lazy and incompetent. As a business, your customers might. Let's watch how the Crowdstrike scenario unfolds in the coming months, whe…

If you are a tiny business, you just need an indemnity clause. If you have employees, you pay for E&O insurance.

Im not saying any of this is obvious, but if you are applying to work at a FAANG, I will assume you are both smart enough and ambitious enough to do a bit of research.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#275

Post by sys_64738 »

orochimaaru wrote: post #189
unregistereddev wrote: post #176

Anecdote: I'm a Sr. Staff Engineer at a large employer in a LCOL city. Typical middle class houses cost $300k - $500k here, with luxury houses costing roughly $1m and small starter homes costing $200k (just using real estate as a rough proxy for cost of living). My base salary is $150k/yr. My cash bonus maxes out somewhere around $80k/yr, and typically falls in the $50k - 70k range. I also receive equity worth roughl…

[flagged]

Your marginal dollars are taxed at the rate they fall into. So even if you get paid another $200k on top of what you already earn, that additional $200K is taxed on top of your unchanging lower tax rates.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#276

Post by callalex »

gigatexal wrote: post #183

Maybe the thing to be focusing on is maximizing savings on the high average salaries that we all can command instead of trying to maximize earnings. Controlling spending is something one can control to some extent once the necessities are paid for. And then that’s the way to accrue and stay wealthy or become independently wealthy over time.

I’ll be sure to tell that to my landlord.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#277

Post by stonethrowaway »

Rinzler89 wrote: post #234
keiferski wrote: post #221

It's interesting how so many people have an aversion to being a business owner / entrepreneur, and will instead put in so much effort to optimize being a well-paid employee, instead of learning how to start and run a business. These salaries listed are great salaries, no doubt, but they are not dramatically more than say, a guy running a successful local plumbing business. And the ceiling is limited as an employee, w…

> instead of learning how to start and run a business Because the stress and risks of running a small business as a solo inexperienced first time business owner are insane compared to a regular 9-5. Especially if you start hiring other people, your liability then increases 10 fold as now anything can happen with them (sick leave, absenteism, low performance, sabotage, etc) but you're still bound to the same deadlines…

> Because the stress and risks of running a small business as a solo inexperienced first time business owner are insane compared to a regular 9-5.

Believe it or not you get over this. It’s kind of like the fear of going up on stage to give a presentation. Some people get an addictive rush, these are usually serial entrepreneurs who just love to be in charge because they have no problems with risk/stress tolerance (mostly). You get better at handling the stress as you get more comfortable with where your business lies and what value you offer, et cetera. Hiring/firing is hard for people but you have no choice and certainly you’re not beholden to give people jobs. People are there to work, do their best at the moment, your job is to ensure them they’re looked after adequately and your door is always open to them if they have to talk to you.

Everyone should attempt to start a small business or a side consulting gig. Failing that, you should strive to make it to VP-suite of your company where in most cases you’ll be tasked with running an arm of the business - the risks are there but it’s more of a simulated environment as well. The CEO will shit test you in almost everything you do and say and this is the grilling you will need, because they expect you to be capable of running things in their stead.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#279

Post by joshuamorton »

keiferski wrote: post #221

It's interesting how so many people have an aversion to being a business owner / entrepreneur, and will instead put in so much effort to optimize being a well-paid employee, instead of learning how to start and run a business. These salaries listed are great salaries, no doubt, but they are not dramatically more than say, a guy running a successful local plumbing business. And the ceiling is limited as an employee, w…

They're probably 2-3x the guy running a local plumbing business doing remarkably fewer hours. And of course it's more accessible. The average guy running a plumbing business is probably 30 something, while people can hit 300k at faang a year or two out of college with like one good promotion.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#280

Post by __mharrison__ »

I have made decent money working for a company that went public. (Remember to sell ASAP unless you are so confident in the stock that you purchase additional shares with your own $).

I do pretty well doing my own thing. But there was a ramp-up, and it wasn't overnight (much like some LI influencers would have you believe). Regarding the effort of creating your own thing, yes, there is a lot of non-sexy stuff that no one talks about because it is non-sexy.

An additional benefit for me is flexibility. Being able to go to my kid's school function or help coach a team is more important to me than professional accolades.

As far as the work. Yes, it is a lot of work. But theoretically, you are doing your own thing because you like it. My work is generally self-motivating. I can't say the same about when I worked for others.

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