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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?

#491

Post by eschneider »

gjadi wrote: post #434
eschneider wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's nothing too terribly special about low level wizardry, other than you really _do_ need to understand how the hardware works, and how your language works. Oddball skills you really need to know (and can easily pick up if you have a mind to) include: a) Reading processor/part data books. These are your API docs. Most of your answers are in there if you care to look. b) Reading schematics. You don't need to be a…

This sounds like a typical embedded software engineer and I frequently see people around here complaining about the low salaries for these roles. What am I missing?

Like everything else, salaries vary widely, even in a fixed geographic area. Pay isn't bad if you can find a place that appreciates the work.

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

#492

Post by edgriebel »

wonger_ wrote: post #460
cvwright wrote: post #339

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your story supports the position that it's safer to take the FAANG job. This guy found an underserved market opportunity, built something, got some success marketing it, and made a whopping total of $40k. Meanwhile the FAANG guys are making that every two months, without all the risk.

Imagine if this app was B2B instead of B2C, or if it pivots to B2B in the future, or if it's acquired. Imagine also future passive income with little maintenance. And his project seemed like a side project written over a few months. Still risky, but the expected value is comparable to a stint at a salaried job IMO, once you find a decent market opportunity. Not to mention the qualitative value of self-employment, and…

> imagine if

We can play this game all day, but the fact is somebody put a ton of work into a project and made about what they could have made in a month at a FAANG.

Pretty crappy trade off.

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

#493

Post by edgriebel »

Merad wrote: post #293
keiferski wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People say this but I don’t buy it at all. If anything, it feels like the vast majority of the business world is still operating on some combination of Excel and a software program that was outdated a decade ago. The main issue is that their problems are too boring and obscure for anyone without direct personal experience to care about them.

I used to work in internal IT at a Fortune 500 working with different departments in the company to turn Excel spreadsheets and Access97 tools into web apps with real databases. The problem is that the companies/departments where this is the case all have their own workflows and business processes, and 99% of the time are completely unwilling to consider change. It'll be really challenging to develop software that ca…

And you’re going to hit the ever-present concern at companies, namely “it’s working perfectly fine, why would I spend any money on it?“

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

#494

Post by dakiol »

boxfire wrote: post #212
chollida1 wrote: post #155

Sure, if you work at many hedge fund you'll make similar money, and likely more if you are good at the job and the fund has success. One other nice thing is that instead of restricted stock you get actual money. And generally the money will be locked up for less time than the 4 year vesting that these companies often follow. And on top of that you can usually invest your money fee free in your own fund to help juice…

and probably no where to hide if you want to just rest and vest. "Rest and vest". What a luxury. Some of us are trying to tread water with an anvil chained to the waist. That's what I get for choosing to work for something I'm passionate about. What a world

> That's what I get for choosing to work for something I'm passionate about.

Are you passionate about working for your current employer or passionate about your career?

I’m passionate about my career (programming/software development): I love reading the classic tech books out there (TAOCP, DDIA, etc.), I love working on side projects, sometimes I contribute to open source, etc.

On the other hand, I couldn’t care less about my employer. Not because they are bad, but I just don’t care about most of the tech companies out there. I do what I need to do to get paid, but i’m not passionate about deadlines, conversations with other engineers about subjective topics, daily standups, on call, etc.

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

#495

Post by Izkata »

QuercusMax wrote: post #223
brodouevencode wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

~Calm down. It's a common misconception.~

It's a common misconception among people who haven't done even the slightest bit of research. Or done their taxes themselves. Confidently stating stuff that is obviously false SHOULD be ridiculed.

> Or done their taxes themselves.

As someone who does his taxes manually every year, this probably wouldn't help. Most people would be under the threshold and just look up the value in a table and not see how it scales.

If you use any sort of tax software I expect it's even further obscured.

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

#496

Post by financetechbro »

keiferski wrote: post #241
Rinzler89 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

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.

Remind me the % of startups that fail pls

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

#497

Post by ferryman »

Bjorkbat wrote: post #362
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…

I mean, that's what I'm trying to do (the business, not the monetary milestone), but something to be mindful of is that on Indie Hackers only 12 people out of 17,000 in the community got to $10k MRR. https://www.indiehackers.com/post/holy-heck-this-is-hard-8eb... Granted, this is Indie Hackers, so take this with a grain of salt, but I think the general idea still applies. Getting to $10k a month, let alone making $25…

When you say taking this with a grain of salt, do you mean the success rate would be better outside of Indie Hackers?

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

#498

Post by avn2109 »

timcobb wrote: post #288
stonethrowaway wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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 (mo…

> You get better at handling the stress as you get more comfortable with Some people, but not many people... > Everyone should attempt to start a small business or a side consulting gig Why? > Failing that, you should strive to make it to VP-suite of your company Why? Why take time out of your day to tiger parent strangers on HN when you can just have your own children and damage them instead?

I am not the GP of course, but I kinda enjoyed being tiger-parented here, it's at least entertaining and might even be good for my career.

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

#499

Post by Noneofya »

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…

> It's interesting how so many people have an aversion to being a business owner / entrepreneur

It’s not like nobody wants that, the scarce thing is having a good business idea unless you want to go into consulting.

> And the ceiling is limited as an employee, whereas it's virtually unlimited as a business owner.

That’s kinda stretching it. Higher FAANG-level salaries are enough to reach financial independence, which is pretty much „unlimited“ territory for most normal people. On the other hand, most businesses are not hyper successful. It‘s not like becoming a millionaire entrepreneur can be taken for granted.

It’s interesting that you don’t seem to understand this. Survivorship bias or something else?

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

#500

Post by Noneofya »

keiferski wrote: post #241
Rinzler89 wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

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.

There are not so plenty examples of one person businesses making that one person rich.
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