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Do you really want to be rich?

blog.cubeofm.com

31–40 of 84 posts

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#31
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Explain. Do you really think the Google founders set out to be billionaires? I think that most of the interesting and decent rich people had no idea they'd be so successful. They put one foot in front of the other until they had something of great value.

For the record, they also didn't set out to compete with any of the existing search engines, rather their interest was to prove the viability of their linux cluster and an internet of data was a good theater for that.

Right. In terms of intellectual and creative advancement, the overwhelming majority of it comes from people who were both uninterested in monetarily capturing the value of it, and also bad at doing so. Most people with the talent for making money are people with few other talents (just because of the general rarity of talent; when the correlation is zero, people with talent X are very unlikely to have talent Y).

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#32
People here are showing a lot of dislike for the third category, those who want to make money. I think that's because of how the author describes them, not how they actually are.

People who want to make money for money's sake love building things. They can't stand to sit still. They understand long-term relationships, and the smart ones learn that trust and inspiring leaders within your own and other organizations is the only way to keep building.

They love competing, and they love winning. But that doesn't mean they lack integrity, or think lying or cheating is the way to win. They understand that at best that gets you a win in the very short run.

They are the tinkerers of capitalism. And that's why they don't fail you once they can afford a Porsche, why they don't constantly try to impress people because of their insecurities, and why they don't stop thinking about improving their business once they "have enough". Not everyone is like that, but that's not a reason to disrespect those who are.

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#33
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For most people, an 18K monthly income ($216K annualized) that is passive is most definitely considered "being rich".

Except that given it could potentially end tomorrow, I am motivated to work on something different. Sure I have a comfortable position at the moment, but resting on my laurels could be a costly mistake. I am just using this breathing room to work on something that has more potential rather than having to hustle for income... basically forgoing short term gains for long term ones.

Fair enough, nothing wrong with that and I agree with your first comment too, just wanted to introduce perspective, because sometimes we all get caught up in where we are and forget that a lot of people are still where we were. :-)

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#34
What does this paragraph intend to say:

"For these men we sat with, I spent over 10.000 yuan on the program this evening. I took us to an expensive hotel, I paid the tips for all the girls, I ordered really expensive food. But when we spoke to these men, they never mentioned how much money they had. They never tried to impress me, in spite of me doing all this."

That (and the dog meat) bit seem like total non sequiturs to me.

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#35
post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except that given it could potentially end tomorrow, I am motivated to work on something different. Sure I have a comfortable position at the moment, but resting on my laurels could be a costly mistake. I am just using this breathing room to work on something that has more potential rather than having to hustle for income... basically forgoing short term gains for long term ones.

Fair enough, nothing wrong with that and I agree with your first comment too, just wanted to introduce perspective, because sometimes we all get caught up in where we are and forget that a lot of people are still where we were. :-)

That's a fair point too. I often think of where I was a couple years ago (very broke) and it puts everything into perspective for me too.

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#36
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the record, they also didn't set out to compete with any of the existing search engines, rather their interest was to prove the viability of their linux cluster and an internet of data was a good theater for that.

Right. In terms of intellectual and creative advancement, the overwhelming majority of it comes from people who were both uninterested in monetarily capturing the value of it, and also bad at doing so. Most people with the talent for making money are people with few other talents (just because of the general rarity of talent; when the correlation is zero, people with talent X are very unlikely to have talent Y).

Interesting take. I see so many "business types" looking for developers to help them build their great idea. But developers aren't interested in building someone else's idea, so it may be the opposite approach which is mo' betta.

Business people should be looking for existing technical products to sell, rather than trying to think of ideas themselves.

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#37
post #10

I disagree. I think that there are not enough categories. For example, I've got a comfortable lifestyle, I earn a decent passive income (~18k a month) and it affords me time to work on the stuff that I want to work on. I'm working on something now because I look at the industry that I'm targeting and I all I see is flaws. The products don't match the consumers wants. I want to fix that and I see a big opportunity eve…

For most people, an 18K monthly income ($216K annualized) that is passive is most definitely considered "being rich".

Indeed. For me, 6 thousand monthly is "being rich". And so far, I have not been willing to do what it takes to get there (emigrate). I'm definitely a Category 2 guy so far :(

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#38
I hate this article.

I hate anything that says "There are two types of people in the world, those that x, and those that y".

I hate it because either:

1) The statements x and y are opposites and combine to be a truism. Truisms are not interesting. (from the 2nd and 3rd matrix) "Some things change, and others don't".

2) The generalization is demonstrably false or unknowable.

In this article in partiular, I found a sort of weird mesh. The second and third category are clear opposites of each other. They are a truism in that you can say "A rich person either will keep on trying to get rich, or will stop after a while." This is roughly equivalent to what these categories represent.

The first category is sort of contained in the second category. Or, more accurately, if someone is going to stop trying to make money after a while, they will either stop because they are comfortable or because they are being looked up to. Not exactly mind blowing information.

I feel that broad categorization of people is useless. People are not either one thing or another. People have features in quantities. Fuzzy logic rules over binary in the world of humans. It would be nice and easy if humans were so simple, but they are not.

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#39
post #2

Yes, of course I do, and the generalizations here are gross and condescending. You will not convince me that I do not want this. I lean towards the Comfort angle, but I also start tinkering and producing when I am bored, so I could hardly be considered to walk the lazy path. I look for freedom from lower-level concerns so as to begin address higher-level needs. Money provides a layer of abstraction. http://en.wikiped…

"Money provides a layer of abstraction."

Wonderful way of saying it. Maybe it doesn't quite make sense, but I'm a sucker for applying technical concepts to more domestic concerns ;-)

Re: Do you really want to be rich?

#40
post #38

I hate this article. I hate anything that says "There are two types of people in the world, those that x, and those that y". I hate it because either: 1) The statements x and y are opposites and combine to be a truism. Truisms are not interesting. (from the 2nd and 3rd matrix) "Some things change, and others don't". 2) The generalization is demonstrably false or unknowable. In this article in partiular, I found a sor…

I hate anything that says "There are two types of people in the world, those that x, and those that y".

I hate it because either:

  1) ...
  2) ...

Irony :)

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