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Ask HN: 30+ men and women in software, how much do you make?

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Re: Ask HN: 30+ men and women in software, how much do you make?

#72

Post by ev_rolfe »

I think its worth noting that the majority of the people posting their salary here seem to be quite successful so I'd take these response with a grain of salt.

Seems likely that people who are successful will be more willing to post their earnings then people who are not!

Re: Ask HN: 30+ men and women in software, how much do you make?

#73

Post by salary_chat »

Americans surely know the value of a good developer. Unbelievable how terrible the pay is in Europe. 70k-80k is a common end-of-career salary here.

I once had a business partner (French) and we were launching a software-based business. He was the President, I was the CEO (leading all technical, engineering and operations management matters, that's quite a bit... he was handling the sales).

I told him that as a first step, I wanted to pay myself a $80k salary as soon as the business would have the appropriate cashflow. He told me "$80k ? That's quite a high salary for a CEO, but this sounds like a good long-term objective".

Lol. This is one of the reasons I talk about this partnership in the past tense. But this gives you an idea, about the mindset in Europe and of how the compensation tends to be way below the value produced.

For some reason I'm happy when I read here about people just turning 30 making over $150k per year as development manager / senior devs. This is what a first-class engineer deserves.

Re: Ask HN: 30+ men and women in software, how much do you make?

#77

Post by this_throwaway »

eecks wrote: post #24
this_throwaway wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

63K taxes for 370K reported income. Edit: forgot the AMT.

I assume that is USD? That amount is mind boggling to me. I am making 50k usd (45k eur) with a few years experience. You pay more tax than I earn.

Yes, USD. Experience count. After some more years of work, you could make as much.

Re: Ask HN: 30+ men and women in software, how much do you make?

#78

Post by this_throwaway »

blahfuk wrote: post #33
this_throwaway wrote: post #19

After 30, - 125K, startup. - 110K, cut salary for an early stage startup. - 150K, with upto 25% bonus, plus options, startup that made boatload of money. - 210K, consultant - 280K, consultant - 300K, consultant

Teach me Yoda

Develop yourself. Never stop learning. Have an optimistic outlook. Have a pleasant personality. Work well with others. Don't afraid to do more than necessary.

Avoid excessive startup if possible. I was young and naive. After doing 5 or 6 startups, I realized it's a lossy deal. VC spread their risk by investing in 10 companies and assuming 9 would fail. Founders go in with 90% chance of failing but with enough equity to offset the risk. Early employees are screwed, with 90% chance of failing but with meager equity, while doing huge amount of work.

Join startup for the learning. Join big company for the cash. If you really want startup, join late stage startup that are making money, which drastically cuts down the risk of failure while still give you upside.

Go into consulting is you want the cash. You have to be good and deliver.

Re: Ask HN: 30+ men and women in software, how much do you make?

#79

Post by this_throwaway »

iends wrote: post #50
this_throwaway wrote: post #19

After 30, - 125K, startup. - 110K, cut salary for an early stage startup. - 150K, with upto 25% bonus, plus options, startup that made boatload of money. - 210K, consultant - 280K, consultant - 300K, consultant

What are you consulting?

Full stack web app for some companies with special needs. I have to do everything: biz dev, product management, project management, architect/design, development, DBA, QA, support, dev ops.

Also consulting for legal technical due diligence.

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