Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee • Hacker News Board

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#271

Post by jedberg » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:26 PM UTC

The advice I always give to a new college grad is try and get a job at one of the big tech companies.

The work and the mission may not be exciting, but there is huge room for growth and often the large companies have programs especially designed for career growth for new college grads.

But don’t get stuck. The job will comfortable. After a few years it’s time to move on. Maybe you’ve found a few folks to cofound with, or maybe you just have a good lead on a much bigger role. But the only way to really advance is to leave — most big companies have artificial limits on salary growth and promotions. You can always go back later.

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#272

Post by BeetleB » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:27 PM UTC

barrkel wrote: post #187

BeetleB wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Bay area in a nutshell. You can have higher savings rates too Your example is a higher savings amount , not rate. In your example, I may still prefer the 80K one. Why? Assume taxes are a third of your salary in both places. In the 80K job, you save 40K, and your living expenses are 13.3K In the 160K job, you save 56K and your living expenses are 50.7K In Nowhereville, you are saving 3 times your annual cost of livin…

You'll still need to retire in a cheap city in Nowhereville. Why not live in SV when you're young and retire to Nowhereville, vs living in Nowhereville all your life?

>Why not live in SV when you're young and retire to Nowhereville, vs living in Nowhereville all your life?

Depends on your preferences. I don't want to move to a new place when I retire. I'd like to retire in the same place where I have friends, know the city, system, etc.

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#273

Post by s73ver_ » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:28 PM UTC

speby wrote: post #235

ryandrake wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a good philosophical question: A company creates a great product. What person actually created the value? The product visionary who thought of the idea? The developer who implemented it? The manager who approved the budget allowing the work to happen in the first place?

You're implicitly making a common mistake confusing value creation and value capture. Yes, it is true that developers writing the software for Google's search engine and Gmail and other products, particularly the early developers who were writing core functionality before it even existed yet, are creating value. But are/were they capturing the full value created? In general, no. To the extent they "captured value" on…

They're concentrated for reasons. It's highly debatable whether those reasons are "good".

We all take risk. I could find myself working for a company that doesn't make it, or just decides to fire me at a moment's notice. Losing my job and not being able to find another one means I might not be able to feed and house my family. That's real risk. On the other hand, most investors are pretty well off, and can weather a few startups failing. They're likely not going to get to the point where they don't know if they can continue to house their family for the next few months.

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#274

Post by refurb » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:29 PM UTC

derefr wrote: post #111

twright0 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you won't get stabbed anywhere in SF (so live in the sketchy area it'll get nicer each year) This is flatly untrue and bad advice - there are absolutely areas of San Francisco where you run the risk of being the victim of physical violence. Some people will be comfortable living in that kind of environment but many won't, and suggesting that all of San Francisco is uniformly safe is irresponsible.

Is there really? For a long time I've lived in an area (East Hastings in Vancouver) that people say is similarly "sketchy", but from what I can see, it's not dangerous to passersby —it's instead that there's a lower class involved in drugs and sex work, and they sometimes attack each other (i.e. people they know, who they have a grudge against.) They don't go around attacking random strangers.

I've walked through East Hasting. It's much safer than some parts of SF.

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#275

Post by s73ver_ » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:30 PM UTC

jedberg wrote: post #271

The advice I always give to a new college grad is try and get a job at one of the big tech companies. The work and the mission may not be exciting, but there is huge room for growth and often the large companies have programs especially designed for career growth for new college grads. But don’t get stuck. The job will comfortable. After a few years it’s time to move on. Maybe you’ve found a few folks to cofound with…

Not to mention, you'll be paid enough that you can easily pay off your loans, and you can hopefully put a good sized chunk away so you'll be more able to weather the startup paying less.

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#276

Post by harryh » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:31 PM UTC

I liked this essay better when Venkatesh Rao wrote it in 2009.

https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-...

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#277

Post by sukulent » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:33 PM UTC

Or consultant... I used to drink the koolaid.

Saw many of my good and loyal colleagues get laid off and thrown away, when I was part of various companies. These days I dont give a fuck and dont get out of bed for less than $10000.

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#278

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:33 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #39

encoderer wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it depends primarily on if you work for a tech company or a startup.

I've worked at start-ups, failing tech companies, moderately successful tech companies and well-known names. I'm convinced that, unless you lucked into the 1 in 1000 unicorn, it doesn't matter what kind of company you work for--the area you live in's cost of living largely dominates the question of how much you can save.

[deleted]

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#279

Post by s73ver_ » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:33 PM UTC

reuven wrote: post #91

How about freelancing? I've been doing that since 1995 -- and my income and happiness have never been higher. Pros: - Work on what you like, with the people you like - Potentially very high salary, definitely more than you would get as an employee - Want to work on side projects (e.g., software, books, and courses)? Go for it, and benefit from multiple income streams. Cons: - You're running a business. That requires…

Cons: Insurance and pre-existing conditions.

Not to put a damper on your post, as it sounds like you have had good success. But this is a very real thing for many people. When I graduated and went out into the world, I needed insurance, and this was before the ACA, which meant that my pre-existing condition was not something that would be insurable, at least at any decent rate. The ACA fixed that, but now you have the GOP attempting to return things to how they were before, especially for pre-existing conditions. They failed now, but they're not going to stop. So, for many people, currently the climate is not one where they could go without a group plan that they'd get at their employer.

Re: Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

#280

Post by csomar » Thu, Sep 28, 2017, 7:34 PM UTC

leeoniya wrote: post #199

csomar wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm afraid of survivorship bias. Just because you made it, it doesn't mean that others who fell in the same situation would. That's where statistics come handy. Don't forget that you have lived through a period of growth in the US. It might not happen again for this generation. What if the fundamentals changes, and the situations/opportunities you have been through are no longer there? We like to think we make our ch…

there are still incredible opportunities. you just have to be educated (STEM helps by an immeasurable factor), work hard and take risks to land them. luck helps. sometimes luck comes easy; sometimes you have to make your own luck. anyone who thinks there is less opportunity in the US today than 20 years ago is willfully ignorant and/or has never lived in countries that truly have no opportunity for upward mobility be…

Sure. But see your phrase here: STEM helps by an immeasurable factor.

It is very easy to assume this if you are a software engineer living in the Internet Bubble. Many people suck at basic elementary math. Way too many people. Let alone they start programming in a professional level.

Was that the case in the last 50 years? Not really. I know rich people who thrived in the last 50 years just by being frugal, hard-working and persistent. Despite having no STEM/Math or modern economical knowledge they were able to create wealth.

In today competitive world where capital is competing endlessly for market-share, I can hardly seeing them surviving let alone thrive. And don't forget todays media and social apps. Too many distractions. People are too drunk to be able to focus on building real stuff.