If/when we achieve negligible senescence, and the social order becomes frozen, it might become pretty important to find oneself at the top of the heap.
Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
11–20 of 230 posts
Re: Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
#12Without trying to sound like an absolute ass, this article shows EXACTLY why most of the founders of the biggest empires and hottest startups are in fact men. I say MOST as I'm sure there are many women as well, but clearly they are overshadowed by men in this case.
Re: Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
#13In my experience, startup founders who want to get rich want it more in order to have the freedom to work on what they want than to impress people.
That could be because we prefer startups whose founders include hackers. On the other hand, we don't just prefer that type because they're more fun to hang around with, but because in our opinion they're more likely to succeed.
Re: Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
#14Great article and really hits home. One thing that's overlooked, however, is the reasoning behind the need to earn money. For some people, money doesn't matter. Yet they still have a burning need to get rich. This is because they have something to prove. And money is their scorecard.
Exactly. Reading a comment right next to yours, "Are lower expectations supposed to be a good thing?". It's become ingrained in Western and especially American culture that money is one of if not the most important measure for judging success. We don't all see each others paychecks and bank account balances, so this manifests in various ways from wanting prestige jobs to conspicuous consumption
People need to ask themselves - what do I want out of life? What are my personal measures for success, that I can explain and justify to myself based on my beliefs. Instead almost everyone simply avoids thinking on that level and instead absorbs and adopts the measurements promoted by society
It's not that making money is bad. It's that far too many people blindly focus on making and spending money without considering the amount of time and sanity and other opportunities for living that's being consumed by their consumerism
Re: Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
#15Of course it's not ok. At some level getting rich is a life-or-death issue. How do I get enough money to retire? How can I possibly afford health-care? What if I or my lovely wife get cancer? The reality is, the later years of your life are going to be significantly more secure and happier if you make a lot of money.
Yeah, but you don't have to be a super rich billionaire for that.
Re: Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
#16If this would be OK then HN would lose most of its users. :)))
Re: Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
#17Of course it's not ok. At some level getting rich is a life-or-death issue. How do I get enough money to retire? How can I possibly afford health-care? What if I or my lovely wife get cancer? The reality is, the later years of your life are going to be significantly more secure and happier if you make a lot of money.
Don't be silly. She wrote that her friend, "could easily bring in a low six-figure income"
If you save wisely, you can retire just fine after a career at a tech company making 2-3x the US median salary. And most companies have good health coverage for the cancer.
She is talking about the pressure to make $10M or more through a startup, not getting the money to retire comfortably.
Re: Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
#18In my experience, startup founders who want to get rich want it more in order to have the freedom to work on what they want than to impress people. That could be because we prefer startups whose founders include hackers. On the other hand, we don't just prefer that type because they're more fun to hang around with, but because in our opinion they're more likely to succeed.
I think it's about the freedom to work on what you want mixed in with the ambition to build something great. I care more that what I am building makes an impact on people and businesses than if I get super rich, but they usually go hand in hand.
Re: Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
#19Of course it's not ok. At some level getting rich is a life-or-death issue. How do I get enough money to retire? How can I possibly afford health-care? What if I or my lovely wife get cancer? The reality is, the later years of your life are going to be significantly more secure and happier if you make a lot of money.
I feel the author really meant that it's ok not to be obscenely rich.
Of course having a sizeable amount of savings is important for all the things you described. Yet the "low six-figures" income of her first example is probably largely sufficient to handle these.
Re: Hey, Guys, It's Totally Okay If You Don't Get Rich
#20An interesting article that talks about an entire nation's views on marriage, status, and success is: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/life/2010-06/25/content_1001855...
It is so ingrained that one of the women described her marital vision: "I'd rather be miserable sitting in a BMW than be happy riding a bicycle."
It's no surprise that an extension of this is that the most desirable man, and bachelor, in China is the founder of Baidu, the largest search engine in China, due to his wealth.