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Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

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Re: Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

#221

Post by revvx »

badfrog wrote: post #137
revvx wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Supposing you literally “just write code,” there’s a ceiling to how much impact you can have I'm don't see why a single person can't have a ton of impact merely as a coder. I mean, this whole website is dedicated to (mostly) discussing tech startups and how (mostly) software disrupts and help scale outdated business models. Isn't the software-making business model also ripe for that disruption, at least in a smalle…

> Couldn't a single coder (or a small team) help an organization get some competitive advantage when it comes to tools. Or even programming languages? Sort of, but: 1) Knowing what to build requires deep knowledge of that the other engineers in your company are struggling with. Figuring this out requires a lot of time spent meeting with people and doing other things that would be considered more management than codin…

Then get someone to help you run the team, instead of a boss.

Re: Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

#222

Post by scarface74 »

pkalinowski wrote: post #219
scarface74 wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That even lessens the chances by starting it on the “side”. You will be competing with people who are better funded and are able to commit to it full time. What are the chances that a “side business” is going to make $150K to 200K a year? On a side note, why are you so relentlessly negative? Most of the comments you've made in this thread are needlessly hostile, sarcastic and bitter. Did a side project touch you inap…

Being in management is way different than running your own company. One side project doesn’t have to earn 200k/yr. you can have 5 of them, each making 50k. Running them as single software company is way less management work than managing your team in big company environment.

So you’re going to run 5 $50K side projects by yourself, including maintenance, support, marketing, feature addition etc?

Re: Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

#223

Post by davidjnelson »

scarface74 wrote: post #197
ScottFree wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me be crystal clear: I'm talking about building up a side business in your spare time. > If you are talking about starting a business on the side and working full time, that means you are sacrificing some combination of time with your family, exercise, and time that you could be putting in getting ahead at your current job or acquiring skills that would help you get a better paying job. You think you somehow lear…

That even lessens the chances by starting it on the “side”. You will be competing with people who are better funded and are able to commit to it full time. What are the chances that a “side business” is going to make $150K to 200K a year? On a side note, why are you so relentlessly negative? Most of the comments you've made in this thread are needlessly hostile, sarcastic and bitter. Did a side project touch you inap…

Some examples: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8844083

If I had to guess, I'd say that for every hacker news user that ships and markets an mvp, probably somewhere around 1-10% hit 150k/year from it. It's hard to find good data on this though.

Re: Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

#224

Post by mixmastamyk »

macando wrote: post #30

Every time this topic surfaces project management in the form of politics and pushing tickets through Trello is presented as the only option available to engineers. To me, a more natural progression is going into product management. It's a nice intersection of management, product design and engineering. From a job description: " We’re looking for a product leader to join a fast-paced and transformational start-up to…

Can’t say definitively, but know that these days if your resume has X and they are looking for Y it’s a no-go. Even when X overlaps Y significantly. Hard to even get a job as a programmer in one language with experience in another.

Re: Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

#225

Post by scarface74 »

ses1984 wrote: post #133
scarface74 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So instead of going into management because you don’t like management and want to stay an individual contributor, you now become not only the manager of your own company, now you have to worry about marketing, finances, etc. I go to bed every night not worrying about whether my company remains sustainable. If they don’t, as long as it is a microeconomic issue (company failed) and not a macroeconomic issue (economy is…

One. 45 is the very beginning of when ageism starts to show (at most companies). There are certainly some companies that would be biased against a 45 but maybe you don't work there. Just wait. Two. You're not going to multiply your salary by 2x-20x unless you start to take on more responsibility, like worrying about sustainability.

So how many small business out their are bootstrapped making $400K to 2 million net? A sibling poster mentioned making $200K a year at a FAANG.

If you have a household income of $434K, you’re already in the top 1% if you have a household income of $600K you’re in the top .5%.

If it were that easy, don’t you think more people would be doing it?

Re: Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

#226

Post by scarface74 »

davidjnelson wrote: post #223
scarface74 wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That even lessens the chances by starting it on the “side”. You will be competing with people who are better funded and are able to commit to it full time. What are the chances that a “side business” is going to make $150K to 200K a year? On a side note, why are you so relentlessly negative? Most of the comments you've made in this thread are needlessly hostile, sarcastic and bitter. Did a side project touch you inap…

Some examples: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8844083 If I had to guess, I'd say that for every hacker news user that ships and markets an mvp, probably somewhere around 1-10% hit 150k/year from it. It's hard to find good data on this though.

I skimmed the articles from the link. Most of them made less than a $1000 a month.

One that made money was spreading malware and the author who seem to be making a decent return said.

It was really hard to write - took me 1.5 years, tons of research and re-writing. This isn't something I slapped together over a weekend. Far from passive income.

Re: Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

#227

Post by scarface74 »

bennybob wrote: post #209
ipad23 wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm really tired of seeing this posted whenever someone talks about their success. It breeds a loser mentality where people just assume they won't be successful, so they won't even try.

I couldn't agree more. It's a toxic mentality, it allows people to just say successful / rich people must have ripped someone off or just been really lucky. Dealing with fear of failure has turned into my biggest obstacle in life.

I don’t think they “ripped people off”. But it is luck and too many “self made” people attribute too much to their own skill.

Re: Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

#229

Post by m0zg »

orthoxerox wrote: post #216
democracy wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google aside there is nothing worse than getting stuck at middle management in a software corp after 40 - 50. You are expensive, replacable and disposable.

Most older middle managers in my org get pushed out into PM roles.

Not at Google. Google has very few PMs in general.

Re: Why Good Developers Are Promoted into Unhappiness (2007)

#230

Post by tomduncalf »

aetherspawn wrote: post #220
skrebbel wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From your network, and everybody has a network. However, you need to make sure that your network knows that you're available. So: email everyone you know (also non-programmers) a 4-sentence email that you're now a contractor. Explicitly list the domains and technologies you can "hit the ground running" at, and focus on those. People need to be able to see you as "a great Java programmer" or "a great iOS programmer".…

What if your network is mostly in a different industry than the area that you want to contract within? Would you then use a recruiter or something like that? I don’t think I would get any gigs using my network.

Yeah seems reasonable, nothing wrong with going through a recruiter, it can just be harder to find the interesting work as recruiters. But a good recruiter is definitely a useful thing to have and it can’t hurt to reach out, if just to get a sense of the market. It can also be worth emailing companies you’d like to work with (e.g. interesting or nearby) with a quick note offering your services. Even if they aren’t hiring permanent sometimes there’s budget for a contractor.
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