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Reasons not to become famous

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Re: Reasons not to become famous

#241

Post by simonebrunozzi »

tazjin wrote: post #43

I opened this on a computer without an adblocker installed (yeah, my mistake), and a minute or so into reading the article it suddenly pops up a full-screen ad to buy this guy's book. That's on the same level of annoying as autoplaying videos imo.

Yes. Sometimes I like what Tim writes, but his marketing tactics on the website and elsewhere are really bad and annoying.

Tim, if you're reading this: please consider a different approach. You're rich and famous, you don't need the extra $$ of a slightly better conversion rate.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#242

Post by varjag »

Mountain_Skies wrote: post #185

Tim's post reminds me of a video the 8-Bit Guy did a while back about how many people contact him, both to try to strike up a conversation and to offer him their old 8-bit treasures. He sounded rather annoyed by the whole thing but he is a big star in the 8-bit pond so it comes with the territory. For his area of coverage, there is lots of childhood nostalgia involved so this might make his viewer connected with the…

The 8-Bit Guy is fascinating persona, because he manages to maintain two segregated public personalities, both with heavy YouTube presence.

(The other one is a 2A NRA gun touter, the kind who takes their rifle to a restaurant and films it)

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#243

Post by heavenlyblue »

retrac wrote: post #236
christiansakai wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh wow, that seems true. What is the reason for this?

A number of studies here in Canada have found that resumes are more likely to get a call-back if the person's name is typically Anglo-Saxon as opposed to pretty much anything else. I think the effect has been shown in the USA too. Employers are probably biased towards hiring a "John Watson" over a "John Adeyemi" or even a "John Kaminski", all other things being equal. So people change their names. It's pretty common.…

Our sales guys have african-sounding names; after taking alter-egos of western names, their response rate tripled up to the normalized comparison of other employees with western names.

PS: UK

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#244

Post by simonebrunozzi »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #106

The last time I wrote a mild critique about Tim Ferriss online, someone scoured the internet to reverse engineer my personal identity and sent an e-mail to my personal e-mail account to debate with me. (I have since switched to anonymous handles). I can only imagine what it's like for Tim Ferriss himself. If you're not familiar with Tim Ferriss, there are several reasons why he's more attractive to dangerous follower…

Could you share your critique? I think it would be interesting to read.

Edit: btw, I find your commentary on Tim very grounded and balanced.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#245

Post by acoustep »

cletus wrote: post #195

So I only see three reasons to be famous: 1. The attention and adulation is your drug. I think there's no shortage of people who fall into this category. 2. To convert that fame into opportunities you wouldn't otherwise have; and 3. To convert that fame into money. Obviously if you're just plain rich then (3) is moot. If you fall into (1) then money can buy you fame to a degree. So that leaves (2). Wealth will give y…

Fourth reason: To be to be remembered after you’re gone.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#246

Post by [deleted] »

dvtrn wrote: post #180
keiferski wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Kevin Hart was known as Lil’ Kev the Bastard until one of his early mentor told him to drop that nickname. This is also just a monumentally bad name. In comedy alone, there are plenty of people with nicknames or not-their-actual name: - Louis C.K. (Louis Székely) - Jon Stewart (Jon Leibowitz) - Larry the Cable Guy (Daniel Lawrence Whitney) - Mel Brooks (Melvyn Kaminsky) - Gene Wilder (Jerome Silberman) - Tim Allen…

I never in my life expected to learn on a random groggy Sunday morning, on a message board for tech that Tim Allen was using a pseudonym.

[deleted]

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#248

Post by scottlocklin »

lonelappde wrote: post #217
onetimemanytime wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "have enough money to have a great quality of life without stress" is how many people define "rich". sure, but "great" is not easily defined. A new car or a jet? A $500K home or a $15M one to host parties with rich and famous. But people usually like to show off, one way or another. If you hit it big with a company, and have, say, $10 Million you can live extremely stress free everywhere in the world. And very few…

It's very hard to find a life partner who is willing to live merely comfortably knowing they can draw more blood from you, and had to resign your children to mere comfort, knowing they'll have to compete for ever scarcer living-wage-paying jobs.

Ever meet old money? They manage it; that's how they pass their money on through the generations. If you're a tech dude in the Bay Area though, you have my sympathies: many predators.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#249

Post by marcinzm »

lonelappde wrote: post #220
marcinzm wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That depends on your personality and the job. Although, as I've noticed, seeking money as the number one goal tends to lead to jobs which cause more stress and a lower quality of life. For example, I could make more money at top tech company but then I'd have bureaucracy and a vacation policy (I took 6 weeks last year) to deal with.

Top tech company offers 5 weeks vacation per year and offers unpaid leave too. The hard part is extricating yourself from (fake-) important projects long enough to enjoy a vacation.

Depends on the company, Google I believe begins at 15 days and you only get more after a certain tenure.

Re: Reasons not to become famous

#250

Post by mrep »

lonelappde wrote: post #217
onetimemanytime wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> "have enough money to have a great quality of life without stress" is how many people define "rich". sure, but "great" is not easily defined. A new car or a jet? A $500K home or a $15M one to host parties with rich and famous. But people usually like to show off, one way or another. If you hit it big with a company, and have, say, $10 Million you can live extremely stress free everywhere in the world. And very few…

It's very hard to find a life partner who is willing to live merely comfortably knowing they can draw more blood from you, and had to resign your children to mere comfort, knowing they'll have to compete for ever scarcer living-wage-paying jobs.

Merly comfortably? At 10 million dollars, you can live off of 4% of that for the rest of your life. After 15% cap gains, that gives you $340,000 to spend a year. Outside of the bay area, you can easily afford a 5000 square foot house in a top school district, own multiple cars, take lavish vacations, own a second vacation home, pay for your kids college education and more.

What additional benefits are you imagining in which having more money would not "resign your children to mere comfort"?

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