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You're a developer, so why do you work for someone else?

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Re: You're a developer, so why do you work for someone else?

#111

Post by wr1472 »

Willwhatley wrote: post #101
mrleinad wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that the ideal position for anyone would be to be able to quit their jobs, still be able to live a healthy life without being forced to work again. Of course, there´s each one of us definition of "healthy life". For some this must include a yatch or a huge house. For some others, being with friends and being able to fullfill their basic needs is enough. Me, I'd go for something in between. I don´t need a yatc…

yacht

No, I do think he meant Yatch http://www.carolexclusivewatches.co.uk/Rolex-Sports/Rolex-Ya...

Re: You're a developer, so why do you work for someone else?

#113

Post by orochimaru »

Homunculiheaded wrote: post #32

Try an experiment, grab a piece of paper and write out the top ten programmers that first come to your mind. Now next to their names write out which company they work for. There was a time when I was tossing around the idea of starting my own business, something just wasn't clicking for me. Then I did this experiment, and I realized that most the programmers who inspired me to be a programmer worked for someone else…

This would be true, if not for co-founders. There are people who enjoy writing code, and there are people who enjoy selling and marketing. The marriage of the two can be ideal. Example: Id Software. ( Please add more ).

Re: You're a developer, so why do you work for someone else?

#114

Post by einhverfr »

VonLipwig wrote: post #106
einhverfr wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Most small business owners in fact work at least 60 hrs/wk. There's a tremendous difference between work that is well integrated with family life (as self-employment can be) and work that's away from everyone else. Indeed if he is lucky he'd have his spouse helping with business administration.....

I think the chances are that if you are working 60hrs a week you are doing it wrong. Working that amount of time for a month to power through a launch or get something done is fine. However if you are working that amount of time week in, week out and have a family which you actually want to spend time with then it doesn't really matter where you work. You could work in your families living room. You would still be tu…

It's rather different than that in all areas.

The first thing is "defining work." When you work for someone else, a lot of things you do on personal time are entirely separate from work. When you work for yourself, there are opportunities for more integration.

Maybe that time blogging ends up being an extra way you spend promoting your business? Maybe that time spent on facebook ends up at least in part being marketing time? Certainly that time spent reading industry magazines is work time.

If your spouse is helping with the financial management, you have time that you'd talk about household budgets and stuff that will often bleed over into impromptu family business meetings.

And so forth.

I don't think you can entirely compare 40 hrs in a cube with 60 hrs for yourself. They are in fact two entirely different things.

For example, I generally try to spend about 20 hrs per week in heavy engineering and development, no more (usually in 4 hr chunks if possible). Maybe 10-15 hrs per week doing light development and tech support in small doses scattered throughout the rest of the day.

On my afternoon breaks I play with the kids. Sure I probably work 60 hrs/wk but I can do a lot of it when it is most convenient for everyone else, and so ensure that it isn't as you describe.

Re: You're a developer, so why do you work for someone else?

#115

Post by rick888 »

VonLipwig wrote: post #105
rick888 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"In reality you will probably be happier sticking to employment and working on and launching a side project as and when inspiration strikes. Burning 20 hours a week of your free time will likely lead to - in this guys case - divorce and for other people burnout." That will work until your employer makes the wrong business decision and the company goes out of business or there are budget cuts and you get laid off. Oh…

"That will work until your employer makes the wrong business decision and the company goes out of business or there are budget cuts and you get laid off." That doesn't matter. This is no different from being self employed and making bad decisions yourself. When you are employed you typically know if you job is safe enough as you have a fair idea of how the company is doing and have a feeling about how important you a…

"That doesn't matter. This is no different from being self employed and making bad decisions yourself."

The difference is that you have control over your own path. There were many bad decisions at my previous job that I warned my managers and bosses against. They wouldn't listen to me and the company ended up losing money or the idea was a complete failure. I could see the company on a path of failure and the only thing I had the power to do was ride it out. Every good idea was squashed.

"When you are employed you typically know if you job is safe enough as you have a fair idea of how the company is doing and have a feeling about how important you are to the company."

This is sometimes true and it sometimes isn't. I've been in the dark about how well the company is actually doing. It happened at my last job: They kept assuring us that the company was still profitable and everything was fine. Two weeks later, I got laid off.

In the end, it was actually positive, because I used it as an opportunity to start my own company. I was always on the treadmill of a 9-5 and it was tough to really get anywhere.

"Regarding contracts, this is why it is very important to read your contract before signing. I have turned down a number of jobs due to unrealistic non-compete agreements and the potential employer owning discoveries I make in my own time."

Very true. However, most of the big tech companies require this (Microsoft, Google, Facebook).

Re: You're a developer, so why do you work for someone else?

#116

Post by scottshea »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #22
AshFurrow wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For sure - there's a trick in finding the right company.

In my experience, the amount of bullshit is directly correlated with company size.

There is that... and of course all Public Companies in the US have the SOX BS baked into the process.

Re: You're a developer, so why do you work for someone else?

#117

Post by pavel_lishin »

scottshea wrote: post #116
pavel_lishin wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my experience, the amount of bullshit is directly correlated with company size.

There is that... and of course all Public Companies in the US have the SOX BS baked into the process.

Having never worked for one, I have no idea what SOX BS is. Can you elaborate?

Re: You're a developer, so why do you work for someone else?

#118

Post by scottshea »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #117
scottshea wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is that... and of course all Public Companies in the US have the SOX BS baked into the process.

Having never worked for one, I have no idea what SOX BS is. Can you elaborate?

Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It was enacted following Enron and Worldcom to prevent corporate malfeasance. Sadly it gave a lot of auditors a lot of power which translated to 'controls' placed on the work environment. Some make sense (e.g. no read/write access to production for development). Others make no sense (e.g. no access to log files from production for developers troubleshooting issues). It really depends on the company and the audit process.
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