71–80 of 154 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is way overly pessimistic. At 100k total taxes (Federal+CA+SS+Medicare) are in the 30% range. That leaves 30k to spend (not too hard for a single 25 year old assuming you don't have lots of student loans, even in SF) and 40k to save. And this ignores tax-advantaged savings
At 100k, take-home pay is $65,278. Closer to 35% "total taxes"
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Where can you buy muni bonds that earn 6%? Most of the muni bonds yields I've found online are in the 3.5-4% range. That is unless you're talking about the city of Detroit (which is flirting with bankruptcy) that pays 7% plus and is riskier imho than doing a startup. http://blogs.marketwatch.com/fundmastery/2010/03/12/goldman-...
Found some Mass. bonds (because it's my home state, so tax-free for both federal and state) yielding 6.43% just now, with expiration date of 2029-05-01 and with credit rating of AA+ http://massachusetts.municipalbonds.com/bonds/issue/914440KJ... . Also can also buy some REITs with annual high-dividend yield of 17% such as AGNC or NLY. These are a bit riskier due to fluctuating principal out on the open equity market.…
Don't forget to mention that those calls aren't cheap.
Bah Humbug (please excuse me, it's just a seasonal expression). While I can feel your pain, this story has nothing to do with SV - it's the story of an entrepreneur. The same story exists in every state in the U.S. and every major city (and most small ones) in the world. Entrepreneurship is very hard. I'm 41 y/o and bootstrapped my first internet company at 24. I owned a nice home, a beautiful vacation (lake) home, a…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Knight_(Monty_Python)
I agree with your statements and am glad to hear you're doing well, but I think that sometimes, it is wiser to know when to stop and take a long, hard look at what you are actually best at. But at least most Silicon Valley startups don't make quadriplegics out of survivors.
Ultimately, though, surviving Silicon Valley comes down to one simple rule: don't build stupid shit. Work on a business, get revenues from the start, and don't fall into the trap of trying to build an Instagram.
Frankly, most of the stuff everybody here is working on is idiotic. The business models & grand vision plans people come up are ridiculous. With a little more care for building things that are actually useful and that people will pay for, we'd have much less "blew my life savings trying to make a social network for pets and am now homeless and girlfriend-less" stories.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Nobody has mentioned taxes yet. I assume your "making 100K" is the salary. The pre-tax salary. Taxes will chop that pretty much in half. So if you save $40K/year, you get to live off of $10k in the second most expensive MSA in the US. Good luck.
This is way overly pessimistic. At 100k total taxes (Federal+CA+SS+Medicare) are in the 30% range. That leaves 30k to spend (not too hard for a single 25 year old assuming you don't have lots of student loans, even in SF) and 40k to save. And this ignores tax-advantaged savings
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Everyone knows startups are not the optimal economically rational way to make money. But to an entrepreneur, living off 6% muni bond interest is profoundly uninteresting, and dare I say soul crushing. Repeat after me: If you think it's only about the money, you're missing the point. And even if it is all about the money, most 25 year olds would jump at a 1% chance to make $10 million over a $100% chance to make $200K…
Maybe the rational way to play the game then is to make that $200K, then stretch your reach and make $1M, and so on... until you've taken care of the money problem. Then that's when you're ready to start taking shots at the big opportunities, without being motivated by money or being held back by it.
Bah Humbug (please excuse me, it's just a seasonal expression). While I can feel your pain, this story has nothing to do with SV - it's the story of an entrepreneur. The same story exists in every state in the U.S. and every major city (and most small ones) in the world. Entrepreneurship is very hard. I'm 41 y/o and bootstrapped my first internet company at 24. I owned a nice home, a beautiful vacation (lake) home, a…
One lesson here might be to not buy the fancy, expensive stuff and the lifestyle that goes with it. I bet things would've been a lot smoother with fewer gee-gaws and more cash in the bank.
I quit my TI job, lost my beautiful fiancee, lost my friends and came back to live with my parents, and all of this after thirty.. Im pretty sociable guy.. and had a very rich and good social life before all this.. Im living in Brazil, without access to this garden of VC funds you guys have in the Valley.. But i live in front of a beautiful beach, where i go out everyday to run, and let some stress behind me.. Im sti…
A year has passed since we started, and we still don't have a steady income, but it is worth it, totally worth it, when I realize that I am doing exactly what I want to do, even if the odds are against me, I know I have to keep trying.
Bah Humbug (please excuse me, it's just a seasonal expression). While I can feel your pain, this story has nothing to do with SV - it's the story of an entrepreneur. The same story exists in every state in the U.S. and every major city (and most small ones) in the world. Entrepreneurship is very hard. I'm 41 y/o and bootstrapped my first internet company at 24. I owned a nice home, a beautiful vacation (lake) home, a…
Personally, I did the startup thing twice, struck out twice, and don't intend to try again.
If you're buying into the Silicon Valley hype, and then get disappointed, you're doing it wrong. Silicon Valley is not a place that's amazing a first, and then awful once you fail. It's simply a place that happens to have the highest concentration and best resources for building tech companies. Ultimately, though, surviving Silicon Valley comes down to one simple rule: don't build stupid shit. Work on a business , ge…
Instagram for pets, Pinterest for gardeners, what's next?