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I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

startingdotneprogramming.blogspot.com

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Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#251

Post by svachalek »

dnc wrote: post #97
eip wrote: post #39

The trick to avoiding complete burnout is easy. First - don't care at all about your job. Remember that all corporations are by definition psychopaths and they will treat you accordingly. Second - never do more then 35% of the work you are capable of doing in a day. Third - if you find yourself getting stressed out tell yourself repeatedly "It's only a stupid job. There is no point in stressing about it."

> First - don't care at all about your job. Maybe it is counter intuitive but I think healthy dose of this keeps me more productive and more focused on the job. While at work I always try to keep somewhere in the back of my mind Bertrand Russell's quote: "One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important". It helps.

Early in my career a more senior developer told me you can't do a good job unless you're willing to get fired for it. Coming from a nouveau middle class background, that was pretty shocking to me but over the years I have seen so many situations that have confirmed it to me.

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#252

Post by kyllo »

michaelochurch wrote: post #229
Surio wrote: post #209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> First, these companies are designed to become profitable, not to exit, so compensation is profit-sharing, not the joke equity offered by VC-istan That really, really resonated! Now for a counterpoint. When I read that remark, I recalled reading a recent interview of Groupon's COO and I quote this para: In 2007, he started Global Scholar to “help teachers give differentiated education to kids using technology. It w…

Now tell me, just how exactly are you even going to combat deeply entrenched mindsets like those, which also happen foster the usual confirmation and survivor bias dreams in most, if not all aspiring "wantapreneurs"? I don't think selling a company is a bad thing. I think building a company with the idea in mind that one must sell (because one's backers will flip out if there isn't a sale) is bad.

It sounds like a lot of what bothers you about VC startups is that they've become a way for megacorps to outsource risky marketing experiments (aka "convex work") and buy the winners while discarding the losers. But through the usual avenues of corruption it's become a rigged game where the sociopaths inside the megacorps are working with their sociopath friends in the VCs and actually picking winners instead of only buying truly viable startups.

So they're closing the circle and turning it into a revolving door for an incestuous aristocracy where the amount of value you capture is a function of who you know and who owes you a favor instead of being a function of how much value you actually create.

How do you stop any market from getting taken over by psychopaths who want to turn it into an incest-fest? This is also a problem in every other industry ever, and also in government. Is there a such thing as a corruption-repellent, paychopath-kryptonite system, and if so, what is it?

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#253

Post by TheCoelacanth »

fibbery wrote: post #249
TheCoelacanth wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All "Computer Professionals" are exempt, so that would cover many of the people on this site. The other exemptions are rather broad and would probably cover most of the rest.

Not sure if it's Federal or CA law but you have to be making over a certain amount, though, to be exempt. In my last company that way everyone in the engeering dept. making under 70K (so, all of QA and tech support)

For the Federal law, it's $455 per week, so a vast majority of people make enough. I wouldn't be surprised if CA had a higher minimum, since their laws are tend to be more worker friendly than the rest of the US.

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#254

Post by rdouble »

michaelochurch wrote: post #232
illsorted wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I submit Fargo, ND for your consideration. We have oil money, cheap cost of living, and a decent tech community.

Do you think that: (a) Fargo's local government would be supportive of a technology Autonomy Fund, and... (b) it would be possible to get a critical mass of engineers to live there? Also, what's the gender balance? I'm married so I don't care, but I think we'd have the best odds in a town where it's at least 53:47 women.

a) There might already be something like that. A local guy sold Great Plains to MS years ago for over a billion dollars, and has done a lot to renovate the downtown area and has a local venture fund.

b) impossible

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#255

Post by goatforce5 »

Years ago I knew of a pair of sysadmins who were extremely overworked, often staying back late and working weekends, etc. Eventually they got a meeting with a higher-up and the opportunity to make their case that they should probably get raises and hiring another person or two would be a great help.

They didn't get more people to help, but they were told they only had to work 4 days a week instead of 5, so, you know... That's a raise, right? Problem solved! More money for less hours in the office!

Except for the fact they still had the same amount of work that kept them back at night on the weekends.

Sysadmin #1 left the meeting, went to his office and wrote his resignation letter.

Sysadmin #2 went back to his office. He was found a short time later with slashed wrists and not in a very healthy state. He was taken to hospital, patched up, and put in to a psych ward for a while. After a few months he returned to his job in a very medicated state, and just wandered around having hard to follow conversations with people. He couldn't really do his job any more, but the employer either felt guilty about letting him go, or wasn't legally able to. I'm not sure.

Sysadmin #1 successfully resigned, and was hired back as a contractor, setting his own hours and getting paid at a greatly inflated rate.

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#256

Post by michaelochurch »

mahyarm wrote: post #248
michaelochurch wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think that: (a) Fargo's local government would be supportive of a technology Autonomy Fund, and... (b) it would be possible to get a critical mass of engineers to live there? Also, what's the gender balance? I'm married so I don't care, but I think we'd have the best odds in a town where it's at least 53:47 women.

How about Las Vegas? I've never been there but: 1) Cheap airfare, international destination 2) A Party Town, probably helps the gender balance in one aspect, people would like to visit you. 3) No Income Tax 4) Still close to the SF Bay Area 5) Never cold, barely rains (good or bad depending on your preferences) 6) Really cheap real estate. Buy a townhouse for under $100k! 7) Many tech conventions are hosted there 8)…

Here's where I'm attempting to continue the discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5578195

If we could set up Autonomy Funds we could reshape this industry.

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#257

Post by michaelochurch »

rdouble wrote: post #254
michaelochurch wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think that: (a) Fargo's local government would be supportive of a technology Autonomy Fund, and... (b) it would be possible to get a critical mass of engineers to live there? Also, what's the gender balance? I'm married so I don't care, but I think we'd have the best odds in a town where it's at least 53:47 women.

a) There might already be something like that. A local guy sold Great Plains to MS years ago for over a billion dollars, and has done a lot to renovate the downtown area and has a local venture fund. b) impossible

This discussion is shaping up in the other thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5578195 . Also, I've been discussing it with other people for the past 48 hours. Austin is getting a lot of recommendation. I feel like #4-10 tech hubs are probably better targets than nonentities, but we'll see.

As I think about it, I don't want the governments footing the bill. I'd prefer to have at least 50% private investment (1:! matching?) as long as it's willing to stay passive enough not to interfere with engineer autonomy. Furthermore, over the long term, I'd want the ability of engineers to buy into the fund.

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#258

Post by michaelochurch »

kyllo wrote: post #252
michaelochurch wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Now tell me, just how exactly are you even going to combat deeply entrenched mindsets like those, which also happen foster the usual confirmation and survivor bias dreams in most, if not all aspiring "wantapreneurs"? I don't think selling a company is a bad thing. I think building a company with the idea in mind that one must sell (because one's backers will flip out if there isn't a sale) is bad.

It sounds like a lot of what bothers you about VC startups is that they've become a way for megacorps to outsource risky marketing experiments (aka "convex work") and buy the winners while discarding the losers. But through the usual avenues of corruption it's become a rigged game where the sociopaths inside the megacorps are working with their sociopath friends in the VCs and actually picking winners instead of only…

Is there a such thing as a corruption-repellent, paychopath-kryptonite system, and if so, what is it?

I doubt it. I think we have to just keep reinventing. There's no system we can set up and have it run on its own.

I like the way the Scandinavians think: they hybridize between the socialist welfare state and a capitalistic market for innovation in a way we could stand to learn from.

Re: I Knew a Programmer Who Went Completely Insane

#260

Post by mac1175 »

leakybucket wrote: post #230
mac1175 wrote: post #77

Has anyone read The Bug ( http://www.amazon.com/The-Bug-Ellen-Ullman/dp/B000HWYPSE/ref... )? After reading it and experiencing all kinds of work environments, I can see how a person's sanity is tested.

Yes - I came in just to mention this. A great combination of a glance into the dotcom startup days + a feel of the classic gothic horror novel.

I also saw it as a cautionary tale to people in our line of work.
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