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Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

blog.samaltman.com

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Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#61

Post by jiggy2011 »

enraged_camel wrote: post #29
sama wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still said that when I had a negative checking account balance while starting my company. I think you should worry about money, but that you should take a long-term view of it.

Only people with a nice fallback cushion can afford to say "take a long-term view of money" when their checking account is in the negatives. Let's face it: if you are having trouble feeding yourself, your view on money will be extremely short-term. As it should be.

To be fair, most decent development jobs will pay you enough to feed and shelter yourself especially if you are a healthy 19 year old with no dependents.

So the difference the extra money makes is likely to just mean lifestyle changes like taking the bus instead of driving a new car and less ambitious holidays. If you can put up with that for a few years then it makes sense to take a lower paying job if you believe it will have better long term prospects.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#63

Post by avolcano »

Selfcommit wrote: post #55
Jabbles wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tell us what you think is missing. You don't "feel nearly prepared". Have you prepared? These interviews (for better or worse) tend to be algorithm based. How are you on those?

Example scenario: If you ask me to solve a problem, I can intelligently talk to you about what a program that solves that problem is expected to do, and happily whiteboard a big picture idea. If I don't know the language required for implementation, that's ok because I'm pretty confident I can work out the basics and what I need to code. To meet your points: A) I haven't really put myself out there in a while(over a…

For what it's worth, I didn't have to whiteboard once during my several interviews. If you're interviewing with new SF or NYC startups, you'll find many of them care far more about practical* skills than pop quizzes. This certainly isn't universal, but it shouldn't frighten you away from trying interviews.

* (not that algorithm knowledge isn't practical, but for a lot of smaller, "web-interface-around-a-database" startups, they're not nearly as important as being comfortable around a full web stack)

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#64

Post by beat »

enraged_camel wrote: post #28
kayoone wrote: post #14

"Incidentally, don’t let salary be a factor. I just watched someone turn down one of these breakout companies because Microsoft offered him $30k per year more in salary—that was a terrible decision. He will not build interesting things and may not work with smart people." That quote drips so much of elitism its disgusting. MS still has many brilliant engineers and is building alot of really complex stuff, probably mo…

I agree. $30,000 more per year is nothing to balk at. It is a serious amount of money. In addition, working for Microsoft is fantastic for a resume. The person in question probably improved his future career prospects by an order of magnitude by taking the job. And let's not even forget the fantastic benefits that Microsoft offers its employees that most startups cannot afford to.

"Future career prospects"... well, that depends. What does he want that future career to be? More work as a peon in other giant corporations, climbing the ladder to middle management? That sort of thing can lead to looking back twenty years, thinking, "Why on Earth did I waste all that time?" Believe me, I know.

I often quote Mr. Morden from Babylon 5, asking "What do you want?" Most people don't have the nerve to even look what they want in the eye.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#65

Post by Selfcommit »

Jabbles wrote: post #59
Selfcommit wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Example scenario: If you ask me to solve a problem, I can intelligently talk to you about what a program that solves that problem is expected to do, and happily whiteboard a big picture idea. If I don't know the language required for implementation, that's ok because I'm pretty confident I can work out the basics and what I need to code. To meet your points: A) I haven't really put myself out there in a while(over a…

Algorithms aren't really about recognising standard implementations - although in preparation you'll certainly learn that. It's about having a deep understanding of programs' flow, and being able to recreate and combine patterns when needed to solve a problem. You should "prep" your algorithms knowledge - it plays a big role in a lot of interviews.

Thanks. Can you provide a sample question? Or direct me to a good place to look?

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#66

Post by beat »

jiggy2011 wrote: post #61
enraged_camel wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only people with a nice fallback cushion can afford to say "take a long-term view of money" when their checking account is in the negatives. Let's face it: if you are having trouble feeding yourself, your view on money will be extremely short-term. As it should be.

To be fair, most decent development jobs will pay you enough to feed and shelter yourself especially if you are a healthy 19 year old with no dependents. So the difference the extra money makes is likely to just mean lifestyle changes like taking the bus instead of driving a new car and less ambitious holidays. If you can put up with that for a few years then it makes sense to take a lower paying job if you believe i…

When I hired my 18 year old designer, we talked salary come funding time (she's not getting a salary now, just token $$ I toss her way to keep her from getting a grocery store job). Even underpaying her relative to the entry level designer market, she'll be making more than her mother does.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#67

Post by pdog »

sama wrote: post #27
minikites wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if you're 19 or 20 and you put that extra $30k into an index fund, the magic of compound interest will give you much more money than if you start shoveling three times the amount in when you're in your mid-30s.

Depends what you believe will happen with the markets and inflation over the next 15 years. I believe a better approach in today's world is to put yourself in a position where you're less dependent on historical market performance.

Technically, putting your money in an index fund makes you dependent on future market performance.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#68

Post by ritchiea »

jamesaguilar wrote: post #35
ritchiea wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. There are lots of different types of venturing out into the world that aren't necessarily just bumming around on the beach. I went traveling when I was 20 and ended up spending months at a hostel in exchange for building them a new website. And not only was I working, but I was also spending time with people older than my peers in the US and hearing about their life experiences. If you travel with the rig…

I don't think you've contradicted anything I said, but maybe I'm misreading you? I said being out of work for years is known to lead to worse employment outcomes in some cases. You said, "I disagree, you can travel and not be out of work." So, you don't disagree, in other words? Anyway, I'm not saying that one shouldn't travel, even if you don't work while traveling. But let's not fool ourselves into thinking there a…

You're right, I was projecting the idea that "work which is not in a full time setting in an office in the US is not real work" onto your comment. My mistake.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#69

Post by sliverstorm »

kayoone wrote: post #14

"Incidentally, don’t let salary be a factor. I just watched someone turn down one of these breakout companies because Microsoft offered him $30k per year more in salary—that was a terrible decision. He will not build interesting things and may not work with smart people." That quote drips so much of elitism its disgusting. MS still has many brilliant engineers and is building alot of really complex stuff, probably mo…

Right there with ya.

He will not build interesting things and may not work with smart people.

Oh, because working at a startup guarantees he will work with smart people? Sheesh.

Re: Advice for ambitious 19 year olds

#70

Post by jiggy2011 »

beat wrote: post #64
enraged_camel wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. $30,000 more per year is nothing to balk at. It is a serious amount of money. In addition, working for Microsoft is fantastic for a resume. The person in question probably improved his future career prospects by an order of magnitude by taking the job. And let's not even forget the fantastic benefits that Microsoft offers its employees that most startups cannot afford to.

"Future career prospects"... well, that depends. What does he want that future career to be? More work as a peon in other giant corporations, climbing the ladder to middle management? That sort of thing can lead to looking back twenty years, thinking, "Why on Earth did I waste all that time?" Believe me, I know. I often quote Mr. Morden from Babylon 5 , asking "What do you want?" Most people don't have the nerve to e…

You aren't cast into one thing for life unless you choose to be. I'm sure startups would be happy to hire someone with Microsoft experience.

Out of people I know working for startup type companies, one cut his teeth building enterprise Java stuff at a bank and the other spent time in the military.

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