was it peter-thiel's talk that mentioned that you are not a lottery ticket ?
Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
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Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
#22Fuck money. Hacking is about the novel manipulations of technological systems, and you're supposed to be poor while you do it.
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Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
#23Yes, in a few ways I am familiar with: (1) Finance. They make so much "free" money that they can afford to just pay massive salaries and not blink. You just have to be okay with doing things that basically add no value to anything. (2) As a very early employee in a hugely successful startup. But this is roulette, since most startups fail and some only succeed after so much dilution that your share ends up tiny. (3) W…
(3) Isn't a "software employee"
Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
#24I have a term I call "win at money". You've won at money when you have enough capital to live comfortably for the rest of your life just on the interest from low-risk investment. Can you win at money in software? Yes, but pretty much only by founding your own company or being among the first handful of employees at a startup that gets huge. On the other hand, you can make a comfortable middle-class living at software…
Your "win at money" is similar to the philosophy on Mr. Money Mustache[1]. He advocates shifting your lifestyle down a few notches in places where it doesn't affect you much, reducing your cashflow needs and making it easier to "win", or in his parlance be financially independent and retire early.
Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
#25Yes, in a few ways I am familiar with: (1) Finance. They make so much "free" money that they can afford to just pay massive salaries and not blink. You just have to be okay with doing things that basically add no value to anything. (2) As a very early employee in a hugely successful startup. But this is roulette, since most startups fail and some only succeed after so much dilution that your share ends up tiny. (3) W…
great answer
Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
#26Yes, in a few ways I am familiar with: (1) Finance. They make so much "free" money that they can afford to just pay massive salaries and not blink. You just have to be okay with doing things that basically add no value to anything. (2) As a very early employee in a hugely successful startup. But this is roulette, since most startups fail and some only succeed after so much dilution that your share ends up tiny. (3) W…
> You just have to be okay with doing things that basically add no value to anything.
So, most silicon valley startups?
Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
#27I have a term I call "win at money". You've won at money when you have enough capital to live comfortably for the rest of your life just on the interest from low-risk investment. Can you win at money in software? Yes, but pretty much only by founding your own company or being among the first handful of employees at a startup that gets huge. On the other hand, you can make a comfortable middle-class living at software…
That is essentially the definition of financial independence, and it's certainly possibly with a job in software. It just involves saving as much as you can afford to and taking advantage of compound interest early on.
Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
#28I have a term I call "win at money". You've won at money when you have enough capital to live comfortably for the rest of your life just on the interest from low-risk investment. Can you win at money in software? Yes, but pretty much only by founding your own company or being among the first handful of employees at a startup that gets huge. On the other hand, you can make a comfortable middle-class living at software…
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Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
#29I have a term I call "win at money". You've won at money when you have enough capital to live comfortably for the rest of your life just on the interest from low-risk investment. Can you win at money in software? Yes, but pretty much only by founding your own company or being among the first handful of employees at a startup that gets huge. On the other hand, you can make a comfortable middle-class living at software…
I think this is a good point. It's also worth noting that there are pretty much no careers where you can just get a normal job and end up "winning at money". Finance is a possible exception, but it comes with its own tradeoffs and the biggest players generally leave their finance jobs to start their own funds.
Re: Can you make “big money” as an employee in software?
#30Fuck money. Hacking is about the novel manipulations of technological systems, and you're supposed to be poor while you do it.
I always thought of hackers as people who loved various forms of freedom, including but not limited to economic and technological freedom.