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The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

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Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#111

Post by drcross »

remote_phone wrote: post #81
ggambetta wrote: post #12

> Paul was driven by an incredible curiosity his whole life. Even when we were just kids, he seemed to be interested in just about everything. I can identify with this. I've founded a gamedev company, taught Computer Graphics, and worked at Google and Improbable as a SWE; but in the middle of all this I wrote a novel, I recently quit my job to become an actor/filmmaker ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800 ), and I…

The only question to answer is, “are you happy?” I’m almost 50, I don’t have a high profile job, failed at getting into Google 5 times, but just bought my wife a $20,000 grand piano for our anniversary without thinking about it. My kids make me happy, my house mortgage is less than 1X my household earnings, my work pays well and I have a great Work Life Balance. We all die within 120 years, and if we are cremated, th…

Man, these earnest wealth brags are really annoying here. There's was no reason to mention the piano, but you did.

Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#112

Post by permatech »

drcross wrote: post #111
remote_phone wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only question to answer is, “are you happy?” I’m almost 50, I don’t have a high profile job, failed at getting into Google 5 times, but just bought my wife a $20,000 grand piano for our anniversary without thinking about it. My kids make me happy, my house mortgage is less than 1X my household earnings, my work pays well and I have a great Work Life Balance. We all die within 120 years, and if we are cremated, th…

Man, these earnest wealth brags are really annoying here. There's was no reason to mention the piano, but you did.

He mentioned it because it shows that while he hasn’t been in the rat race he’s done well enough to treat his family well. I’m happy for him, and honestly 20k isn’t that much money in the big scheme of things so he probably didn’t think of it as a brag

Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#113

Post by ggambetta »

remote_phone wrote: post #81
ggambetta wrote: post #12

> Paul was driven by an incredible curiosity his whole life. Even when we were just kids, he seemed to be interested in just about everything. I can identify with this. I've founded a gamedev company, taught Computer Graphics, and worked at Google and Improbable as a SWE; but in the middle of all this I wrote a novel, I recently quit my job to become an actor/filmmaker ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800 ), and I…

The only question to answer is, “are you happy?” I’m almost 50, I don’t have a high profile job, failed at getting into Google 5 times, but just bought my wife a $20,000 grand piano for our anniversary without thinking about it. My kids make me happy, my house mortgage is less than 1X my household earnings, my work pays well and I have a great Work Life Balance. We all die within 120 years, and if we are cremated, th…

Sounds like the kind of advice I'll like to give my 38 year old self when I'm 50. Thanks for sharing your perspective :)

Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#114

Post by ggambetta »

GreeniFi wrote: post #25
ggambetta wrote: post #12

> Paul was driven by an incredible curiosity his whole life. Even when we were just kids, he seemed to be interested in just about everything. I can identify with this. I've founded a gamedev company, taught Computer Graphics, and worked at Google and Improbable as a SWE; but in the middle of all this I wrote a novel, I recently quit my job to become an actor/filmmaker ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800 ), and I…

It’s off-topic, but such a great question you asked. My view is that its “horses for courses”as they say in the UK. Some people will optimize for high income because that’s what makes them happy - and may be helped by a predisposition for high focus. Other people will optimize for a life in which they cultivate many interests because that makes them happier than staying focused and earning a lot of money. For what it…

I like the concept of a "portfolio career". For better or worse, however, one of the things I want to achieve is to be financially independent... and that seems to be somewhat at odds with this kind of varied profile.

Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#115

Post by ggambetta »

Reedx wrote: post #84
ggambetta wrote: post #12

> Paul was driven by an incredible curiosity his whole life. Even when we were just kids, he seemed to be interested in just about everything. I can identify with this. I've founded a gamedev company, taught Computer Graphics, and worked at Google and Improbable as a SWE; but in the middle of all this I wrote a novel, I recently quit my job to become an actor/filmmaker ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800 ), and I…

I'm this way as well and for the longest time was worried I was handicapping myself. Until I read "How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big"[1] which makes the strongest argument I've seen for having a "talent stack" and combining skills that aren't typically combined. Each skill increases your odds and essentially this boils down to Good + Good > Excellent. You can leverage a combination of average skills…

Thanks for the suggestion, will read.

I've occasionally speculated that in a world with 8 billion people, there exists a job/activity for which I am the absolutely best candidate, because of the perfect match of my very specific mix of skills and the very specific mix of skills required. The tricky bit is finding that match, I suppose :)

Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#116

Post by ggambetta »

calewis wrote: post #13
ggambetta wrote: post #12

> Paul was driven by an incredible curiosity his whole life. Even when we were just kids, he seemed to be interested in just about everything. I can identify with this. I've founded a gamedev company, taught Computer Graphics, and worked at Google and Improbable as a SWE; but in the middle of all this I wrote a novel, I recently quit my job to become an actor/filmmaker ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800 ), and I…

You're not doing anything “right” neither is anyone else. That’s the beauty of life. Make the most of your freedoms and privilege, which it sounds you are and do things you love. Actually, I retract my original statement, it sounds like you’re having a great time. Don't let societal norms think that you have to live in any particular way.

I am having a great time. And my doubts aren't about societal norms; I've directly gone against societal norms at least twice (quitting my first well-paying, well-respected job to start a games company when I was 21, and quitting my most recent well-paying, well-respected job to focus on acting and filmmaking). I'm OK with that.

My doubts come from within. It's more about my own expectations for myself. For example, at my age and with my background, am I a fool for not trying to start a VC backed startup like everyone else? I guess there's a strong FOMO element in my questions.

Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#117

Post by ggambetta »

pm wrote: post #68
ggambetta wrote: post #12

> Paul was driven by an incredible curiosity his whole life. Even when we were just kids, he seemed to be interested in just about everything. I can identify with this. I've founded a gamedev company, taught Computer Graphics, and worked at Google and Improbable as a SWE; but in the middle of all this I wrote a novel, I recently quit my job to become an actor/filmmaker ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800 ), and I…

Same age as you, and I'm doing the same thing. I'm continuing as a software engineer to pay the bills, but I pursue music, games, and at one point in my career was a graphic designer and illustrator (though perhaps not very successfully; I'll get back to it at some point). I'm about to start learn electronics as I'm interested in building robots and making custom guitar pedals. I don't think I could ever be laser-foc…

> Embrace your neurology.

Love it :)

Best of luck with your projects, they sound like fun! Electronics and robotics are somewhere on my list, too.

Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#118

Post by ggambetta »

danielecook wrote: post #27
ggambetta wrote: post #12

> Paul was driven by an incredible curiosity his whole life. Even when we were just kids, he seemed to be interested in just about everything. I can identify with this. I've founded a gamedev company, taught Computer Graphics, and worked at Google and Improbable as a SWE; but in the middle of all this I wrote a novel, I recently quit my job to become an actor/filmmaker ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800 ), and I…

I think the most important thing to optimize for is time. Move closer to work, get a roomba, buy a second monitor, etc. For me anything I can do to get extra time is a huge payoff because I'd rather spend my time learning something new, cooking, traveling, or cycling/running. I recently switched jobs and am moving next month to reduce my commute. I'll have an extra 7 hours a week to do whatever I want and I cannot wa…

That's a great way to think about it. Thanks for the insight :)

Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#119

Post by ggambetta »

theunixbeard wrote: post #56
danielecook wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the most important thing to optimize for is time. Move closer to work, get a roomba, buy a second monitor, etc. For me anything I can do to get extra time is a huge payoff because I'd rather spend my time learning something new, cooking, traveling, or cycling/running. I recently switched jobs and am moving next month to reduce my commute. I'll have an extra 7 hours a week to do whatever I want and I cannot wa…

Now imagine building an online lifestyle business such that after it’s setup you can spend 0 time on it (for the most part) and still earn enough to pay (reasonable) living expenses. That’s what I’m driving towards.

That sounds fantastic and it's something I aspire to achieve; however this falls into the category of "should I laser-focus on this, or have a better work-life balance?". Part of my difficulty is figuring out the tradeoff of "sacrificing wellbeing today to build a solid foundation" vs "do not postpone enjoying life".

Re: The side of Paul Allen I wish more people knew about

#120

Post by ggambetta »

wpietri wrote: post #75
ggambetta wrote: post #12

> Paul was driven by an incredible curiosity his whole life. Even when we were just kids, he seemed to be interested in just about everything. I can identify with this. I've founded a gamedev company, taught Computer Graphics, and worked at Google and Improbable as a SWE; but in the middle of all this I wrote a novel, I recently quit my job to become an actor/filmmaker ( https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10232800 ), and I…

I suggest you read David Epstein's recent book Range : https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized... His basic point is that our culture highly values the Tiger-Woods-style success story, where a person just beavers away at one thing their whole life. But there are a lot of successful people who specialize later or not at all. It definitely made me feel better about my similarly diverse resume, and…

Thanks! Will read.
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