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My role as a founder-CTO: year 8

miguelcarranza.es

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Re: My role as a founder-CTO: year 8

#21

Post by ryandrake »

afavour wrote: post #18
riazrizvi wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it? So you can what? Buy exotic vehicles? Buy extra houses? Buy surgeries? Buy expensive experiences? All you find is stuff, presented as super valuable, and people very very keen to sell it to you. They’ll do whatever you want. It attracts a certain kind of person. The people who have the means for this lifestyle seem mostly disappointed. It’s not the situation this guy has created for himself. His life has meani…

So that you have security for the rest of your life and your children have security for the rest of theirs. And likely their children as well. Not everthing bought with money is superficial. Certainly a lot is less superficial than dedicating your life to “in app payments made easy”. Turning down generational wealth so you can continue to pursue your dream of being a tech CEO seems like a wildly selfish decision to m…

I just don't understand the mentality of the author. 9 figures is generational wealth, potentially perpetually with good multi-generational money management plan. With that kind of money invested, you have beaten the game, and can literally do any side quest you want to do, forever. This is the biggest no-brainer ever. What the fuck are you waiting for?

Similarly, I don't understand why the CxOs in my current (BigTech) company still work. You're done. You can do anything you want and yet you voluntarily continue to amass more?

Re: My role as a founder-CTO: year 8

#22

Post by louthy »

riazrizvi wrote: post #12
fourseventy wrote: post #3

Unless you are already worth billions if an exit would net you 9 figures its a no-brainer to sell.

Is it? So you can what? Buy exotic vehicles? Buy extra houses? Buy surgeries? Buy expensive experiences? All you find is stuff, presented as super valuable, and people very very keen to sell it to you. They’ll do whatever you want. It attracts a certain kind of person. The people who have the means for this lifestyle seem mostly disappointed. It’s not the situation this guy has created for himself. His life has meani…

> Is it? So you can what? Buy exotic vehicles? Buy extra houses? Buy surgeries? Buy expensive experiences?

Regain your own time. As a former CTO who has recently exited, recovering my own time again is more valuable to me than the money (although the money means I can retain my own time going forward).

> His life has meaning, he’s of value to his employees and customers and partners.

Your work is not you and if you think that way, you're gonna be crushed when you come to retire. Even though I loved what I did for a career, it's better to do what you love for yourself, not "employees and customers and partners". Many people have other interests outside of building tech, but even if building tech is your only thing, exiting is a chance at starting something fresh and on your own terms.

Re: My role as a founder-CTO: year 8

#23

Post by riazrizvi »

afavour wrote: post #18
riazrizvi wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it? So you can what? Buy exotic vehicles? Buy extra houses? Buy surgeries? Buy expensive experiences? All you find is stuff, presented as super valuable, and people very very keen to sell it to you. They’ll do whatever you want. It attracts a certain kind of person. The people who have the means for this lifestyle seem mostly disappointed. It’s not the situation this guy has created for himself. His life has meani…

So that you have security for the rest of your life and your children have security for the rest of theirs. And likely their children as well. Not everthing bought with money is superficial. Certainly a lot is less superficial than dedicating your life to “in app payments made easy”. Turning down generational wealth so you can continue to pursue your dream of being a tech CEO seems like a wildly selfish decision to m…

Anyone can have security by living very safely within their means, by learning how to be satisfied. What people really mean when they say what you are proposing, is “guarantee a certain future lifestyle”. But the appeal of future lifestyles depends on not obtaining them. Without an ability to be satisfied, acquisition is always disappointing. It’s why a pay raise in a job that doesn’t address your needs, loses its shine after a month or so.

Re: My role as a founder-CTO: year 8

#24

Post by jwilber »

riazrizvi wrote: post #12
fourseventy wrote: post #3

Unless you are already worth billions if an exit would net you 9 figures its a no-brainer to sell.

Is it? So you can what? Buy exotic vehicles? Buy extra houses? Buy surgeries? Buy expensive experiences? All you find is stuff, presented as super valuable, and people very very keen to sell it to you. They’ll do whatever you want. It attracts a certain kind of person. The people who have the means for this lifestyle seem mostly disappointed. It’s not the situation this guy has created for himself. His life has meani…

You must be fortunate to have a lived experience where the answer isn’t immediately (and obviously) financial security.

Also: plenty of meaning outside of running a SaaS. Hell, undergraduate research assistants probably contribute more to societal at large.

Re: My role as a founder-CTO: year 8

#27

Post by bcantrill »

afavour wrote: post #18
riazrizvi wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it? So you can what? Buy exotic vehicles? Buy extra houses? Buy surgeries? Buy expensive experiences? All you find is stuff, presented as super valuable, and people very very keen to sell it to you. They’ll do whatever you want. It attracts a certain kind of person. The people who have the means for this lifestyle seem mostly disappointed. It’s not the situation this guy has created for himself. His life has meani…

So that you have security for the rest of your life and your children have security for the rest of theirs. And likely their children as well. Not everthing bought with money is superficial. Certainly a lot is less superficial than dedicating your life to “in app payments made easy”. Turning down generational wealth so you can continue to pursue your dream of being a tech CEO seems like a wildly selfish decision to m…

I know from the outside this seems very simple, but it's more complicated than that. Certainly, if the objective is (merely) security for one's children, that can be secured with much (much) less money (and likely was secured in the secondary that the author makes reference to); having nine figures of wealth is not an unvarnished good, and in particular makes raising grounded, self-reliant kids pretty complicated. To appreciate this dynamic, read Graeme Wood's outstanding 2011 piece in The Atlantic, "The Secret Fears of the Super-Rich"[0].

[0] https://web.archive.org/web/20190422235813/https://www.theat...

Re: My role as a founder-CTO: year 8

#28

Post by afavour »

riazrizvi wrote: post #23
afavour wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So that you have security for the rest of your life and your children have security for the rest of theirs. And likely their children as well. Not everthing bought with money is superficial. Certainly a lot is less superficial than dedicating your life to “in app payments made easy”. Turning down generational wealth so you can continue to pursue your dream of being a tech CEO seems like a wildly selfish decision to m…

Anyone can have security by living very safely within their means, by learning how to be satisfied. What people really mean when they say what you are proposing, is “guarantee a certain future lifestyle”. But the appeal of future lifestyles depends on not obtaining them. Without an ability to be satisfied, acquisition is always disappointing. It’s why a pay raise in a job that doesn’t address your needs, loses its sh…

As someone who has experienced family adversity in my life (health, disability) I couldn’t disagree with you more.

Things happen. Expensive things. The security to be able to afford expansive cancer care without worry, to pay for therapy and specialized schooling for your child… these are huge, huge things and they happen to you (or your children, or your children’s children) no matter what you do or don’t do. This isn’t just about being happy to be frugal.

Re: My role as a founder-CTO: year 8

#30

Post by weslleyskah »

Why this industry has such a claustrophobic atmosphere? If he was a doctor and had a calling for the profession, I would understand. I was doing an unrelated degree (Econ), but now I am doing a tech degree and I never saw such a depressive mentality towards life among peers.

It is like these people are hell bound to the work culture, diehard workaholics. They don't know anything else outside of a computer screen.

Honestly disgracefully.

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