Cost of Living • Hacker News Board

Re: Cost of Living

#21

Post by DanielBMarkham » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 6:09 PM UTC

anamax wrote: post #13

> Unless you somehow lose intelligence and execution ability when you get married and have kids, the structure doesn't make sense to me. It seems to be geared towards single, foot-loose folks. As somebody who's put long hours in on multiple technology projects, I don't feel that having a higher overhead translates to being a worse risk. Higher overhead may not make someone a worse risk, but it does make them more exp…

Ouch.

No it's not. But neither am I here to please the universe.

I'm just saying that it's not a lot of money. Perhaps it is to you. I can make that money as pocket change in a very short amount of time in my normal consulting business. If YC wants to pay 10 bucks for their team members, more power to them. Not my call. They've got their math to do and I've got mine. Even families have profit/loss statements and break-even points. Their rates have consequences. After all the universe is not here to please them either, right?

Re: Cost of Living

#22

Post by aarontait » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 6:16 PM UTC

Learn to love Mr. Noddle.

Re: Cost of Living

#23

Post by DanielBMarkham » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 6:18 PM UTC

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #6

Living expenses are the reason I'm not applying. Unless you somehow lose intelligence and execution ability when you get married and have kids, the structure doesn't make sense to me. It seems to be geared towards single, foot-loose folks. As somebody who's put long hours in on multiple technology projects, I don't feel that having a higher overhead translates to being a worse risk. After all, what are we talking abo…

Come on, guys. These replies are just pot shots. Take the snarkiness somewhere else.

I've worked 3-6 month projects where every minute was slinging code. And I regularly put my house and family on the line for my business.

I already have a business. I show companies how to run technology teams. I'm just looking to move into startup country because I like that environment more than the suit and tie world. I've led 5-person startup teams, and I've led 40-person rearchitecture groups. I like the startup teams a lot better.

Re: Cost of Living

#24

Post by rrival » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 7:28 PM UTC

mynameishere wrote: post #11

rrival wrote: post #7

"I'll keep it short and sweet -- Family. Religion. Friendship. These are the three demons you must slay if you wish to succeed in business." - Mr. Burns

"Misquoting Mr Burns...that's a paddling."

http://tinyurl.com/3ex4y8 ? =(

Re: Cost of Living

#25

Post by mynameishere » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 7:40 PM UTC

rrival wrote: post #24

mynameishere wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Misquoting Mr Burns...that's a paddling."

http://tinyurl.com/3ex4y8 ? =(

"Quoting Mr Burns correctly? Oh, you better believe that's a paddling."

Re: Cost of Living

#26

Post by sbraford » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 8:15 PM UTC

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #23

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #6

Living expenses are the reason I'm not applying. Unless you somehow lose intelligence and execution ability when you get married and have kids, the structure doesn't make sense to me. It seems to be geared towards single, foot-loose folks. As somebody who's put long hours in on multiple technology projects, I don't feel that having a higher overhead translates to being a worse risk. After all, what are we talking abo…

Come on, guys. These replies are just pot shots. Take the snarkiness somewhere else. I've worked 3-6 month projects where every minute was slinging code. And I regularly put my house and family on the line for my business. I already have a business. I show companies how to run technology teams. I'm just looking to move into startup country because I like that environment more than the suit and tie world. I've led 5-p…

There's snarkiness and then there's honest to goodness questions about whether one can afford to get into Y Combinator. (if you can get that far, of course)

I personally would need to save up for a while & pay down some debt before even trying to apply. But I would never knock the idea of cutting ramen-noodle checks to YC founders. It's at the very least much better (for the probably outcome of the business) than cutting filet-mignon checks.

Re: Cost of Living

#27

Post by sbraford » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 8:19 PM UTC

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #21

anamax wrote: post #13

> Unless you somehow lose intelligence and execution ability when you get married and have kids, the structure doesn't make sense to me. It seems to be geared towards single, foot-loose folks. As somebody who's put long hours in on multiple technology projects, I don't feel that having a higher overhead translates to being a worse risk. Higher overhead may not make someone a worse risk, but it does make them more exp…

Ouch. No it's not. But neither am I here to please the universe. I'm just saying that it's not a lot of money. Perhaps it is to you. I can make that money as pocket change in a very short amount of time in my normal consulting business. If YC wants to pay 10 bucks for their team members, more power to them. Not my call. They've got their math to do and I've got mine. Even families have profit/loss statements and brea…

The solution seems pretty simple then.

Apply to YC and let's hypothetically assume you get in.

Spend 20% of your time making this ridiculous amount of money you can make doing consulting, the rest on your startup.

Problem solved. =) In all seriousness though, didn't Xobni have to do something like this for a while? (side consulting)

Re: Cost of Living

#28

Post by menloparkbum » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 8:27 PM UTC

your food budget is 2x what I would consider normal, your housing budget is about 1/2 what I would consider normal.

However, about $2K a month is pretty close to average living expenses, no matter where you cut back.

here is my breakdown

housing: 1100

internet: 0 (upstairs neighbors let me leech, coffee shops)

electricity: 0 (covered in rent)

food: 300 (burritos, cook at home, burger/pizza on weekends)

water: 0 (included in rent)

entertainment: 100 (beer)

gym: 60

cost: 1560

if you live in the south bay, you forgot car, car insurance, parking and/or caltrain.

Re: Cost of Living

#29

Post by anamax » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 9:13 PM UTC

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #21

anamax wrote: post #13

> Unless you somehow lose intelligence and execution ability when you get married and have kids, the structure doesn't make sense to me. It seems to be geared towards single, foot-loose folks. As somebody who's put long hours in on multiple technology projects, I don't feel that having a higher overhead translates to being a worse risk. Higher overhead may not make someone a worse risk, but it does make them more exp…

Ouch. No it's not. But neither am I here to please the universe. I'm just saying that it's not a lot of money. Perhaps it is to you. I can make that money as pocket change in a very short amount of time in my normal consulting business. If YC wants to pay 10 bucks for their team members, more power to them. Not my call. They've got their math to do and I've got mine. Even families have profit/loss statements and brea…

The universe isn't complaining....

Whether or not it is a "lot of money" is irrelevant. The relevant question is "Is it enough to meet YC's goals?" Maybe Markham's non-participation gnaws at PG, but I'm guessing that it doesn't.

BTW - The vast majority of YC particpants are foregoing significant income and the lifestyle that goes with it, a lifestyle not unlike Markham's. Why is only the latter worthy of consideration?

However, we have established that Markham can easily self-fund at the level that he requested from YC. I look forward to seeing the result.

Re: Cost of Living

#30

Post by jdavid » Tue, Sep 11, 2007, 10:54 PM UTC

JeffL wrote: post #16

anamax wrote: post #3

The food is high and the housing sounds low. Have you checked housing advertisements?

600 a month rent is what I'm paying, splitting a large rental house with 3 other people in Santa Clara, so definitely doable. I agree that the food is really high. If you are really trying, the one time cost of a rice cooker and a 10 lb bag of Basmati rice from Costco will go a long way, as will bag lunches instead of going out. If you try, food can really cost very little.

i have found more opportunity working in a cafe, and going out, than i have by working in an enclosed space. I figure

2-3$ for breakfast (egg, cereal, organic milk) lunch will cost (12$) at any reasonable panera, etc... and if i get something else cheap for the day, that means another day i can invite someone to lunch for a networking opportunity. that leaves me with ($10-$20) for dinner. eating just noodles does not work for me, i need to get some sort of carnivorous delight for a meal at least once a day, fish is like 6$ a pound and then you have veggies on top of that if you cook at home, or a sushi tray is like 8$-12$ for a small one.

At 28, I can not live like a freshman college student any more. I just can't think on 1800 calories of carbs. I need a more well balanced diet.

Am i wack for thinking this? I know the average age of YC is 25, and on our team we are all 27/28, with a few younger and a few older helping on the side lines.