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Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

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Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#201

Post by lotsofpulp »

mehrdadn wrote: post #131
neonate wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the research on adverse childhood experiences, there's likely a subtler advantage too, for founders who were raised in more stable and secure environments. Growing up under greater pressure (violence, abuse, trauma) leaves you less resilient, more risk averse, more at risk. I'm not saying wealthy families don't have this, or that poor families can't be stable and secure. But on average it probably makes a diffe…

> Growing up under greater pressure (violence, abuse, trauma) leaves you less resilient Is this a thing? I thought the common wisdom was that you gain resilience once you get past hardships, not lose it.

I don’t think it’s possible to make any causative statements about complicated, undefinable terms such as resilience and hardship.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#202

Post by yetihehe »

mehrdadn wrote: post #131
neonate wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the research on adverse childhood experiences, there's likely a subtler advantage too, for founders who were raised in more stable and secure environments. Growing up under greater pressure (violence, abuse, trauma) leaves you less resilient, more risk averse, more at risk. I'm not saying wealthy families don't have this, or that poor families can't be stable and secure. But on average it probably makes a diffe…

> Growing up under greater pressure (violence, abuse, trauma) leaves you less resilient Is this a thing? I thought the common wisdom was that you gain resilience once you get past hardships, not lose it.

There are different levels of hardships. Having to work hard and sometimes having less to eat or winning some easy fights with bullies may make you more resilient. Being mugged every month, beaten and abused by parents every week may break you.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#203

Post by ace32229 »

m0zg wrote: post #108
chadcmulligan wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The US actually spends more per capita on health care than Australia both public and private https://www.healthsystemtracker.org/chart-collection/health-...

Yes. And US doctors make more "per capita" than Australian doctors. About twice as much. If they continue making more, I don't see how paying their billing rates from the taxes addresses the "affordability" problem. If you were to fix billing rates at a lower level (through single payer and such), you wouldn't really have any doctors to begin with, at least not for a while.

Doctors' wages aren't the biggest cause of higher spending. Admin costs and pharmaceutical spending are the largest (unnecessary) cost centers.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#204

Post by photonios »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #178
photonios wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably a software engineer. If you're a little above average, salaries are very high. Most software engineers I know in Romania make at least 5 times the national average. Good ones make up to 10 times the national average.

Still, according to his numbers he makes about about €70k/year. That's more than me and my friends make in Germany and Austria. Either Eastern European salaries took off like a rocket or Germany heavily underpais. Really curious what his job and location is, maybe I move there :)

That's before taxes I believe. So after income tax and social contributions, you'll have paid 40-50% of that. Doesn't sound off to me. At least, that's the case here in Romania.

Another interesting fact is that in Romania the tax system is simple enough to always negotiate in net salary. Your employer takes care of paying taxes and social contributions etc.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#205

Post by grawprog »

pinky1417 wrote: post #174
daxfohl wrote: post #4

There's a pretty high correlation between parental wealth and success as a startup founder. I assume it's because of the safety net. My friends who have been successful (and who had blue-collar upbringings like me, and all in mid-40's now) all worked full time jobs until their side projects were self-sustaining. None of them hit unicorn status, but I think all of them have lived healthy, fruitful lives. Also note by…

As a startup founder with wealthy parents, this seems likely. Not only can parental wealth serve as a safety net, but you might also get direct investment from your family, have a safety net if things don’t work out (enabling you to take more risks), not have to exert as much effort taking care of sick, old, etc. family members because you can hire people, get access to powerful family connections, and learn from hig…

>What’s weird to me is that I don’t see more successful founders mentioning that having economically well-off parents being a factor in their success.

It's not just people with rich parents. I've noticed people tend to dismiss parental help they get even when it's just a few hundred every once in a while. They don't connect that vacation they just took, was paid for by that Christmas present they got, or that they're able to save because they're living rent free with parents.

It's like people see money from their parents as non-existent and don't count it in as 'extra' money they've received. Meanwhile, they've never actually had absolutely no money, because their parents never let them reach that state.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#206

Post by huherto »

daxfohl wrote: post #4

There's a pretty high correlation between parental wealth and success as a startup founder. I assume it's because of the safety net. My friends who have been successful (and who had blue-collar upbringings like me, and all in mid-40's now) all worked full time jobs until their side projects were self-sustaining. None of them hit unicorn status, but I think all of them have lived healthy, fruitful lives. Also note by…

In addition, there is a ton of knowledge and social capital that you get from your family. Case in point, Bill Gates mom when he was a young man negotiating contracts with giant IBM.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#207

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

zerr wrote: post #185
tannerc wrote: post #2

I like Austin Kleon's insights here [1]: "A day job gives you money, a connection to the world, and a routine. Freedom from financial stress also means freedom in your art. As photographer Bill Cunningham says, 'If you don’t take money, they cant tell you what to do.' Because the real truth is, once you start making money doing what you love, it BECOMES A JOB. And with it comes all the hassle of a job." It's why I've…

The key is to have a high-paid part-time job.

And in what universe would one find such a thing?

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#208

Post by balfirevic »

daxfohl wrote: post #122
davidgh wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve thought about this metric, a lot. There is no doubt that having family dinner has a lot of benefits. But I can help but ask myself - is family dinner a silver bullet, or is it that families who are holistically “doing it right” also make family dinner a priority?

I also wonder about whether there is a quality criterion there or is quantity all that's needed. For example if most dinners consist primarily of yelling at kids to sit down, eat vegetables, quit playing with food, just hurry up and swallow it, small bites, not that small, no poop talk at the table, inside voice, quit dropping your spoon, feet off the table, no kicking, don't annoy your sister, STOP SHOUTING.... Does…

That sounds outright terrible. Yes, it's not as bad as being beaten or raped (as mentioned by Enginerrrd in a sibling comment), but that's a really low bar.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#209

Post by posedge »

trumbitta2 wrote: post #167

Being alone is easily fixed by a coworking space

Not speaking from experience here, but I don't think it's the same. I'm guessing there's a churn of people, so no long-term relationships, also since you're not working on the same thing you have less of a connection with them.

Re: Working for someone vs. doing your own thing

#210

Post by zerr »

AnIdiotOnTheNet wrote: post #207
zerr wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The key is to have a high-paid part-time job.

And in what universe would one find such a thing?

Working remotely from a cheap place for clients from expensive places, charging expensive place market rate.
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