291–300 of 406 posts
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I can absolutely see this at an investment bank, or at a job where physical presence is mandatory (such as a security guard, a teacher, or a bank teller). In a creative job like software, it's absurd. Especially when so many places say, "Come when you want".
> "Come when you want". Except for anyone who does daily standups first thing in the morning.
> On work: it’s difficult to do a great job on work you don’t care about. And it’s hard to be totally happy/fulfilled in life if you don’t like what you do for your work I get that this is aimed at the startup crowd, but I've always felt that this sentiment is pretty privileged. We, the elite, get to cherry pick our work and do what we like. But I bet 9/10 people will never feel they have this luxury, and 8/10 will b…
We could argue it's impossible for someone to do it due to external circumstances of being less privilege; think about some of the public figures who made it? Are these people doing the impossible more privileged than you are?
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> Become the best at one specific thing. I don't necessarily think that's even close to impossible. You can always increase the specificity of a skill to the point where it's possible to become the best at it. If you want an example, it's near impossible for most people to become the best programmer (there can only be one), but go to github and pick a random library and pick the most active contributor to that librar…
Sure, it isn't logically impossible. In fact, everyone is certainly the best in the world at SOMETHING, if you get specific enough (like, I am best in the world at physically occupying the space I exist in).... but that doesn't really mean much. Being the best at something only means something if what you are the best at matters.
That's gold :)
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"I get that this is aimed at the startup crowd, but I've always felt that this sentiment is pretty privileged. We, the elite, get to cherry pick our work and do what we like. But I bet 9/10 people will never feel they have this luxury, and 8/10 will be right." Privileged? Hardly. I worked a regular job for many years while spending years of my free time and weekends to create a business where I can now choose what I…
There's more to it than that: you probably had resources that afforded you that time, or support that valued and encouraged that kind of behavior. Maybe you had a good education or reliable parents. And you probably had fairly good health throughout all of that. There are so many things that make your actions highly specific to your situation, and that's a privilege that you have.
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I can't say I'm surprised to see this as the top comment, but I think it's sad that you (and apparently many other upvoters) don't think 30 year olds can offer valuable advice on life. It's also wrong as proven by history. Many writers have produced some of their best works at the same age. One example is Kirkegaard who wrote "Fear and Trembling"[1] at age 30. If you think that Sam's advice is narrowminded or bad as…
Clarification: I'm not saying that no 30 year old can offer sage advice. I don't think Altman is on the same level as Kirkegaard here. As others have pointed out, the list is not terribly revolutionary. It simply struck me as odd that this (not particularly revelatory list) could be passed off as worthy of note. What, other than his work with YC, makes Sam's musings worthy of our time?
Nothing, really. Not to take anything away from Sam Altman, but if he were still the CEO of Loopt, I don't think his every blog post would go to #1 on HN.
But, that's part of the deal here. YC-related stuff gets voted up.
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Making the argument that those two behaviors, management insisting on punctuality and violent bodily mutilation, are commensurable is the exact kind of insane thinking that I am criticizing.
It's the motivation that is the same. If you haven't seen it in action you're either very lucky, or not very observant.
> On work: it’s difficult to do a great job on work you don’t care about. And it’s hard to be totally happy/fulfilled in life if you don’t like what you do for your work I get that this is aimed at the startup crowd, but I've always felt that this sentiment is pretty privileged. We, the elite, get to cherry pick our work and do what we like. But I bet 9/10 people will never feel they have this luxury, and 8/10 will b…
Hmm I always default to not "do what you love" but "love what you do" in that most work has some interesting component, and what's really important to develop is the ability to isolate that aspect and motivate yourself with it. That's something I think everyone can use, regardless of their position in life
For me freedom was more important than absolute wealth. I found that freedom need not be very expensive. The idea is to convert your savings into income overtime. First become a software development consultant, then keep building your reputation and rates consequently by delivering results. Then invest your savings in income generating assets.
There are a few things I experimented with that yielded some results:
a) Buy economical/smaller commercial real estate and rent it out to companies
b) Lend money on interest to people you trust. Initially give them small amounts and depending on their ability to consistently pay interest, you may lend them more money on some kind of securities (their real estate properties etc).
c) Research annuities and invest in various annuities. I am yet to explore this option fully.
Overall I am happy with my progress so far, that afforded me to take a year off in India (living relatively well in a 4000 sq.ft villa).
> On work: it’s difficult to do a great job on work you don’t care about. And it’s hard to be totally happy/fulfilled in life if you don’t like what you do for your work I get that this is aimed at the startup crowd, but I've always felt that this sentiment is pretty privileged. We, the elite, get to cherry pick our work and do what we like. But I bet 9/10 people will never feel they have this luxury, and 8/10 will b…
I'm not part of the elite. I do what I love even if that means I'm broke. Saying that you cannot do what you love because you are not priviledged are just excuses. Sacrifice what needs to be sacrificed otherwise don't whine. Find a way otherwise you were never meant to do it if you give up too easily. Most people are just talk though. They will do what they love if you hand them everything in a silver platter. Well t…
Wealth is about our time. When we can purpose more of our time than others purpose for us, we are more wealthy.
Lots of ways to get at that condition. Having lots of money is one way. Limiting dependencies and costs is another way.
Well put.
Wealthy people tend to be happy people. And in the sense of time and purpose, I believe that's fairly true.
At least they have a good opportunity to be happy.
The other way is to really think about work, potential paths, and then network, until you find an arrangement that resonates.
For some, it might be working on contract. For others, it might be a good team that gets along well. Still others might want to be working on something novel, or making things. Whatever.
I'm not elite either. And I've managed to spend a lot of my work time doing things I really love.
And that's been difficult for me sometimes too. It's never perfect. That's the work part of work. But, it's possible for a lot of people to take steps, one at a time, to get somewhere they feel good about.
All comes down to what's worth what.
For me, I can't really deal with just living for weekends, or even burning so much time per week. It's gotta all mesh somehow, or I'm on a grind, and it's just not worth it.
The other case is being trapped. Being careful about money limits dependencies, and that can help with aligning work, life, love. Been there a time or two as well, and once that was bad decisions, another time it was happenings that ended up falling on me. Took time to dig out from that.