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Almost-Billionaires (2014)

lackingambition.com

61–67 of 67 posts

Re: Almost-Billionaires (2014)

#61
post #60
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, they just go get it. I'd be ashamed of borrowing a few thousand for an obvious scam or even a good idea that fails. Meanwhile they take millions and shrug when it turns out no one wants their shit app or juicer.

The difference is making something you believe in, have vetted, and genuinely believe others would like a piece of. I’m in the middle of fundraising right now. A year ago the idea of getting others money sounded crazy, but now I’m just excited to share what I’m working on and half the investors I speak to want to use the product too. Everyone wants to get in on a good investment. If you’re building a good investment,…

Thanks for this. Indeed, I do have an idea I wouldn't be afraid of pitching, even though there's a minimum amount of money I'd need for success.

Re: Almost-Billionaires (2014)

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Meh, I think that's an equally overly simplistic view. Capitalism earns its accolades as well as its criticism because it's fans want it to be this pure embodiment of helping people. But it's obviously responsible for just some of the things that help people. I think its pretty fucked up for example that full neighbourhoods of multi-millionaires if not billionaires exist in my city, while a huge portion of the people…

It’s funny but the high cost of both are of those things you mention are the result of artificial regulatory restrictions on supply. Entrepreneur property developers are ready, able and willing to build a tidal wave of housing, but are shackled by NIMBY zoning laws, building codes, and land use restrictions designed to restrict the supply of housing and push up prices for existing home owners. The high cost of dentis…

I agree, minimally. I don't want either of those being under the sole discretion of business people. Nobody really does except business people. Overly strict zoning laws probably need to be eliminated or more carefully and frequently thought about at the city level, in part because cities let developers do whatever the hell they want on the outskirts, and prevents new dev on the inner bits entirely

Re: Almost-Billionaires (2014)

#63

This is gonna sound harsh, but I have never in my life met or seen a wealthy person become anything more than a dilettante in some new hobby / passion calling AFTER they acquired their wealth. There's nothing wrong with that, a lot of people enjoy being so-so at something they enjoy, as long as they get to dabble in that. To become top-tier at anything, I believe you need more than just the lust. It take a mix of raw…

Top become top-tier at stuff, it's almost inevitable that you'll need to sacrifice a lot. Self-made wealthy individuals usually transition to "do things for the fun of it" mode. Those two are almost always incompatible.

I was a top-tier math competition participant. I gave everything to it for a few years. That's gone, the willingness to sacrifice so much is gone.

Now I have a relationship to take care and my generous paycheck makes my only worry be if my plants are well watered.

On the other hard, "top-tier" might be subjective or useless depending on the hobby. Does someone really want to be considered among the top 10 baristas in the world, or do they just want to know more than all their friends about coffee? Is the goal to beat Eliud Kipchoge or just buy an expensive Iron Man jacket?

Re: Almost-Billionaires (2014)

#64
post #48
post #6

About losing all motivation after financial independence, I've experienced it for myself. I'm not rich but I know how to live simply. What do I do with my time? I spend so many hours consuming random content on the internet nowadays. I feel kind of bad for the girlfriend, who has to listen to me regurgitate the content back to her. People looking in from the outside scratch their heads. Don't I have hobbies? Passions…

Not sure it's losing motivation rather than being confronted to one's wishful thinking. If I have so many plans for when I retire early, how come I do none of it now? If that's really what I want, how come I don't spend at least a few minutes on it every week? I don't have to find a 50h/week activity to replace my work. I don't need any activity that replace my work routine. I can simply take whatever hobby I had whi…

Exactly something everyone should try. It can give you a lot of insight if those future plans are really all that interesting and rewarding if you start doing it now while you are alive and young.

Re: Almost-Billionaires (2014)

#65

This is gonna sound harsh, but I have never in my life met or seen a wealthy person become anything more than a dilettante in some new hobby / passion calling AFTER they acquired their wealth. There's nothing wrong with that, a lot of people enjoy being so-so at something they enjoy, as long as they get to dabble in that. To become top-tier at anything, I believe you need more than just the lust. It take a mix of raw…

There was a British princess who became a nun in Italy. It happens.

Re: Almost-Billionaires (2014)

#66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems you didn’t study CS. If you did, then we studied different courses :P - Compilers - Game Engines - Gnarly multithreaded problems - Using IDA Pro to analyze X86-64 binaries - Computer systems and networks (e.g. NAND2Tetris) - Creating your own kernel - Creating your own database - Replicating meltdown and spectre. Repkicaring rowhammer attacks - Web attacks (check out hackthebox.eu) I did almost all of these…

I did study CS, but the courses weren't quite as deep. Out of all the topics above, I only did interpreters (compilers) and multi threading. I don't think I wanna do HFT. Not interested in numbers or statistics. I don't wanna do data science/ML as well. I was just thinking what can I do to spark joy in programming once again. Maybe I need some creative-type of programming work like creating useless toys or tools. Lee…

Pick a small self-contained project that has a very clear end. Work on it periodically, meaning daily, weekly, as schedule permits; but not necessarily for copious amounts of time. Make a small amount of tangible, obvious progress each time. Tangible and obvious are going to be subjective to you and might not mean much to someone else. No matter, this project is for you. You'll feel a spark joy type feeling after some number of periods.

It's important to not rush this and just let it happen while keeping the momentum going. Skipping every so often is ok, but don't skip more than 2 periods in a row. Track your progress in a way that's meaningful to you. Your brain is rewiring itself as you do this so the time it takes might vary depending on overall health.

Re: Almost-Billionaires (2014)

#67
post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're envious of sociopaths?

Yeah, they just go get it. I'd be ashamed of borrowing a few thousand for an obvious scam or even a good idea that fails. Meanwhile they take millions and shrug when it turns out no one wants their shit app or juicer.

If what you want is the money you'd hypothetically get, I'd recommend forgetting about that because it's not worth sacrificing everything else that makes you human. Caring about not causing destruction is a good thing.
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