Starting and self-funding a software business in Eastern Europe at the age of 23 • Hacker News Board

Re: Starting and self-funding a software business in Eastern Europe at the age of 23

#71

Post by vram22 » Thu, Jun 29, 2017, 3:26 PM UTC

mamon wrote: post #25

galfarragem wrote: post #4

Fortune cookie: a niche IT job in Eastern Europe will, with high probability, grant you the best life standards available worldwide.

That's exactly my case: working as a niche IT specialist I earn about 4500 USD per month after taxes. It might not be much by SV standards, but in my neighborhood (which is a capital city of one of CE countries) it is top 2% income. It's enough that after maybe 5 years of saving I'm now able to buy 1 bedroom apartment in the city center WITH CASH. Buying 2-3 bedrooms would also be possible if I needed it and decided…

>working as a niche IT specialist I earn about 4500 USD per month after taxes.

Interesting. Is this working for a Western European or US company, or a local one (CE - assuming it means Central European)?

Re: Starting and self-funding a software business in Eastern Europe at the age of 23

#72

Post by vram22 » Thu, Jun 29, 2017, 3:30 PM UTC

paganel wrote: post #7

galfarragem wrote: post #4

Fortune cookie: a niche IT job in Eastern Europe will, with high probability, grant you the best life standards available worldwide.

A great number of my Romanian programmer friends have already started to realize this and have stopped emigrating to other European countries. Yeah, moving to a place like London would most probably get you 2 or maximum 3 times the salary you are now getting, but you'd also have to pay rent which is 8 to 10 times higher in London, going out is outrageously expensive (7 pounds for buying a beer in a pub after a day's…

>(7 pounds for buying a beer in a pub

An Indian friend who lives in London (this was some years ago) told me that a single naan in London cost about 3 pounds then. Anecdote, of course; how well you manage there will also depend on how much pay you get.

Re: Starting and self-funding a software business in Eastern Europe at the age of 23

#73

Post by lewilewilewi » Thu, Jun 29, 2017, 3:33 PM UTC

baybal2 wrote: post #53

paganel wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A great number of my Romanian programmer friends have already started to realize this and have stopped emigrating to other European countries. Yeah, moving to a place like London would most probably get you 2 or maximum 3 times the salary you are now getting, but you'd also have to pay rent which is 8 to 10 times higher in London, going out is outrageously expensive (7 pounds for buying a beer in a pub after a day's…

>7 pounds for buying a beer in a pub after a day's work is pure robbery 7 pounds beer is shi£ there, normal beers start at double that price

Even in central london you wouldn't be paying more than, say, £5.50 for a pint.

Re: Starting and self-funding a software business in Eastern Europe at the age of 23

#74

Post by ThePawnBreak » Thu, Jun 29, 2017, 5:36 PM UTC

dejv wrote: post #68

Kaizeras wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You will be rich in Eastern Europe but you'll still be considered average/poor in the developed world. Doesn't sound like a huge bargain to me.

Your saving rate is going to be higher on 50k/year in easter Europe than 100k SF salary. Just by using this extra money and investing them in various assets might help you get additional income streams that will eventually helps you cross that gap or maybe just retire much earlier.

> Your saving rate is going to be higher on 50k/year in eastern Europe than 100k SF salary.

Yeah, except that the going rate for a good junior developer in SV is about $150k (Google, Facebook) and in Romania it's $20k. I recently moved away from Romania because while I could find a job in Western Europe paying more than $100k, there was no way to find something in Romania (or remote) paying even 30% of that. And not for lack of trying.

Also, $300k a year in SV is much more achievable than $100k in Romania or Bulgaria, and with that sort of money you start caring about other stuff than housing (luxury goods, exotic vacations, investments etc.) whose stuff doesn't depend on location.

Re: Starting and self-funding a software business in Eastern Europe at the age of 23

#75

Post by twa19999 » Thu, Jun 29, 2017, 6:19 PM UTC

taway_1212 wrote: post #66

gambiting wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep - even our prime minister/president doesn't make that much a month, more like half that. I used to know a Polish guy making million Polish zloty/year(so about $300k) but he was the head of the Polish division of a major German insurance company. Most of my Polish friends working in Poland as programmers(ranging from C++ to Web development) make about ~$2500-3500/month, and that's considered extremely good for whe…

Yep that's true. I don't count on making this kind of money locally (I don't even go through Polish job ads any more, as I can make more remotely or by taking up a contract in Western Europe), I just randomly found this opportunity. But still, you can work remotely for a US company and make that kind of money. That's pretty realistic and was probably the source of the fortune cookie wisdom.

>> But still, you can work remotely for a US company and make that kind of money.

How does one do that, except by working for infamous Crossover company?