91–100 of 233 posts
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$530 a month would be amazing. I have a wife and 3 kids and we are looking at closer to $1200-$1500 a month for decent health insurance.
I'm confused. You're currently paying $300 pp pm. That is much better than $530 pm.
A day job doesn't have to be your side project's enemy. If you do web dev at work you get paid to do something that makes you efficient at web dev. Then you go home and work on your side project and you don't need to spend hours struggling with webpack or why str=((num || fallback) + '') works, so your side project is done more productively too.
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…
> There's a pretty high correlation between parental wealth and success as a startup founder. I'm not disagreeing, but is there any research to support this that you can share, or is it based on your personal experience?
But given that the secret to successfully launching a business is to have enough resources to fail many times, it stands to reason that successful startups are highly dependent on founder funding (and thus, parental wealth).
Wondering how many other people are beginning to consider their future in this way. It's interesting that he linked to the a16z post on Passion Economy. As opportunities for remote work where each individual charts their own course increases, the future of work could change significantly.
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how much do you pay in taxes though?
I've recently moved to the US from Australia. The amount my employer and I pay for my healthcare is significantly more than I paid in Australian taxes for healthcare. And that's before including my deductible, things my insurance doesn't cover and the amount I pay in US taxes for healthcare.
I also pay substantially more in other general taxes (compared to the US), which ends up funding healthcare as well.
Funny to read someone else's musings on this as I've been working through many of the same questions for a while. I started full-time in the tech industry before I was out of high school, then went corporate, then got out for a while, then back in, then had my own business for a while, sold that, got a job for a few years, and recently left that job and went traveling for a bit to think about things and consider goin…
Not to be dismissive, but this post feels a bit like rambling without a clear thesis or main argument. It's also rife with dubious claims: > I’ve been working remotely for four years now, and I know that working alone can make you lonely.. I also work full-time remotely. I built a community around myself, made new friends and regularly hang out with people I met at coffee shops, at startup meetups, old classmates, ex…
> I also work full-time remotely. I built a community around myself, made new friends and regularly hang out with people I met at coffee shops, at startup meetups, old classmates, ex-coworkers (that may also be fully remote), etc. I hear it a lot, but this argument honestly falls flat on its face as long as you're not a weird hermit that only works from your house. In fact, that main reason I wanted to work remotely is because I get to meet people (particularly women, as I'm getting to an age where marriage is starting to become a priority) that I'm more interested in than in the myopic circles that are commonplace at large tech companies.
It shouldn't be controversial that if you decide upon a path in life where 8 hours of it you spend by yourself, you're going to meet less people than if you were working in a team at a company. Also, some people do not live in the same place they went to school and/or university for example (unlike you).
> Yes. Because it gives you the freedom to do whatever you want. And freedom is fun. I mean, passive income is basically free money -- I'm not sure I'm getting what author is saying here.
If you want to make money, you cannot do whatever you want, you have to do what earns you money. And sometimes what makes money is not what is fun.
> I don't see how working for your own business could ever become "just another job" -- you're acutely invested in the venture, your strategic decisions guide it's success (or failure). Working for a corporation is the definition of "autopilot" for most above-average employees (engineers or otherwise). This could not be more different when doing your own thing.
Passion can dissipate. Doubts will set in as you question yourself whether it's all really worth it. If you want to make money you will inevitably have to start doing things which you would rather not do (because you would rather do something else), and that's when you start to question the whole project, because if success is in doubt then why spend your time doing stuff you don't enjoy if you have the freedom to do something else [which is fun]?
That all sounds quite negative, so let me balance it out by saying I really enjoyed working autonomously, but if trying to create a business with a product I would definitely aim to do it with a cofounder or two. Consulting by oneself is fine though.
This is actually the primary focus of a book I just read [1]. The author's primary thesis in this book is that that there are some very interesting reasons why we completely suck at imagining what a future life will be like.
This isn't really a book recommendation - the author took a single idea and chewed it in 20 different ways to make a larger book. However, if this is something you are struggling with right now, you might benefit from it a little.
[1] Stumbling on happiness - https://www.amazon.com/Stumbling-Happiness-Daniel-Gilbert/dp...
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Maybe the best way to look at this kind of environment is that it's a different form of wealth. Correlated with money, in the sense that poverty brings stress and often many forms of brutality, but definitely not identical with it.
I would say I had a great childhood in general, but also with some major stress factors—I feel I can safely say that those stressors don’t leave you on their own so organically. And that kind of stress, even if it’s not conscious all of the time, can colour one’s perspective in an impactful way. Sometimes for better, funny enough—but also for worse in others.
In 1999ish I was approached by two chaps that I worked with and one of whom I worked for (he was my boss.) Would I fancy being the Managing Director of a new company thing they'd dreamed up? Nothing too grand, first customer was where we worked already etc etc. Times have changed a bit now and we have some customers that most people in the UK have heard of.
Our triumvirate has worked out really well over the years. We will never set the world on fire but our little business keeps us and our 20 odd staff pretty comfortable. Three directors has worked out very well for us. Two stops one being a twat for example!
My advice is that you might consider finding and attracting a few allies but you must position them carefully. Fill in the bits that you are shit at. For example, if you can't be arsed with accounts then get someone in who will and pay them properly with shares if they are an early appointment and you can't give them readies now.