My first thought was "cash, grass, or ass" but this works as well.
Might not get you far in life...but it'll get you to the next town.
[deleted]
Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
91–100 of 155 posts
Re: Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
#92Is it me, or have HN submissions gotten shorter and shorter recently? At this rate, top-scoring articles will consist of a single word in a few years.
No, there is something intellectual gratifying about short pieces that contain so much depth and layers the more you think about them.
It is not the length of a price of writing that determines how good it is, the same way lines of code does not an effective program make. To be able to say a lot with fewer words is impressive
Re: Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
#93The wisdom from my Mom was “it’s better to be paid for what you know than what you do”. I’ve found it’s a bit more subtle than that, and enjoyed and learned a lot from piece work labor. But the sweet spot seems to be getting paid for what you do that uses what you know. AI notwithstanding, of course.
My Mamma says that alligators are so ornery because they got all them teeth but no toothbrush
Re: Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
#94When I was a dev working with my business-oriented business partner, I had to get used to sitting in meetings where we promised the client the world having no idea if I could accomplish it or not. Made a lot more money than I could have on my own. "Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say 'YES'!!"
This is often the advice given by senior folks and I think it is somewhat similar to say that you have to "lie a bit on your CV". Still, I always wonder what would I do if I make these big promises to clients/bosses/management and I fail to deliver. Wouldn't that be worse than having said "no, I won't be able to make it in time" from the beginning? For context, I'm early in my career (3 YOE) and I don't deal with man…
the corporate world is a lot of kayfabe and bullshit. Welcome. :)
Re: Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
#95When I was a dev working with my business-oriented business partner, I had to get used to sitting in meetings where we promised the client the world having no idea if I could accomplish it or not. Made a lot more money than I could have on my own. "Ray, when someone asks you if you're a god, you say 'YES'!!"
This is often the advice given by senior folks and I think it is somewhat similar to say that you have to "lie a bit on your CV". Still, I always wonder what would I do if I make these big promises to clients/bosses/management and I fail to deliver. Wouldn't that be worse than having said "no, I won't be able to make it in time" from the beginning? For context, I'm early in my career (3 YOE) and I don't deal with man…
Internally, it’s important to understand that every ask should have a business goal associated with it. The thing being asked for is rarely (never?) the only way to accomplish that goal.
Great engineers focus on the customer or business need and find/propose alternatives that are possible.
Re: Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
#96Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is often the advice given by senior folks and I think it is somewhat similar to say that you have to "lie a bit on your CV". Still, I always wonder what would I do if I make these big promises to clients/bosses/management and I fail to deliver. Wouldn't that be worse than having said "no, I won't be able to make it in time" from the beginning? For context, I'm early in my career (3 YOE) and I don't deal with man…
Nobody wants to hear "no". The way you say "no" without saying it is by turning "no" into an option, and attaching costs to options. "no, I won't be able to make it in time" would be "I can confidently deliver in time if I have X, and we save Y and Z for later."
Well said, and on the flip side the strongest signal that your management sucks is their absurd sense of entitlement and inability to handle "no" correctly. Their lack of curiosity and ambition will cause the business to miss out on so many opportunities.
A naive junior shouldn't stump them, but it really does happen all the time. If all they have to do is ask what it takes to flip it to a "yes", the same information is communicated. The only thing ever truly at stake was someone's ego.
Re: Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
#97Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been at BigCos in times past where there was some plausibility to this, but in the current BigCo workplace climate, anybody who tries to claim it's not about the money has a long row to hoe!
This would have been 2019. Even then, I feel like anyone who had been in the industry long enough should have developed some level of cynicism.
They don't have to be as cynical as the internets are these days. It's perfectly normal to take pride that half the phones in the world run software you wrote or that you've solved whatever problem for people.
Re: Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
#98I've told this story before, but it's relevant. When I worked at BigCo [1], we were interviewing a candidate for a position. He was pretty good, and we were in the process of making him an offer, but he was asking for more money and trying to negotiate his salary higher. I don't have an issue with this, BigCo has plenty of money, but other people, including a manager, were complaining. They felt that this is a good j…
We're all a big family here Tom, and beating you hurts us more than it hurts you, but it is good for your morale.
Re: Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
#99Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is often the advice given by senior folks and I think it is somewhat similar to say that you have to "lie a bit on your CV". Still, I always wonder what would I do if I make these big promises to clients/bosses/management and I fail to deliver. Wouldn't that be worse than having said "no, I won't be able to make it in time" from the beginning? For context, I'm early in my career (3 YOE) and I don't deal with man…
Internally, it’s important to understand that every ask should have a business goal associated with it. The thing being asked for is rarely (never?) the only way to accomplish that goal. Great engineers focus on the customer or business need and find/propose alternatives that are possible.
Great management also helps that engineer understand what the various stakeholders want without siloing off their teams.
Re: Three Ways to Get Paid (2018)
#100I've told this story before, but it's relevant. When I worked at BigCo [1], we were interviewing a candidate for a position. He was pretty good, and we were in the process of making him an offer, but he was asking for more money and trying to negotiate his salary higher. I don't have an issue with this, BigCo has plenty of money, but other people, including a manager, were complaining. They felt that this is a good j…
Yeah, this tendency of people to believe a collective lie, to try very hard to believe it, or at least make it look like they believe it, even when everybody knows its a lie, astounds me to no end. Some examples: - Russians (or insert any other dictatorship trying to appear otherwise) faking "democratic" elections. Who are you kidding, yourselves? No one believes it. Just tell the west: to hell with your democracy. L…
I find it kind of sadly amusing how many conspiracy theories exist about rich elites exist and then they go off about Jews or lizard people or something else ridiculous.
Because there is a conspiracy of rich elites who are trying keep you down. They don't even hide it, and they've been so successful at it that they have bought their way into the highest levels of government. They actively campaign to ensure regular peoples' taxes subsidize their lavish lifestyles and then actively try and turn us against each other instead of us collectively realizing that we need the people who actually do the work much more than we need the people who leach off of it.