4 ms·

But really, is that it? Are you in a startup for the money, or is there another motivation?

by hhm 19y ago

mrtron 19y ago
Money is not a bad reason. With money comes freedom in aspects of your life, you no longer would need to work a normal job to get by.
- hhm 19y ago
  I don't think it's a bad reason. But from what I see in this site, I don't think it's the main reason for most hackers to do what they do. That's why I ask.
- iamwil 19y ago
  If your wants and standard of living balloon, you'll always think you need more money to gain freedom.
  - mrtron 19y ago
    Absolutely. The key to getting freedom financially is living well below your means. That starts before you get rich, and has to continue at that point. Money can either be a tool used by you to build freedom or dig yourself in a little hole.
  - Tichy 19y ago
    What about the freedom to donate a couple of billion dollars to HIV research or whatever else you fancy (ending world hunger etc)?
edw519 19y ago
No, I'm not in it for the money. The money is a barometer of something else. If someone can make money in this business (not that hard to do), then something they wrote is successful at some level. I can confidently say that 90% of the code I have ever had to maintain is total garbage. I am often stunned that it even runs and I used to wonder how it ever made it into production. (I don't wonder any more, now I know, hardly anyone QA's source code anymore.) (Another example: Today I refactored 1200 lines of code that edits credit card numbers down to 46 lines, removing 4 bugs in the process. This has been running in production for 18 years. This is not a joke.) I realize that what I see is not a random sample of all code. I never get to work on the good stuff; no one does - that's the whole point. My work, OTOH, has been wildly received by my customers and users for many years. I love what I do and love providing value to others. I can't imagine doing anything else. I am currently working on my ultimate start-up, one that produces so much value that no one ever has to put up with garbage like my OP. For some reason (my internal metaprogams or something), I am much more highly motivated by seeing someone else's garbage doing well and thinking, "I can do WAY better than that," instead of people saying, "That was good." I don't know why. Also, it's my experience that most people do not see the possibilities for truly excellent software (present readers excluded, of course). They believe they have to put up with my previous example. I can't wait to show them otherwise. My OP was somewhat in jest, but not really. I hope you now understand why. Thanks for asking.
- hhm 19y ago
  Thanks a lot for your interesting reply. And: "I never get to work on the good stuff; no one does" is true most of the time if you don't do a startup, or work by your own way. Or maybe if you work in some cool lab?
  - deleted 19y ago
    [deleted]

But really, is that it? Are you in a startup for the money, or is there another motivation?

by hhm 19y ago

But really, is that it? Are you in a startup for the money, or is there another motivation?

Money is not a bad reason. With money comes freedom in aspects of your life, you no longer would need to work a normal job to get by.

hhm 19y ago
I don't think it's a bad reason. But from what I see in this site, I don't think it's the main reason for most hackers to do what they do. That's why I ask.
iamwil 19y ago
If your wants and standard of living balloon, you'll always think you need more money to gain freedom.
- mrtron 19y ago
  Absolutely. The key to getting freedom financially is living well below your means. That starts before you get rich, and has to continue at that point. Money can either be a tool used by you to build freedom or dig yourself in a little hole.
- Tichy 19y ago
  What about the freedom to donate a couple of billion dollars to HIV research or whatever else you fancy (ending world hunger etc)?

edw519 19y ago

No, I'm not in it for the money. The money is a barometer of something else. If someone can make money in this business (not that hard to do), then something they wrote is successful at some level. I can confidently say that 90% of the code I have ever had to maintain is total garbage. I am often stunned that it even runs and I used to wonder how it ever made it into production. (I don't wonder any more, now I know, hardly anyone QA's source code anymore.) (Another example: Today I refactored 1200 lines of code that edits credit card numbers down to 46 lines, removing 4 bugs in the process. This has been running in production for 18 years. This is not a joke.) I realize that what I see is not a random sample of all code. I never get to work on the good stuff; no one does - that's the whole point. My work, OTOH, has been wildly received by my customers and users for many years. I love what I do and love providing value to others. I can't imagine doing anything else. I am currently working on my ultimate start-up, one that produces so much value that no one ever has to put up with garbage like my OP. For some reason (my internal metaprogams or something), I am much more highly motivated by seeing someone else's garbage doing well and thinking, "I can do WAY better than that," instead of people saying, "That was good." I don't know why. Also, it's my experience that most people do not see the possibilities for truly excellent software (present readers excluded, of course). They believe they have to put up with my previous example. I can't wait to show them otherwise. My OP was somewhat in jest, but not really. I hope you now understand why. Thanks for asking.

hhm 19y ago
Thanks a lot for your interesting reply. And: "I never get to work on the good stuff; no one does" is true most of the time if you don't do a startup, or work by your own way. Or maybe if you work in some cool lab?
- deleted 19y ago
  [deleted]