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The implication is that workers get screwed by less-than-stellar IPOs, but who demands unreasonable valuations? Investors and VCs. The ones who actually make r

The implication is that workers get screwed by less-than-stellar IPOs, but who demands unreasonable valuations? Investors and VCs. The ones who actually make real money. All in all, the Silicon Valley we-can-all-be-unicorns model is a pretty raw deal. So what if as an early employee you make $350,000 at the IPO? That's what, a down payment for a house in the Bay Area? Just don't let yourself get priced out by millionaires getting priced out by billionaires. And considering that any early employee is expected to pretty much always be working, that's basically overtime, with a tip. People only put up with this pathetic excuse for an American Dream because they allow it.

nostrademons 11y ago
The really effective deal in the Bay Area is location arbitrage. Move there in your 20s, take a job at either a big company or a fast-grower that'll IPO within 4-5 years. Have no life. Bank a million bucks. Then move someplace with a lower cost of living to raise a family. You'll be able to buy a house free-and-clear, and you often get a salary boost coming out of a brand-name Silicon Valley company.
- morgante 11y ago
  > raise a family That's assuming that you somehow find time amidst 100-hour weeks to get a mate.
- rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
  You're forgetting something: the toll it takes on you as a person. Those long nights, long commutes (if you don't live a block away), they can all wear you down. You're pressured into working more and you have less time to spend with friends and family (work IS your friends and family! :')), less time for dating (and let's be honest: if you're a single man in the Valley, you're not getting laid). It just sucks. Is that worth it?
  - dd36 11y ago
    It's the new Wall Street.
    - danieltillett 11y ago
      Except the single male to single female ratio is the other way around in NYC.
  - anonypous 11y ago
    | and let's be honest: if you're a single man in the Valley, you're not getting laid From my curiosity as a late-20s guy not living in the US: For what reasons is a single man in the Valley not getting laid?
    - adrtessier 11y ago
      The male:female ratio feels like it's 50:1. It actually is skewed male in the Valley proper.
    - rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
      Because it's a sausagefest and unless you're considerably wealthy and attractive, you're pretty much (never getting) screwed.
    - Kalium 11y ago
      Not only is it a sausagefest, but there are some shockingly strong veins of thought which hold that you're a terrible person. For the unpardonable sin of being a "techie".
      - rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
        "Yeah, so, like, everyone here that's not from here works in tech, so you say you work at Apple and that doesn't really do anything for me." When I heard that, I knew Silicon Valley had nothing left for me, and I've never looked back.

nostrademons 11y ago

The really effective deal in the Bay Area is location arbitrage. Move there in your 20s, take a job at either a big company or a fast-grower that'll IPO within 4-5 years. Have no life. Bank a million bucks. Then move someplace with a lower cost of living to raise a family. You'll be able to buy a house free-and-clear, and you often get a salary boost coming out of a brand-name Silicon Valley company.

morgante 11y ago
> raise a family That's assuming that you somehow find time amidst 100-hour weeks to get a mate.
rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
You're forgetting something: the toll it takes on you as a person. Those long nights, long commutes (if you don't live a block away), they can all wear you down. You're pressured into working more and you have less time to spend with friends and family (work IS your friends and family! :')), less time for dating (and let's be honest: if you're a single man in the Valley, you're not getting laid). It just sucks. Is that worth it?
- dd36 11y ago
  It's the new Wall Street.
  - danieltillett 11y ago
    Except the single male to single female ratio is the other way around in NYC.
- anonypous 11y ago
  | and let's be honest: if you're a single man in the Valley, you're not getting laid From my curiosity as a late-20s guy not living in the US: For what reasons is a single man in the Valley not getting laid?
  - adrtessier 11y ago
    The male:female ratio feels like it's 50:1. It actually is skewed male in the Valley proper.
  - rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
    Because it's a sausagefest and unless you're considerably wealthy and attractive, you're pretty much (never getting) screwed.
  - Kalium 11y ago
    Not only is it a sausagefest, but there are some shockingly strong veins of thought which hold that you're a terrible person. For the unpardonable sin of being a "techie".
    - rm_-rf_slash 11y ago
      "Yeah, so, like, everyone here that's not from here works in tech, so you say you work at Apple and that doesn't really do anything for me." When I heard that, I knew Silicon Valley had nothing left for me, and I've never looked back.