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In my experience while a developer will say it's not about the money, if the gap is big enough it is disrespectful to the developer and they will (easily) find

by throwaway2016a 9y ago

In my experience while a developer will say it's not about the money, if the gap is big enough it is disrespectful to the developer and they will (easily) find employment elsewhere. Often time's it's not actually about the money. But the low pay (relatively) is a signal to the developer of how much / little you value them.

eropple 9y ago
This is, historically, where I was at. Consistently delivering high-quality stuff that makes my fellow devs able to do their jobs faster and better, and while in the top quartile of salaries, it wasn't remotely reflective of the value being generated. That's why I went into consulting in the first place.
- vacri 9y ago
  Running your own (successful) business is always going to net you more money than being salaried. It's the payoff for taking the risk. A company pays a salary based on how hard it is to replace you, not your value generation, whereas your own company nets you $all_the_things.
  - JetSpiegel 9y ago
    The risk is $all_the_things <= 0, which is pretty common.
    - HeroOfAges 9y ago
      See you space cowboy... Sorry, couldn't help myself.
ringaroundthetx 9y ago
> In my experience while a developer will say it's not about the money The people that say this simply rationalize it differently than people willing to say it is about the money. (but yes, there is a group where it really isn't about money) There is a large segment of the population that feels a stigma for admitting monetary motivation, so if its not "ALL" about the money, where all possible factors are money, they will say it isn't. People that don't feel a stigma around admitting monetary motivation will reveal that money is a factor if it is at least 1 of the factors. It will be misinterpreted by the other population as being only about the money, whether it is or isn't. It is just a form of conditioning that will distort any survey for now.
- matwood 9y ago
  Money is always a factor, but just like the other factors the amount matters. I’ve taken a little less money before because I liked the job and had control. I also believed it would work out in the end and it did. I happily admitted if someone offered me %30+ more money I would think hard about leaving. I remember telling my boss that exact thing at the time and he understood. The honesty is one of the reasons I enjoyed the job.

eropple 9y ago

This is, historically, where I was at. Consistently delivering high-quality stuff that makes my fellow devs able to do their jobs faster and better, and while in the top quartile of salaries, it wasn't remotely reflective of the value being generated. That's why I went into consulting in the first place.

vacri 9y ago
Running your own (successful) business is always going to net you more money than being salaried. It's the payoff for taking the risk. A company pays a salary based on how hard it is to replace you, not your value generation, whereas your own company nets you $all_the_things.
- JetSpiegel 9y ago
  The risk is $all_the_things <= 0, which is pretty common.
  - HeroOfAges 9y ago
    See you space cowboy... Sorry, couldn't help myself.

ringaroundthetx 9y ago

> In my experience while a developer will say it's not about the money The people that say this simply rationalize it differently than people willing to say it is about the money. (but yes, there is a group where it really isn't about money) There is a large segment of the population that feels a stigma for admitting monetary motivation, so if its not "ALL" about the money, where all possible factors are money, they will say it isn't. People that don't feel a stigma around admitting monetary motivation will reveal that money is a factor if it is at least 1 of the factors. It will be misinterpreted by the other population as being only about the money, whether it is or isn't. It is just a form of conditioning that will distort any survey for now.

matwood 9y ago
Money is always a factor, but just like the other factors the amount matters. I’ve taken a little less money before because I liked the job and had control. I also believed it would work out in the end and it did. I happily admitted if someone offered me %30+ more money I would think hard about leaving. I remember telling my boss that exact thing at the time and he understood. The honesty is one of the reasons I enjoyed the job.