I learned early in my career that there is no reward for working insanely hard as a mere salaried programmer in the middle of the cube-farm (or worse, open offi

I learned early in my career that there is no reward for working insanely hard as a mere salaried programmer in the middle of the cube-farm (or worse, open office). "You're a real workhorse! Here, have some more work..." Now, if my title were 'Co-Founder' or some equivalent such that excelling at my job could very well translate into financial freedom for myself (and my family), that would be different :)