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Do most people leave when they make a lot of money? Or do they stay and continue working?

by da02 8y ago

rock_hard 8y ago
From my expierence most people leave soon after they can cash out. It’s the top tier (VPs or people with a clear path to becoming one) people who usually stay
- jonathankoren 8y ago
  Agree. If there's a successful IPO, almost everyone with ISOs leave as soon as they hit their cliff. Any reups are simply competitive with recruiting offers.
AJRF 8y ago
I’ve worked for a company that IPO’d and those people who made a ton of money tried to stay on for a while to maintain a normal life but most people just rested and vested. IPO day had a bunch of people walking around in a daze because they became millionaires on paper during the day. Nice people too. That was a good day :)
siberianbear 8y ago
I worked at a small company in Silicon Valley that was very successful and became a very large company. A lot of people did leave when they had the chance. It surprised me how many people stayed. As another poster here noted, a lot of very senior people stayed who were at or near the VP level stayed. Some of them wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they left. And I think some like the status and power that comes with managing a huge org. But I was also surprised how many individual contributors who became rich stayed, and just continued to write software or Verilog or whatever. They were bright people, and nobody messed with them because they were well-known and were just allowed to do their own thing. Watching what people did when they came into a lot of money was an interesting life experience. Hell, watching what I myself did when I came into a lot of money was also an interesting life experience. When I first came to Silicon Valley I was so excited to be surrounded by so much great technology. I got to play with so much very expensive test equipment: it was like being a kid again. As time went on, it wore me down, and it wasn't so interesting. I encountered a lot of bad actors: the other anecdotes in this HN post sound very familiar. When I had FY money, I left. At that time, I hated my job. I have no interest in writing code or using fancy oscilloscopes and logic analyzers. I don't want to look at another C function as long as I live. And I will never go back to Silicon Valley.
- hef19898 8y ago
  At least you have beenn lucky enough to get FY money, this is quite hard to come by outside SV I assume. Otherwise I could imagine it would be a rather bleak spot to be in.

Do most people leave when they make a lot of money? Or do they stay and continue working?

by da02 8y ago

Do most people leave when they make a lot of money? Or do they stay and continue working?

From my expierence most people leave soon after they can cash out. It’s the top tier (VPs or people with a clear path to becoming one) people who usually stay

jonathankoren 8y ago
Agree. If there's a successful IPO, almost everyone with ISOs leave as soon as they hit their cliff. Any reups are simply competitive with recruiting offers.

AJRF 8y ago

I’ve worked for a company that IPO’d and those people who made a ton of money tried to stay on for a while to maintain a normal life but most people just rested and vested. IPO day had a bunch of people walking around in a daze because they became millionaires on paper during the day. Nice people too. That was a good day :)

siberianbear 8y ago

I worked at a small company in Silicon Valley that was very successful and became a very large company. A lot of people did leave when they had the chance. It surprised me how many people stayed. As another poster here noted, a lot of very senior people stayed who were at or near the VP level stayed. Some of them wouldn't know what to do with themselves if they left. And I think some like the status and power that comes with managing a huge org. But I was also surprised how many individual contributors who became rich stayed, and just continued to write software or Verilog or whatever. They were bright people, and nobody messed with them because they were well-known and were just allowed to do their own thing. Watching what people did when they came into a lot of money was an interesting life experience. Hell, watching what I myself did when I came into a lot of money was also an interesting life experience. When I first came to Silicon Valley I was so excited to be surrounded by so much great technology. I got to play with so much very expensive test equipment: it was like being a kid again. As time went on, it wore me down, and it wasn't so interesting. I encountered a lot of bad actors: the other anecdotes in this HN post sound very familiar. When I had FY money, I left. At that time, I hated my job. I have no interest in writing code or using fancy oscilloscopes and logic analyzers. I don't want to look at another C function as long as I live. And I will never go back to Silicon Valley.

hef19898 8y ago
At least you have beenn lucky enough to get FY money, this is quite hard to come by outside SV I assume. Otherwise I could imagine it would be a rather bleak spot to be in.