4 ms·

Forget about 3000 a month, some people have very 'simple' businesses like clothing retail and earn way above engineers salary, which is really what a lot of ent

Forget about 3000 a month, some people have very 'simple' businesses like clothing retail and earn way above engineers salary, which is really what a lot of entrepreneurs want at the end of the day. There's nothing new or innovative about these ideas other than maybe the right branding or location, but it goes over the tech industry's heads here because their venture capitalist overlords are telling them to work on unicorn ideas because they want to make billions, when most founders would be content with just making millions. Or maybe VC's actually want to change the world and don't care about profit? I'll just take the money, thanks.

jansan 6y ago
Some people are making good money because they are in a business that is considered unattractive, for example waste disposal. On the other hand, in an industry that is considered "cool" (like gaming or fashion) some people have a tendency for self exploitation, because they are willing to do just about everything to be in that industry. In those industries you will find quite a few people (especially self-employed) with big dreams and very little income.
- derefr 6y ago
  It seems to me that the ideal there would involve retiring off of a cushy waste-disposal salary, and then working on gaming or fashion as an independently-wealthy hobbyist.
  - Baeocystin 6y ago
    I just finished my part of a project where we installed ~$50k worth of AV & networking bits into a local fellow's home. He chose to do it more or less on a whim, because he could. His business? Portapotty rentals. As far as I'm concerned, good for him.
tonyedgecombe 6y ago
which is really what a lot of entrepreneurs want at the end of the day. I'm not even sure about that. I saw a paper recently that showed earnings for entrepreneurs is similar to employees. It's only the bottom and top deciles where it varies. The bottom 10% don't earn anything and the top 10% earn significantly more. In the middle are a lot of people who are broadly happy with their lot and mostly do it because they don't like working for someone else. They seemed to have little aspiration to expand or grow the business.

jansan 6y ago

Some people are making good money because they are in a business that is considered unattractive, for example waste disposal. On the other hand, in an industry that is considered "cool" (like gaming or fashion) some people have a tendency for self exploitation, because they are willing to do just about everything to be in that industry. In those industries you will find quite a few people (especially self-employed) with big dreams and very little income.

derefr 6y ago
It seems to me that the ideal there would involve retiring off of a cushy waste-disposal salary, and then working on gaming or fashion as an independently-wealthy hobbyist.
- Baeocystin 6y ago
  I just finished my part of a project where we installed ~$50k worth of AV & networking bits into a local fellow's home. He chose to do it more or less on a whim, because he could. His business? Portapotty rentals. As far as I'm concerned, good for him.

tonyedgecombe 6y ago

which is really what a lot of entrepreneurs want at the end of the day. I'm not even sure about that. I saw a paper recently that showed earnings for entrepreneurs is similar to employees. It's only the bottom and top deciles where it varies. The bottom 10% don't earn anything and the top 10% earn significantly more. In the middle are a lot of people who are broadly happy with their lot and mostly do it because they don't like working for someone else. They seemed to have little aspiration to expand or grow the business.