4 ms·

Filter bubbles are incredibly dangerous. Every time I hang out my with most ambitious friends, I am reminded of how MSFT is 'low balling' company. That I could

by screye 5y ago

Filter bubbles are incredibly dangerous. Every time I hang out my with most ambitious friends, I am reminded of how MSFT is 'low balling' company. That I could be making 2x if only I kept up with interviewing. On one hand, I can't avoid the objective truth of the statement. But, on the other hand, the hedonic treadmill is infinite. I'm glad I am not in the bay area. I would've been paralyzed by the persistent reminders around me of my monetarily sub-optimal life choices. Get out out of my head: 'over-achieving friendo', I am already well into the 99th percentile of wage earners of my age in the world's richest country. Over the last 5 years, I've seen a (COL non-adjusted) 100x (20x if I use a more practically true number) increase in salary. So far, My happiest moments have rarely required much money, let alone 100x as much as I had then.

DiggyJohnson 5y ago
This is beautifully captured. I work in a city I love (consider Charleston, SC - y'all) at a rate that puts me in a very similar position to myself. I'm so grateful to be able to have the space to not obsess over optimizing comp. I also like the knowledge/"feeling" that I can choose to focus on this in the future - and realize the benefits.
gumby 5y ago
If it makes you feel better: there was, and remains, a tech subculture more focused on the tech than the money, but it’s been drowned out over the past 25 years because a gold rush makes for better press. Unfortunately that press attracts people who like that sort of thing. So if you like what you are doing and can live comfortably you are at the top of your game. The rest is merely froth.
- jart 5y ago
  Says the Cygnus Solutions cofounder. Wow. Where are people like you working today?
  - gumby 5y ago
    Since the Cygnus days I have worked on on small solar thermal power plants (fit in a pair of containers), pharmaceutical chemistry, distributed databases, Symbolic AI, and Rand CastAR for a while. Some programming, some hardware, some chemistry, always lots of fun. Right now I’m working on data control and privacy.
    - jart 5y ago
      Data control and privacy are two of the most important things. I wrote a popular open source project where I've sought to improve that. Would you be interested in taking a quick look and offering candid feedback? See https://justine.lol/redbean/ https://justine.lol/redbean/ and discussion thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26271117 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26271117 and interview https://youtu.be/1ZTRb-2DZGs https://youtu.be/1ZTRb-2DZGs and polyglot executable format https://justine.lol/ape.html https://justine.lol/ape.html Someone like you could help me know if I'm doing it in the best possible way, since studying the influence of groups like cygnus was what helped me learn the hacking stunts that allowed me to pull it off in the first place.
askafriend 5y ago
> I am reminded of how MSFT is 'low balling' company. That I could be making 2x if only I kept up with interviewing. It doesn't take much to interview and double your comp. You don't have to interview at Google or Facebook to double your comp - many pre-IPO startups are paying up and their interview processes are often less rigorous. If you're happy with your situation then more power to you. But something tells me deep down inside, you're not OK with it. I'm here to tell you that a couple weeks of prep and looking around can go a long way.
- ipaddr 5y ago
  Interesting thread. I thought everyone was clinging. How would you prepare if you had the rest of the summer?
- brailsafe 5y ago
  Maybe if you're already in a famous company, but I've been itnerviewing/applying for a while and it's absolutely draining, especially with a lot of companies just trying to mimick the hiring practices of FAANG. Many are going to require a 1-2 hr coding test just to apply (not that I've been bothering with those). After that, a series of 3-6 interviews, and it just scales like shit. So I really have you read your comment as "If you've already got a famous company on your resume, are extremely lucky, or very well-known for some other reason or have great contacts in hiring positions at other companies, then you can double your comp easy!"
Siira 5y ago
> the hedonic treadmill is infinite It actually diminishes very quickly for most people, which I suspect is why they aren’t that motivated. Still true that being content with what you have can be a wise choice.

by screye 5y ago

DiggyJohnson 5y ago

This is beautifully captured. I work in a city I love (consider Charleston, SC - y'all) at a rate that puts me in a very similar position to myself. I'm so grateful to be able to have the space to not obsess over optimizing comp. I also like the knowledge/"feeling" that I can choose to focus on this in the future - and realize the benefits.

gumby 5y ago

If it makes you feel better: there was, and remains, a tech subculture more focused on the tech than the money, but it’s been drowned out over the past 25 years because a gold rush makes for better press. Unfortunately that press attracts people who like that sort of thing. So if you like what you are doing and can live comfortably you are at the top of your game. The rest is merely froth.

jart 5y ago
Says the Cygnus Solutions cofounder. Wow. Where are people like you working today?
- gumby 5y ago
  Since the Cygnus days I have worked on on small solar thermal power plants (fit in a pair of containers), pharmaceutical chemistry, distributed databases, Symbolic AI, and Rand CastAR for a while. Some programming, some hardware, some chemistry, always lots of fun. Right now I’m working on data control and privacy.
  - jart 5y ago
    Data control and privacy are two of the most important things. I wrote a popular open source project where I've sought to improve that. Would you be interested in taking a quick look and offering candid feedback? See https://justine.lol/redbean/ https://justine.lol/redbean/ and discussion thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26271117 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26271117 and interview https://youtu.be/1ZTRb-2DZGs https://youtu.be/1ZTRb-2DZGs and polyglot executable format https://justine.lol/ape.html https://justine.lol/ape.html Someone like you could help me know if I'm doing it in the best possible way, since studying the influence of groups like cygnus was what helped me learn the hacking stunts that allowed me to pull it off in the first place.

askafriend 5y ago

> I am reminded of how MSFT is 'low balling' company. That I could be making 2x if only I kept up with interviewing. It doesn't take much to interview and double your comp. You don't have to interview at Google or Facebook to double your comp - many pre-IPO startups are paying up and their interview processes are often less rigorous. If you're happy with your situation then more power to you. But something tells me deep down inside, you're not OK with it. I'm here to tell you that a couple weeks of prep and looking around can go a long way.

ipaddr 5y ago
Interesting thread. I thought everyone was clinging. How would you prepare if you had the rest of the summer?
brailsafe 5y ago
Maybe if you're already in a famous company, but I've been itnerviewing/applying for a while and it's absolutely draining, especially with a lot of companies just trying to mimick the hiring practices of FAANG. Many are going to require a 1-2 hr coding test just to apply (not that I've been bothering with those). After that, a series of 3-6 interviews, and it just scales like shit. So I really have you read your comment as "If you've already got a famous company on your resume, are extremely lucky, or very well-known for some other reason or have great contacts in hiring positions at other companies, then you can double your comp easy!"

Siira 5y ago

> the hedonic treadmill is infinite It actually diminishes very quickly for most people, which I suspect is why they aren’t that motivated. Still true that being content with what you have can be a wise choice.