4 ms·

I'm not sure why you asked this question because it seems like you dismiss anyone that argues this is a bad idea. Regardless intent is a major aspect of ethics

I'm not sure why you asked this question because it seems like you dismiss anyone that argues this is a bad idea. Regardless intent is a major aspect of ethics. If you told any one of your employers you have multiple other "full time" jobs, you'd be instantly fired. You know this. Therefore what you're doing is deceptive at best but more realistically you're blatantly scamming your employers. Short term you'll make a lot of money, long term you're picking up pennies in front of a bull dozer.

altdataseller 5y ago
Yeah if you are going to work multiple “jobs”, at least make one of them a side startup or something that has the possibility of replacing your full time job eventually. Having 2 full time jobs forever is unsustainable, but yes he can make money for a short while
- froaway4job 5y ago
  Good point. Definitely don't plan on working like this for a long time. I'm building up my savings to make a few large investments and start my own company. Startup as a side job? That would take a ton of work. I typically only spend about 10-15 hours per week working each job.
  - ryanchants 5y ago
    > start my own company Then the obvious question is: How would you feel if you had an employee doing the same?
    - froaway4job 5y ago
      Honestly, I would applaud them for the fact that they're doing their work so efficiently. If they're the type of person that gets a task and completes it in a quarter or half of the time expected, I think I made a good hiring decision. Heck, am I actually winning since I'm technically underpaying this person? I would consider looking into why I'm not challenging this employee. Maybe they need to be paid more or given more difficult tasks. I would talk to them and see if they wanted more, if not, fine they're doing their work and I'm paying them appropriately. Pretty simple really. What's the point of an employer getting upset about getting what they paid for?
  - altdataseller 5y ago
    Startup as a side job is just meant to a way to bootstrap the company slowly so you don’t have to go all-out and take more risk.
froaway4job 5y ago
Perhaps I should be more open minded, but I have responded to a few comments with disagreements. I'll consider my responses and provide more open discussion. As far as the money goes, my math goes like this: - 1 job: 250-300K cash, 250-300K equity (at the high end, higher if I moved to management) - 4 jobs: My current situation is 225K avg cash (including bonuses) per job, 100K avg equity per job The picking up pennies in front of a bulldozer metaphor gets used a lot in when talking about risk/investment, but this risk/reward seems worth it. I'll take nearly 1.5mil in comp now versus spread out over 4-6 years. Also, I've been working like this for 4 years now (working between 2-4 jobs).
- serjester 5y ago
  Sounds like you're open minded - the upside is you make a couple million in the next couple years. Your downside is you're unemployable and dealing with potential lawsuits. Anecdotally I've known people that have made "errors of judgement" and it took them years to find another job. But let's say you pull this off. What then? You say you want to start a company but you're deluding yourself if you think it takes a couple million to do that. Constraints are a gift, you're more likely to burn through the couple million. Maybe you could retire. But I don't get the impression you're the type of person to retire - you're already retired if your jobs take "5-10 hours a week". So I have to ask what's the point of taking on the massive risk to your reputation? Is this something you're proud of? You're clearly already well off.
  - froaway4job 5y ago
    This is probably a benefit of being in a major metro, working remotely, and general market conditions but I've never found it difficult to find another job. The past 10 years (essentially my working career) has been a great time to work and I've always hustled my way into making money or moving up somehow. I'm pretty realistic about starting a company in the future. I'm not looking to invest and burn millions. I'd like to bootstrap with the benefit of having a very large backstop to my personal finances. > Maybe you could retire. But I don't get the impression you're the type of person to retire - you're already retired if your jobs take "5-10 hours a week". I think it's cool that you recognize that. Not a lot of people understand that I'm basically financially retired. I think that's the point for me. I don't actually think I'm financially retired yet, but soon. Once I'm done "needing" to make money I'll stop "working" altogether and keep on enjoying my life with my family. By no longer "working" I mean maybe working a single engineering job or getting a real job like a teacher or police officer. Something like that. > So I have to ask what's the point of taking on the massive risk to your reputation? Is this something you're proud of? You're clearly already well off. Not proud or ashamed. It's a neutral feeling of doing my work and getting paid for it. I come from a middle class background that was devastated by the financial crisis so I know from experience that "well off" is subjective and not fixed. Sure I'm worth a few million, but that could go away easily. I'll take my time off once I have 3-4 times what a normal person would consider "well off".

altdataseller 5y ago

Yeah if you are going to work multiple “jobs”, at least make one of them a side startup or something that has the possibility of replacing your full time job eventually. Having 2 full time jobs forever is unsustainable, but yes he can make money for a short while

froaway4job 5y ago
Good point. Definitely don't plan on working like this for a long time. I'm building up my savings to make a few large investments and start my own company. Startup as a side job? That would take a ton of work. I typically only spend about 10-15 hours per week working each job.
- ryanchants 5y ago
  > start my own company Then the obvious question is: How would you feel if you had an employee doing the same?
  - froaway4job 5y ago
    Honestly, I would applaud them for the fact that they're doing their work so efficiently. If they're the type of person that gets a task and completes it in a quarter or half of the time expected, I think I made a good hiring decision. Heck, am I actually winning since I'm technically underpaying this person? I would consider looking into why I'm not challenging this employee. Maybe they need to be paid more or given more difficult tasks. I would talk to them and see if they wanted more, if not, fine they're doing their work and I'm paying them appropriately. Pretty simple really. What's the point of an employer getting upset about getting what they paid for?
- altdataseller 5y ago
  Startup as a side job is just meant to a way to bootstrap the company slowly so you don’t have to go all-out and take more risk.

froaway4job 5y ago

Perhaps I should be more open minded, but I have responded to a few comments with disagreements. I'll consider my responses and provide more open discussion. As far as the money goes, my math goes like this: - 1 job: 250-300K cash, 250-300K equity (at the high end, higher if I moved to management) - 4 jobs: My current situation is 225K avg cash (including bonuses) per job, 100K avg equity per job The picking up pennies in front of a bulldozer metaphor gets used a lot in when talking about risk/investment, but this risk/reward seems worth it. I'll take nearly 1.5mil in comp now versus spread out over 4-6 years. Also, I've been working like this for 4 years now (working between 2-4 jobs).

serjester 5y ago
Sounds like you're open minded - the upside is you make a couple million in the next couple years. Your downside is you're unemployable and dealing with potential lawsuits. Anecdotally I've known people that have made "errors of judgement" and it took them years to find another job. But let's say you pull this off. What then? You say you want to start a company but you're deluding yourself if you think it takes a couple million to do that. Constraints are a gift, you're more likely to burn through the couple million. Maybe you could retire. But I don't get the impression you're the type of person to retire - you're already retired if your jobs take "5-10 hours a week". So I have to ask what's the point of taking on the massive risk to your reputation? Is this something you're proud of? You're clearly already well off.
- froaway4job 5y ago
  This is probably a benefit of being in a major metro, working remotely, and general market conditions but I've never found it difficult to find another job. The past 10 years (essentially my working career) has been a great time to work and I've always hustled my way into making money or moving up somehow. I'm pretty realistic about starting a company in the future. I'm not looking to invest and burn millions. I'd like to bootstrap with the benefit of having a very large backstop to my personal finances. > Maybe you could retire. But I don't get the impression you're the type of person to retire - you're already retired if your jobs take "5-10 hours a week". I think it's cool that you recognize that. Not a lot of people understand that I'm basically financially retired. I think that's the point for me. I don't actually think I'm financially retired yet, but soon. Once I'm done "needing" to make money I'll stop "working" altogether and keep on enjoying my life with my family. By no longer "working" I mean maybe working a single engineering job or getting a real job like a teacher or police officer. Something like that. > So I have to ask what's the point of taking on the massive risk to your reputation? Is this something you're proud of? You're clearly already well off. Not proud or ashamed. It's a neutral feeling of doing my work and getting paid for it. I come from a middle class background that was devastated by the financial crisis so I know from experience that "well off" is subjective and not fixed. Sure I'm worth a few million, but that could go away easily. I'll take my time off once I have 3-4 times what a normal person would consider "well off".