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"Advice is like mushrooms. The wrong kind can prove fatal." This advice is bright red with white spots on it. The wisdom includes: Don't go to university. Set

"Advice is like mushrooms. The wrong kind can prove fatal." This advice is bright red with white spots on it. The wisdom includes: Don't go to university. Set up an online business that makes 5k/month without requiring you to work too much. Oh, and visit a strip club for some reason.

financltravsty 2y ago
Careers are not looking good long-term. Add in the exorbitant cost of uni in the US and dwindling entry level opportunities-- it's hard to see how going through the gauntlet of building a business (including learning valuable, tangible skills and building ones network out) could be much worse than... spending $40k-1m+ to roll the dice in hypercompetitive, saturated job markets. If you're of modest or lower means, what other choice do you have? Continue taking the advice of a bygone era and hope it works out? Foolish, really.
- keiferski 2y ago
  A person of modest or lower means should probably go into the trades. Electricians aren’t getting replaced by ChatGPT anytime soon.
  - financltravsty 2y ago
    The market is as competitive, the pay much worse, and the conditions -- barring the good grace of ability to getting into a union -- much worse!
    - keiferski 2y ago
      I don't think any of those things are true in any meaningful sense. The market isn't as competitive, the pay is perhaps worse compared to FANG-tier programming but good or better than most other professions, and the conditions are hardly that bad. They also aren't going to get replaced by AI tools, which is the more salient point.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - apothegm 2y ago
      There’s a huge and worsening shortage of people in trades in major cities as people who would have gone into them a generation and a half ago have increasingly been choosing college and white collar work instead. As a result, they can charge as much as they like, and rates and salaries are pretty good for anything that requires real skill. “Handyman” has mostly been replaced by Taskrabbit et al. But just try finding an electrician, a plumber, a roofer, someone who can lay tile or install windows properly, etc. for real home renovations or even just troubleshooting that goes beyond snaking a drain.
- jvanderbot 2y ago
  Software probably isn't the ticket to life changing riches it once was, but it's still a good enough career with good working conditions regular demand and broad appeal. Importantly I feel that general software dev is just levelling out around the career options for other similarly educated career tracks. Why we expected this track to always be a millionaire maker is beyond me. Go into surveying? You can fly drones around, be outside, use cool software, do real work, and have a decent middle class lifestyle.
- fancyfredbot 2y ago
  University may not be the right choice for everyone but blanket advice against a degree is not well thought out. There are medical, legal, financial, engineering, and educational jobs out there which require a degree. Yes the job market is competitive, but all the evidence I've seen suggests building a business is even harder.
jvanderbot 2y ago
This guy is entirely supported at the moment by a rabid fan base and a vibe coded flight sim with expensive DLC. https://fly.pieter.com/ https://fly.pieter.com/
- kinglawrence 2y ago
  Yeah, everyone knows who Levels is. It's a silly example to use. There's basically no one else like him, and the product only got this much traction because he's already an influencer. He's such an outlier.
  - jvanderbot 2y ago
    I guess I was today's 1/ 10,000 I had seen him on Twitter but took a second to connect this blog to that account.
    - kinglawrence 2y ago
      lol, that came off a bit more condescending than I intended. when I posted that I didn't actually realize he was the author either. I thought you were just using him as an example. I still stand by what I said that that guy's career path isn't exactly replicable.

financltravsty 2y ago

Careers are not looking good long-term. Add in the exorbitant cost of uni in the US and dwindling entry level opportunities-- it's hard to see how going through the gauntlet of building a business (including learning valuable, tangible skills and building ones network out) could be much worse than... spending $40k-1m+ to roll the dice in hypercompetitive, saturated job markets. If you're of modest or lower means, what other choice do you have? Continue taking the advice of a bygone era and hope it works out? Foolish, really.

keiferski 2y ago
A person of modest or lower means should probably go into the trades. Electricians aren’t getting replaced by ChatGPT anytime soon.
- financltravsty 2y ago
  The market is as competitive, the pay much worse, and the conditions -- barring the good grace of ability to getting into a union -- much worse!
  - keiferski 2y ago
    I don't think any of those things are true in any meaningful sense. The market isn't as competitive, the pay is perhaps worse compared to FANG-tier programming but good or better than most other professions, and the conditions are hardly that bad. They also aren't going to get replaced by AI tools, which is the more salient point.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - apothegm 2y ago
    There’s a huge and worsening shortage of people in trades in major cities as people who would have gone into them a generation and a half ago have increasingly been choosing college and white collar work instead. As a result, they can charge as much as they like, and rates and salaries are pretty good for anything that requires real skill. “Handyman” has mostly been replaced by Taskrabbit et al. But just try finding an electrician, a plumber, a roofer, someone who can lay tile or install windows properly, etc. for real home renovations or even just troubleshooting that goes beyond snaking a drain.
jvanderbot 2y ago
Software probably isn't the ticket to life changing riches it once was, but it's still a good enough career with good working conditions regular demand and broad appeal. Importantly I feel that general software dev is just levelling out around the career options for other similarly educated career tracks. Why we expected this track to always be a millionaire maker is beyond me. Go into surveying? You can fly drones around, be outside, use cool software, do real work, and have a decent middle class lifestyle.
fancyfredbot 2y ago
University may not be the right choice for everyone but blanket advice against a degree is not well thought out. There are medical, legal, financial, engineering, and educational jobs out there which require a degree. Yes the job market is competitive, but all the evidence I've seen suggests building a business is even harder.

jvanderbot 2y ago

This guy is entirely supported at the moment by a rabid fan base and a vibe coded flight sim with expensive DLC. https://fly.pieter.com/ https://fly.pieter.com/

kinglawrence 2y ago
Yeah, everyone knows who Levels is. It's a silly example to use. There's basically no one else like him, and the product only got this much traction because he's already an influencer. He's such an outlier.
- jvanderbot 2y ago
  I guess I was today's 1/ 10,000 I had seen him on Twitter but took a second to connect this blog to that account.
  - kinglawrence 2y ago
    lol, that came off a bit more condescending than I intended. when I posted that I didn't actually realize he was the author either. I thought you were just using him as an example. I still stand by what I said that that guy's career path isn't exactly replicable.