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> There’s not all that much being done that demands thirty years of experience That is key isn't it. I don't live either in the Valley, but observe it through

by gutnor 13y ago

> There’s not all that much being done that demands thirty years of experience That is key isn't it. I don't live either in the Valley, but observe it through HN goggles. There seems to be an infinite amount of money thrown to vastly similar projects. That's like brute forcing as much marketing ideas as possible and see what sticks, using cheap resources cajoled into that life by ego boosting measures: countless meet-up, conferences, conveniently all across the country (amazing how traveling makes people feel important). You are no mere developers, you are talents. Only you can do it, and your time is running short: by the time you are 30 you are braindead. Do it, you only have one chance to show the world who you really are. Reminds me of the 90's, it used to be selling stuff online, now it is distributing ads. Hopefully this time it will not stop violently like it did last time, and for the time being that is at least a sector where money go to the younger generation. The negative point IMO, is that prominent figures try too hard to drive people off school. Sure education price is absurd in the US and I understand that a ROI is necessary, however, there are many many industries that will not look at you without that piece of paper. When time get tough (and they will, a career is 40 years long !) even the company that are hip and open right now will use that token when scanning a stack of similar looking resume. They did the same trick during the Internet bubble. Countless of people self learned development, change career, and paid the price after the bubble had exploded. PHP God / Web Developer was a golden ticket to any company or sector, but as of 2002, you better had that backed by some formal education to catch a high paying job, or even a job at all.

api 13y ago
Yeah I think that's the crux of the age-ism too. Anything that's going to lead anywhere in the same solar system as consciousness uploading is going to be a wee bit harder than serving ads at volume from the cloud. The lack of a large enough market for skills at that level speaks of the lack of problems that hard being tackled. You're right about SV being underpaid, too. Those salaries look big until you factor in the cost of living and the number of hours you work. Hint: If you make $120,000/year and work 60 hours a week, you actually make about $80,000/year when compared to someone who works 40 hours a week and makes $80,000/year. Now plug that into your cost of living calculator in a city with $3000/month for entry level rent. Now you make the same as someone who makes $50,000/year in Austin, Texas. Six figure recent college grads in SF/SV are cheap labor. Oh, and I wonder who owns all that real estate? It couldn't be the same people who own a lot of the VC funds and large shares of the tech companies could it? Think about the journey the money is taking from the point it reaches your pocket. If that's true, it ends up right back where it started in short order minus taxes. Bottom line: You are a business selling your labor. Your net profit per hour worked is what you make, not your gross income. If you live check to check, you make nothing. Edit: The only minor wrinkle here is debt. If you have a lot of debt, then making the numbers bigger works to your advantage provided you use those bigger numbers to reduce your debt in nominal terms. Example: paying 10% of a 100k income against your debt will pay it off exponentially faster than paying 10% of a 60k income. This is why politicians love inflation. So if you have a 200k student loan maybe you should chase big numbers in nominal terms until that's gone.
- humanrebar 13y ago
  Also, saving 15k of a 120k income is probably easier than saving 15k of a 50k income.

by gutnor 13y ago

api 13y ago

Yeah I think that's the crux of the age-ism too. Anything that's going to lead anywhere in the same solar system as consciousness uploading is going to be a wee bit harder than serving ads at volume from the cloud. The lack of a large enough market for skills at that level speaks of the lack of problems that hard being tackled. You're right about SV being underpaid, too. Those salaries look big until you factor in the cost of living and the number of hours you work. Hint: If you make $120,000/year and work 60 hours a week, you actually make about $80,000/year when compared to someone who works 40 hours a week and makes $80,000/year. Now plug that into your cost of living calculator in a city with $3000/month for entry level rent. Now you make the same as someone who makes $50,000/year in Austin, Texas. Six figure recent college grads in SF/SV are cheap labor. Oh, and I wonder who owns all that real estate? It couldn't be the same people who own a lot of the VC funds and large shares of the tech companies could it? Think about the journey the money is taking from the point it reaches your pocket. If that's true, it ends up right back where it started in short order minus taxes. Bottom line: You are a business selling your labor. Your net profit per hour worked is what you make, not your gross income. If you live check to check, you make nothing. Edit: The only minor wrinkle here is debt. If you have a lot of debt, then making the numbers bigger works to your advantage provided you use those bigger numbers to reduce your debt in nominal terms. Example: paying 10% of a 100k income against your debt will pay it off exponentially faster than paying 10% of a 60k income. This is why politicians love inflation. So if you have a 200k student loan maybe you should chase big numbers in nominal terms until that's gone.

humanrebar 13y ago
Also, saving 15k of a 120k income is probably easier than saving 15k of a 50k income.