This is related to the 10x debate, but kind of tangential to this post: If you are actually 10x and super-duper smart, you're probably undervalued as an employ

This is related to the 10x debate, but kind of tangential to this post: If you are actually 10x and super-duper smart, you're probably undervalued as an employee at any company. For example, companies have actively colluded to lower rates, so you are fighting to be on top of a sinking ship. Although salaries are probably still rising, you should really be a consultant if you actually want to get paid what you're worth. [0] If your 10x comes from natural talent and work ethic, you should seriously consider moving to security (app, embedded, web, whatever) to help prevent governments from robbing the interwebs of privacy and security. [1] I'm blatantly arguing for 10x people to strive for a 'higher calling' and to get out of line-of-business software development if they are actually this person. In all likelihood, you will probably be better compensated as a consultant in this side of the software field anyway. I do realize there are other noble pursuits outside of security, so good on you if you're chasing that already. [0] http://www.kalzumeus.com/2015/05/01/talking-about-money/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2015/05/01/talking-about-money/ [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden etc