> One guy goes to work straight out of college, saves strategically, quits and starts his own SAP consultancy in 5 years, and is worth a few million by age 30.
I guess this is me. I fit this rubric, and now I deal with $100k+ sums on a quarterly basis. On an annual level it goes into the hundreds of thousands. I'm by no means wealthy (I do not own significant amounts of property, for example) but I am capable of fundamentally understanding large sums of money on a personal and professional level.
Dealing with money is definitely a skill that is taught. If you don't have parents or a business partner or someone else in your life that teaches you the old-fashioned way (through unflinching and strict discipline and what borders on verbal abuse when you fuck up), you're never going to learn. The credit card companies and banks are not this person/entity.
Might want to add that I pay myself about 50 grand a year beyond business expenses (which admittedly covers my "luxuries" - mostly my auto lease and eating out). Without leveraged overhead (mortgage, student loans, business loans, credit card, etc) it's surprising how little money I need to live a comfortable life.
Interesting. It's interesting how toro used to be the piece of the tuna that was either thrown away or the fisherman kept it because no one else wanted it. Today it's nearly a delicacy. Funny how perceptions change.
You know, that's basically what Microsoft tried to do with internet explorer, but they ran up against such vehement opposition I'm pretty convinced that's why the concept hasn't progressed.
Next up is Google with Chrome/OS/Android, will they be perceived as Evil also? Only time will tell.
Programmers (or software engineers, if you like) almost never ask / negotiate what they're really worth. I don't see how it would be any different in finance.
Probably so. However on Wall Street in general (especially in areas investment banking portfolio management, high frequency trading, etc) programmer salaries in the 100-150k range is the norm. Part of that is simply NYC cost of living, of course, but 60k is really seriously low, even for an entry level gig.
> programmer salaries in the 100-150k range is the norm
This is the norm outside of Wall St as well, for anyone who has actual talent and/or experience and isn't a spineless pushover. For example, a truly talented sales engineer can easily make $250k/year + benefits and equity compensation.
The ISx50 is actually not anything like the Corolla -- it's rear wheel drive (or rear biased AWD) and has a different chassis.
Interestingly, there is a luxury version of the Civic in Canada, it's called the Acura 1.6EL. Other than the fact that it shares sheet metal with the Civic, I'm not sure why it's not sold here.
There's always some gearhead out there eager to pounce on every little inaccuracy in order to impress everyone with their deep knowledge of automobiles, isn't there?
I'd imagine that CNBC chose the location and not Gates or Buffett. It seems like the most obvious place for them to hold an event such as this (excluding perhaps the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting).
Edit: Apparently that came off as sarcastic, it wasn't supposed to be.
Get into computers/UNIX/Linux when you're 13. Start working at startups when you're 15 as a junior sysadmin/scripter. Continue doing contract work through college. Become an expert UNIX developer by the time you are 21.
After college, work a few years for a company doing a high-end specialty product such as enterprise search or ERP system. Work on big client accounts. You want to beef up your resume at this point.
After 4 years start your own consulting firm in this space. Earn $150/hr+ for 30 or so hours/week doing consulting work and charge $5k/month/server for managed hardware running aforementioned enterprise platforms.
At this point you'll easily be making $250k, probably closer to $350k.
Or you could learn how to program in college and spend years 21-30 writing shitty web apps for startups, hoping to strike it rich when you're not a founder (stupid). This is what most people do.
Moral of the story: either do high end enterprise work, or be a startup founder. You will surely get screwed otherwise. This is a brutal industry and those who don't choose their paths wisely become wage slaves who make significantly less than blue collar tradesman.
That's a cruel way to look at it. If the guy is more interested in spending time with his family than working, and he's able to find someone who values his 8 hours enough to provide stable employment, then he's found a working arrangement that suits his values. As long as he believes in those values -- and isn't just accepting them by societal default -- there's no reason he should feel guilty.
As long as he believes in those values -- and isn't just accepting them by societal default -- there's no reason he should feel guilty.
Totally agree. But these values are so often a societal default, and so often never thought about except in how to extrapolate with those values as a basis.
Making a point like this can result in one of three things: the reader already though of this, and acknowledges it as such; the reader discards the insight as irrelevant or wrong; or, the reader feels a sense of cognitive dissonance, and starts to analyze the statement in the context of their core values.
The statement itself was just matter of fact. I didn't pick up any sense of judgment; more of making the point that A implies B, and that the original commenter should make sure he's comfortable accepting both premises. I don't see anything wrong with making sure that people are consciously aware of what their values imply.
I'm not trying to be cruel, I'm reminding him that his (salaried) labor is making someone else wealthy. For those of us who have well developed senses of self-esteem, this is a wholly unacceptable situation.
It seems that you look down on those who work as salaried labor. I would not want to work for you. I hope that whatever project you're working on can be done with just you and a cofounder.
Right. Well, I'm real sorry you decided to get married early and have children, but don't take it out on those of us who know what's really going on in this world.
Never forget that the someone else's ambition is only achieved through people like him willing to help realize it.
There is no "good" or "bad" in recognizing your particular comfort zone. The only issue arises in you continuing to do something outside of your comfort zone, and that's as true as being an entrepreneur when you hate it as much as it is being an employee when you hate it.
Not a problem. Just something that should be consciously acknowledged and accepted as best against alternatives, not something that is unconsciously drifted into due to inertia, familial/societal expectations, or anything else that removes the individual from a sense of responsibility for their decisions.
$100 jeans are a signal of taste.