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There is no place like Silicon Valley where taking a career risk to quit a job and start a company is normalized, understood, and encouraged.
by shinkim0914 6y ago
There is no place like Silicon Valley where taking a career risk to quit a job and start a company is normalized, understood, and encouraged.
- earthscienceman 6y ago... that's because it's not a career risk when you're a multi millionaire who will just be rehired by your friends if your venture fails.
- WalterGR 6y agoWho are these multi millionaires? Clearly I know the wrong people in tech in the Bay Area.
- opportune 6y agoProbably most people I work with in their 30s or 40s are multimillionaires.
- WalterGR 6y agoYeah? On paper, 401k, or elsewhere? Where have they worked and for how long? Because in my experience, the “everyone who works at a FAANG is a multi-millionaire” meme is 100% bullshit. Especially when I read things like https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26336029 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26336029
- astrange 6y agoWhat company uses the scale in this comment? (IC5 IC6 IC7 etc)
- opportune 6y agoI never said everybody is, but I do think most people who have been at FAANG or companies that pay in the same ballpark like trendy late stage pre-ipo companies for 10+ years are or are close (especially if we define multimillionaire as >2m networth including 401k and house equity, and include household wealth for married couples). My other comment you linked I still stand by. But you don't need to be IC6/L6/E6, refreshers and equity appreciation are very powerful if you are lucky enough to get both.
- refurb 6y agoDefinite humblebrag here.
- mrgordon 6y agoMaybe you should check what some of their houses are worth lol
- WalterGR 6y agoThe people I know in tech in the Bay Area rent. It’s their parents, who bought their properties in the 1980s or before, who are the land-owners. That said, I’d definitely be interested to see actual statistics about own vs. rent for people in tech in the Bay.
- katbyte 6y agoIf your talented and fail at starting your own company it won’t be very hard to find a job in sv
- notsureaboutpg 6y agoIf you get an entry level TC of 140k and save 50% of it, you'll be a millionaire in 15 years. That's without any kind of growth, investment, stock options growing in value, raises, etc.
- dang 6y agoI don't think that's the primary reason, nor as common as you imply. The old saw about how SV is a place where failure isn't disrespected is closer to the truth.
- shinkim0914 6y agoWhy doesn’t that happen elsewhere?
- baby 6y agoYet with the high rents and the lack of universal healthcare it takes a crazy person to take such a risk. I personally will start my startup from abroad when the time is right.
- shinkim0914 6y agoYes, it’s still risky. But at least you’re still understood because of the pervasive startup culture in SV. Everyone in SV can relate to startups. I think what’s tough outside of SV is that people don’t relate to startups. People might think you’re just weird.
- baby 6y agoWho cares if your investors are from sv but you’re based elsewhere?
- astrange 6y agoThe investors care. Traditionally they wouldn't fund anyone who wasn't in easy reach. It's also easier to hire employees since they're all in SV.
- tolbish 6y agoI am curious. What else do investors "traditionally" care about? I am referring to aspects that aren't always explicit, like physical proximity. Do investors not also want (competent) exceptions that stand out?
- bsenftner 6y agoInvestors want to meet a slightly smarter but younger version of themselves. This makes them feel comfortable with the risk of their investment, they imagine all kinds of congruencies between you and them, even if they don't exist. They want to convey some nugget of wisdom that you, the entrepreneur, reverence as they key to their success. But most of all, they want you to be a money tree that buds and flowers and bears fruit continually, to the degree the generated revenues are a problem. Anything less, and they go silent for a while before applying pressures with rarely helpful advice from non-technology or old-technology backgrounds.
- cblconfederate 6y agohe says that the question is what kind of company one will build
- drawkbox 6y agoAdditionally, California is one of the only states that doesn't recognize non-competes [1], that is key for innovation and competitors coming up including small/medium competitors. This part is always overlooked. > A few states, such as California, Montana, North Dakota, and Oklahoma, totally ban non-compete agreements for employees, or prohibit all non-compete agreements except in limited circumstances. [1] There is also a massive augmented wave coming that is heavily underestimated and will change everything. The future is heavily content creation in new phases of technology which are huge. Overall, it is better to have a virtual economy that uses less resources than a physical one. The new markets are definitely remote and that is how you communicate with most people now even in the same building, so being physically in California isn't as needed. Though the policies of not recognizing non-competes needs to go nationwide. Non-competes are anti-innovation, anti-worker, anti-business, anti-competition and only help the bigs. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-compete_clause#United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-compete_clause#United_Stat...
- ghaff 6y agoTons of companies that aren't in California don't have non-competes or have very limited ones. I've never had a meaningful non-compete in the course of my career. (Had a very narrow one when one company was acquired.) I'm certainly not a fan of non-competes but note that, even in California, a company can drag you into an expensive court battle over non-solicitation clauses, NDAs, etc. It's also a matter of non-competes not being enforceable in general. A small company may still choose not to hire you if they think there's a possibility they may need to go to court.
- snovv_crash 6y agoI've had 3 in a row in Europe. I doubt they would have been enforceable, but from conversations with colleagues they certainly had a chilling effect.