Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or Employee

Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by slewis on Thursday September 28, 2017 @01:41PM (#15359190)

Here's my counter-anecdote. I hesitate to do this but I think it's nice for aspiring software engineers to have details.

I moved to San Francisco in 2006 straight out of college to work at Google as a SWE. I was $27k in debt (student loan + credit card). My rent was $1450 at the time (2 bedroom with a roommate in a nice part of town), and I took out a $26k loan to buy a car. I'm not particularly frugal.

I did well at Google, left in 2010 with >$200k saved, and used that to fund my entrepreneurial adventures from then til now.

I was very fortunate to land that job, YMMV.

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Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by driverdan on Thursday September 28, 2017 @01:52PM (#15359326)

So 7-11 years ago. Not very relevant anymore since the cost of living has increased significantly in SF since then.

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Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by kobeya on Thursday September 28, 2017 @03:02PM (#15359844)

Those numbers are still reasonable for the South Bay, which has just as much opportunity, or the East Bay where you could commute in to SF. Or for someone more frugal than the GP. I get what you're saying, but it's still possible to work.

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Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by rconti on Thursday September 28, 2017 @04:39PM (#15360529)

7-11 years ago everyone was saying exactly the same thing about the cost of living here as they are now.

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Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by jsmthrowaway on Thursday September 28, 2017 @02:04PM (#15359421)

$1,450/2BR in SF is the giveaway that this is a dated, and no longer even remotely likely, anecdote.

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Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by slewis on Thursday September 28, 2017 @02:15PM (#15359506)

That was my share, the total was $2750. Also, I didn't mention, but I paid $2k for my own one-bedroom for half that time. That same one-bedroom would be $3k today.

Salaries at Google have scaled with cost of living, so it seems relevant to me.

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Re:Three Paths in the Tech Industry: Founder, Executive, or ... by 0xdada on Thursday September 28, 2017 @02:12PM (#15359484)

Saving that much money (even adjusted) in 4 years is totally realistic though, so I'd say it passes as anecdote.

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