Happiness doesn’t provide good health care to my wife and kids, or help me retire years earlier (I get to save >$100k/year because we live in a low cost of living area). I suggest a hobby if you want to be happy, as well as time with your family and loved ones.

Be careful about those who offer you emotional fulfillment or purpose in your job. There’s always a cost.

So much truth in here... Specially for the "just funded" startups : they loose their souls fast when the investors start to get impatient. It's a trap in so many cases.

So do you work remote to live in a low cost of living area? Just curious how many big salary opportunities are in low cost of living areas.

I work remote because I demand flexibility. I live within 20 minutes of one of my org's offices, but prefer the ability to work from where ever I want. I just happen to enjoy the low cost of living locale I live in.

Very few YC startups allow remote work and a large percentage are in expensive areas like the bay.

This is such a massive point right here ... there is so much talent, either already in "far flung" parts of the country; or currently in a place like SF, but who long to move "back home" for any number of reasons.

Having startups be more remote-friendly by default would be a huge boon for everyone involved.

This might be the one and only competitive advantage startups can offer over the big (and even mid sized) tech companies now. As previously mentioned, the compensation is so large at the established tech companies, and the (mostly) false promises of startup wealth are largely debunked, that allowing all workers the ability to move to lower cost areas or back home but still work in a dynamic industry is very appealing.

One of the risks of remote work is the next opportunity. What happens if you land a great remote job, move your family across the country, and then realize the new job/boss/company is not a great fit? Right now, it can be a challenge to find a comparable position offering full time remote flexibility. But if all startups offered full time remote, then the network effect occurs, leading more candidates to want this option and opening up a larger pool of qualified applicants for startup companies to work with.

If YC could facilitate this industry trend, you could be helping startups with talent acquisition, helping workers establish better lives in lower cost locales, helping to spread tech talent and opportunities around the country, and helping the Bay Area (and other highly impacted tech hubs) ease some of the housing and transportation issues. If this is a successful startup trend, I guarantee the big tech companies will follow.

Agreed that this is a big competitive advantage that smart founders should take advantage of. Doesn't mean you need to go 100% remote, but by being flexible on location you offer a pretty compelling alternative to a big tech co salary.

Ah, but here is the rub. If you want to work remote, who would you rather work for? An employer as established as possible (with less risk of going under) or a startup which might not even be around next year? Being remote, new opportunities might not be easy to come by, especially if the startup folds due to an economic downturn which is affecting other startups as well.

While hiring remote makes sense for startups, working for a startup might not be the best option for remote workers.

Sounds like you should found a remote friendly startup!

Plenty of money floating around. Find another remote friendly guy and go to town!

Seems how most remote friendly places have started...

I found a loophole to all this madness. I joined a company that was not remote-friendly, moved a couple hours away after about a year, and told them I'd be happy to continue working for them remotely. They obliged :)

Having been on both sides of this, this is usually career suicide.

Not to say you get fired, but you miss too much. You miss watercooler talk. You miss the invite to a new project. You get sent maintenance and bug work.

If you want to work a 9-3 and coast, sure. If you want to do cool stuff and move up the chain? Being remote in a local company is totally suicide.

Pick me!

This is true! However, there are still many quality startups elsewhere.

I’ll admit I would not choose to join one if they were to force me to live in SF and not give me a competitive salary.

yes, but startups aren't really very good at optimizing for other things. The stressful nature of startups are usually bad for happiness.

Startups are really good at providing two things - a sense of being able to affect change and working on something novel/new (assuming you actually go with a startup that does something new)

I’ve been reliably surprised with how many startup employees enjoy some level of stressful problem solving. Maybe it overlaps with being a workaholic to some degree?

Those other optimizations select for financially independent individuals and young, single individuals coming from an affluent background. It's an oblique way to maintain an "old boys'" network and discriminate by age.