Dir at FAANG makes $1-2M with probably less stress that comes from running-your-own-business.
How many podcasters at the level of $1-2M that works less than Dir at FAANG?
I rarely seen IndieHackers at that level (a select few who struck gold, not as "common" as Dir at FAANG).
Depends on how hard you run your own business. You can't go to $1M without driving hard. The ones that got lucky (struct on once-in-a-lifetime idea) typically don't stay up at $1M that long if they continue to run it like a side-hustle doing 20 hours per week.
> Directors at FAANG have wayyyy more pressure
That pressure is pushed down to the army of EMs and SWEs (-_-"). FAANG is a body shop because they have their hiring pipeline with potential candidates; they can afford to burn bodies (hi Netflix and Amazon :D :D).
> because you can always spin another SaaS
Not to $1M level that easily within 1-2 years...
> but is very hard to get another Director position at another company once you get fired from one
I don't know... I rarely seen Dir got fired and tailspin in the career. Can always go as Senior EM and climb up again.
> Also, your kids/family can inherit your business, but not your job.
This is the only thing that might be a WIN for entrepreneurship but now you have 2 worries: 1 running the company, 2 finding your successors.
This is false on average, even at FAANG, getting promoted to the next level doesn't boost your TC that much, the company assumes that the promotion on itself is good enough prize. You usually get a better deal applying to the next level at another FAANG.
> 1. They tend to work double jobs at frankly lo..... This is also false, plenty of people that work for small companies, even being a 10X , "rockstar" , ... developer, would never get "promoted" to the next level, because , there is no next level, and the C-level positions are reserved for friends and family, and in some occasion to outside experienced executives.
30 years ago, climbing the corporate ladder was "the way" to get ahead, nowadays, people with small mildly successful SAAS businesses, consultant companies, podcasters, indie hackers etc... make way more than any Director at FAANG.
This is a very "boomer" take in general, and is also pretty cringe.