As someone who's worked through the dot-com boom and crash of the 1990's, I can offer some perspective.
- Everything is relative: My salary is just now what it was at the top of the dot-com bubble about 14 years ago, and I've been promoted twice. That $150,000 offer the author mentions would be $250,000 if we used the wages for 1999, adjusted for inflation.
- Like all things, this is cyclical. In 1999, my email was jammed with messages from recruiters. In 2002, I could hardly get one to return my call. The same will happen with this latest enthusiasm for coders. In a couple of years, the startup scene may cool off considerably. You could end up grateful for a job that pays 1/2 the salary at a bank. Enjoy the free Red Bull and flexible hours while they last.
- You will be replaced. By someone younger, someone offshore, someone with newer skills. You can't change your age or nation of birth, so keep your skills sharp. I've gone from Pascal to Python in my career and will keep going. If you want money, look for the skills people will pay for. Lisp is a great language, but Java has had this great feature of paying my bills and then some.
- Make something people want. If they want you to make a micro social network for an apartment building, do it. Some of my best jobs (and money) have come from the mundane, like software help track toilet paper production costs. One of the wealthiest people I know started as an electrician. He now runs and a company of electricians and has the kind of money us start up folks dream of because he runs wires in houses in a city that went on a building boom.
- Realize that how much money people make doesn't relate to the value their job provides to society. Athletes can make incredible money, while people disarming bombs, fighting fires and repairing power lines make little. It's just a fact of life and it isn't fair. Left handed baseball pitchers have inherent value simply due to the fact that they are left handed on top of their ability to throw a ball. Coders make money right now because of the internet and the information age. Make the most of it and make the impact you want to make in the world.
- Everything is relative: My salary is just now what it was at the top of the dot-com bubble about 14 years ago, and I've been promoted twice. That $150,000 offer the author mentions would be $250,000 if we used the wages for 1999, adjusted for inflation.
- Like all things, this is cyclical. In 1999, my email was jammed with messages from recruiters. In 2002, I could hardly get one to return my call. The same will happen with this latest enthusiasm for coders. In a couple of years, the startup scene may cool off considerably. You could end up grateful for a job that pays 1/2 the salary at a bank. Enjoy the free Red Bull and flexible hours while they last.
- You will be replaced. By someone younger, someone offshore, someone with newer skills. You can't change your age or nation of birth, so keep your skills sharp. I've gone from Pascal to Python in my career and will keep going. If you want money, look for the skills people will pay for. Lisp is a great language, but Java has had this great feature of paying my bills and then some.
- Make something people want. If they want you to make a micro social network for an apartment building, do it. Some of my best jobs (and money) have come from the mundane, like software help track toilet paper production costs. One of the wealthiest people I know started as an electrician. He now runs and a company of electricians and has the kind of money us start up folks dream of because he runs wires in houses in a city that went on a building boom.
- Realize that how much money people make doesn't relate to the value their job provides to society. Athletes can make incredible money, while people disarming bombs, fighting fires and repairing power lines make little. It's just a fact of life and it isn't fair. Left handed baseball pitchers have inherent value simply due to the fact that they are left handed on top of their ability to throw a ball. Coders make money right now because of the internet and the information age. Make the most of it and make the impact you want to make in the world.