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Lessons from my first exit

(mtlynch.io)
410 points saeedesmaili | 7 comments | 14 Nov 24 07:32 UTC | HN request time: 1.486s | source | bottom
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ffjffsfr ◴[14 Nov 24 12:19 UTC] No.42135513[source]▶
great write up.

> $920k over four years

so this gives an average yearly salary of 230k. Very close to FAANG senior salary with much more risk, effort and (probably) worse life-work balance. OP quit from google in 2018 and ran some other business, and this is his biggest sale so far. I think it shows how hard it is to make better money outside FAANG even when extremely talented and lucky like OP. But it's probably more about lifestyle choices.

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tempworkac ◴[14 Nov 24 12:32 UTC] No.42135591[source]▶
interesting to reconcile this with calls to tax the rich. maybe we should be rewarding such effort after all? think about the tens of thousands of jobs created from people working at Google who'd make L3 or less at Google working twice as much...
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dkdbejwi383 ◴[14 Nov 24 12:46 UTC] No.42135678[source]▶
I'm not sure I follow what you're saying. People who work at Google should pay more/less tax? Or that people who start companies should get more tax breaks (or pay more?)

I'm European so I don't really click with the obsession some places have with avoiding tax, so you may have to explain it like I'm 5 :-)

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1. thrw42A8N ◴[14 Nov 24 19:32 UTC] No.42140182[source]▶
Lol, Europe is the home and crown palace of tax evasion, look to the Netherlands, Ireland, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Jersey...
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2. dkdbejwi383 ◴[15 Nov 24 10:54 UTC] No.42145726[source]▶
In Europe most average people are happy to pay tax, despite there being a number of tax havens as you point out. I'd say most people have a low opinion of them. Versus the USA particularly, where it seems many people dislike paying tax.
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3. thrw42A8N ◴[15 Nov 24 11:12 UTC] No.42145828[source]▶
I have no idea what you're talking about. I don't know a single person happy with the tax rate or the general performance/effectiveness of government spending. Practically every single restaurant, bar or other kinds of brick-and-mortar shops is evading VAT and income tax, it's so normal that when I was buying winter tires this morning, they straight up asked me whether I need a receipt or want to skip the VAT over phone. Every single aspiring entrepreneur I talk to asks me how to incorporate in one of the tax havens and otherwise lessen the tax and bureaucratic load. My city is full of immigrants from western EU countries who wanted to pay less tax.
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4. disgruntledphd2 ◴[15 Nov 24 11:52 UTC] No.42146088{3}[source]▶
You're not in Western Europe, which is where more people tend to be happier to pay tax (particularly the Northwest/Protestant areas), because they believe they'll get the benefit from paying the taxes.

OTOH, look at places like Italy where there's more evasion, because people don't feel that they get anything back.

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5. thrw42A8N ◴[15 Nov 24 12:02 UTC] No.42146137{4}[source]▶
Even when I visit the west and tell people I pay 10% income tax with healthcare and social insurance included, they immediately ask me how hard is it to move.

Especially funny with Germans who still believe they are richer than the eastern part of Europe, but a SWE working for the same US company from here makes 10-20% more due to lower tax. The faces they make when they finish the mental calculations are incredible.

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6. disgruntledphd2 ◴[15 Nov 24 14:55 UTC] No.42147454{5}[source]▶
Yeah, that's fair. I can totally see why people without family commitments et al would move.

I'm not massively happy about the amount of tax I pay, but I do like living in a relatively prosperous society without too much suffering, so it's fine I suppose.

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7. thrw42A8N ◴[16 Nov 24 00:52 UTC] No.42153128{6}[source]▶
The thing is, I don't see a relatively prosperous society without too much suffering when I am visiting the west or north of Europe... At least not more than the east, and definitely not enough to justify the tax hike.

Generally, the east of EU is much safer and while it's poorer and that is its own kind of suffering, there's nothing like the bombings, muggings, general dirtiness everywhere, etc. I feel perfectly safe any time during day and night in Warsaw, Poznan, Prague, Brno, Bratislava, Ljubljana... Definitely not in Paris, Berlin, Brussels and so on.