patrick.net

DukeLaw says

There is easy money to be made in SV

That would be 1999.. when many IPOs occured. You mention only 2... but in both cases, the money has been lost once the value of the stock declines... and it did and it will.. way way overpriced.

DukeLaw says

There is easy money to be made in SV.....(and yes, it does affect the real estate prices in Mountain View--not just the google effect).

and that is why prices fell in SV, if you havent noticed.

I disagree that it is "easy money." You have to tirelessly bust your ass for years in hopes of cashing out from a startup-gone-public. If you have the work ethic & like living at work for some number of years, then yeah I guess it is "easy" money!

I have a buddy in the silicon valley has worked in a couple of semiconductor start ups. Basically he has helped designed chips. His complaint is after cranking 80 hour weeks for a few years, yes he makes several hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not crazy money, but in the end, each of his chips(per chip) sell for less than a pack of gum.

Have to agree here. I put in murderous hours at a US-Japanese joint venture startup back in 1999 (and am still there 13 years later). The only benefit we non-executives got was, after year four, one share of stock per year, which sold at that time for the equivalent of $13,000 per share. A sudden windfall of $52k was nice to have,and if I'd quit earlier I wouldn't have gotten it, but it really didn't make up for the years of sleep deprivation and misery.

burritos says

I have a buddy in the silicon valley has worked in a couple of semiconductor start ups. Basically he has helped designed chips. His complaint is after cranking 80 hour weeks for a few years, yes he makes several hundreds of thousands of dollars. Not crazy money, but in the end, each of his chips(per chip) sell for less than a pack of gum.

This is America. Honest work won't get you anywhere.

Want to make money? Get into the tobacco industry or banking. Or become friends with Mr. Bernanke and he'll print some money for you.

Regarding those hours:
http://www.salon.com/2012/03/14/bring_back_the_40_hour_work_week/
Quote: Productivity experts estimate that we’d have probably had the Mac a year sooner if they’d worked half as many hours per week instead.

OP clearly not in tech.

Working in Silicon Valley and to a similar extent in San Francisco is by far the most lucrative in the world (as far as non-exec employee or employees who brings in customers)

DukeLaw says

4 years of low-risk sweat equity

if it's so easy, why don't you move there and make yourself few million?

Anyone know of wealthy millionaires from Cavium Networks or Invensense ... both went IPO but you dont hear much about real tech company IPOs...

SFace says

Working in Silicon Valley and to a similar extent in San Francisco is by far the most lucrative in the world (as far as non-exec employee or employees who brings in customers)

the account execs and service engineers who drive sales and get fat commissions arent in the Bay Area.. they are out in the field... globally where the customers are!

It is not easy money, nor movie star money. But compare it to doctor, dentist, plumber or carpenter, all can do sweat work 80 hours per week without a chance to cash out $2M sometimes after 4 years.

Also remember this "get rich quick by working for a startup" only seems to be true if you are working for a software or perhaps a semiconductor company. I have yet to meet or hear of anyone who made it big in biotech startup.

My two friends iin SV spent multiple years at multiple startups. The only ones who got Rich were the owners. So one started his own start up. It is doing ok I suppose but no offers to buy it just yet.

LinkedIn at one point wasn't even planning to go IPO. It's always a risk when you join early if the company will even plan to go IPO one day. Even FB didn't need to go IPO, but because so many early investors wanted to cash out they were pressured to do so.

REpro says

But compare it to doctor, dentist, plumber or carpenter, all can do sweat work 80 hours per week without a chance to cash out $2M sometimes after 4 years

Of course, the other professions don't have a stake in the mothership, however, esp for dentists, it is possible to live a regular 40+ hour work week, earn a fine salary, and be financially stable for much of one's career.

To earn $2M in 4 years, typically, one needs to be a top prop trader or fund manager in finance. There, there's still a reasonable chance at a high salary, 200K+, even if one doesn't become a rainmaker and earn in the millions. In contrast, there were many 70-80 hour workers in technology who never got more than a standard $50-100K equity payout, after those 4 years in the dungeon.

MsAnnaNOLA says

My two friends iin SV spent multiple years at multiple startups. The only ones who got Rich were the owners. So one started his own start up. It is doing ok I suppose but no offers to buy it just yet.

I have about 4 friends that have spent time with different startups and never ended up with much of anything.

Ironically, the only friend I know that made bob from a startup went to work for Mark Cuban's Broadcast.com in Dallas exactly 10 days before Yahoo! bought them out. Cashed out $150k. Enough to buy a house in Dallas, but not retire on.

A very small group of people get lucky in Silicon Valley with easy money. Most folks could work at start-ups their entire lives and not see big returns for their efforts.

The big money is mostly about luck, not smarts. You need to have the right background and connections to be at the right place at the right time. The really honest folks who have made it big will admit that they're no smarter than lots of other people in SV.

Its all about risk taking. I feel I am making enough to be comfortable as long as I am not a home debtor. Startup would give a chance of a larger payout but also means worse quality of life.

You have to be in with people how have had successful exits so the personal social network in that respect is key to making money in SV.

I recently worked for two years for a startup that seemed destined for success and then stumbled. Made $0 off the stock (which is still not public, liquid, or worth much of anything...) And that story is told many times over by many people working at startups in the valley. And I know many who started their own companies, only to lose their personal investment and go back to the job market. So I agree there's a lot of luck and timing associated with this; it's not just take a number and win millions.