When I just moved to US I made less than 30K in my first year and I did not feel poor. In fact I made more that year that both of my parents combined. I also remember seeing a happy family at a parking lot near Lincoln Park in Chicago. They did not speak any English and they were all posing in front of a brand-new, shining red Toyota Corolla, laughing and taking pictures. It was probably their first brand-new car, very possibly an unthinkable achievement among their friends and relatives left in whatever country they were from. I am sure they felt richer at that moment than Paul does now.
I would like to re-phrase Paul's though, assuming I got it right. To westerners, who are already born rich by most standards, money most likely mean the freedom of doing whatever they feel like doing. PG mentioned it in his essays as the only driving factor behind programmers trying to make money - to set themselves free to work on problems they enjoy.
Thing is, you don't have to be rich to work on something that makes your life exciting. Joining a startup that fits your needs is another way of not wasting 2/3rds of your life while @work.
My personal pet theory is that most people, given appropriate education and development, are pre-programmed to work on something they love. This is precisely why so many Hollywood style millionaires like rock and movie stars end up dependent on drugs facing alcohol problems, etc. They never had any creative nuclei in them and had been working simply to put food on the table. And when they end up with more food that they can swallow, they literally go nuts: wealth can be dangerous, even life-threatening to unprepared.
Having millions is different than living on a 30k income vs a 60k income.
Someone like him is in a position to do whatever he wants for a few years without worrying about rent, food, or any basic needs.
I've done the startup thing. I've worked 9-5 er I mean 9-6, oh, wait it was more like 10-7:30. In the end, any job will require you to put up with things you don't like. Obviously, some jobs are a better fit than others.
I find the startup smugness naive.
For me, the numbers are like, $1M a year and $50K a year. This means that if I manage to maximize my enjoyment axis, I'm an enjoyment millionare. My personal goal in life is to be on the manifold that connects those two points.
(Of course, that blows a bit of a hole in the "be an entrepreneur to get rich" mindset, but I still think there's something to it.)
Yes
Is money still a really awesome thing?
Yes
I guess what I'm saying is that even if you need freedom to achieve maximum happiness, complete freedom also leaves you with a much greater chance of getting stuck in some minimal existence. Which basically describes about a quarter the population of Japan.
Also, more money doesn't always mean more freedom. Most people simply dig in deeper when they get a little more money. They buy a bigger house with a bigger mortgage, fancy cars, and other expensive junk. Then they're really hooked.
Wherein a slew of highly paid quantitative finance dudes argue about the optimal amount of money (to quit). I think most settled on about $10m/L5m.
