Why Non-engineers Think Engineers Are Better Off Joining Startups
We've done polls here on HN before of where people work. A significant percentage of the HN community work for companies that are not startups.<p>Sometimes even just reading on HN about people who are succeeding (or persisting) with their side projects or about successful startup founders or failed startup founders is enough to release the tension (momentarily) - to jump from a certain 9 to 5 reality to very real world of a real start-up.<p>The ability to leave your job at 5pm is very much a benefit, one that 99% of startups will never offer.<p>That being said, you will never become wealthy[1] without ownership of something that produces income. That will almost never happen at a BigCo. My mom had multiple patents - for which she got a nice lucite paperweight [2]<p>[1] My definition of wealthy == How long you can maintain your current, preferred lifestyle without working. This means building a semi-passive/semi-active income from your own products. Binging on consulting income isn't the same. Yes, you can adjust your preferred lifestyle to meet median cash flows.<p>[2] Example from the "Corporate & IP Recognition Company" (LOL)<p><a href="http://aztecawards.com/clear-lucite-silver-plate-sq12.html" rel="nofollow">http://aztecawards.com/clear-lucite-silver-plate-sq12.html</a>