<i>&gt;since I outgrew the idea that I need to erect some kind of monument to myself in order to validate my existence.</i><p>I know you&#x27;re generalizing but I don&#x27;t think vanity &quot;monuments&quot; is accurate of most techies&#x27; aspirations.<p>People just want FU money:  comfort, security, and freedom.  The &quot;<i>starting a succesful software based company</i>&quot; is a reasonable shorthand for FU money for techies because if programmers are going to get rich, they&#x27;re not going to do it by striking oil in their backyard or acting as leads in Star Wars films.  If people don&#x27;t have fu money by the time they&#x27;re 40-something, they question their current job, their previous life choices, and their future possibilities.  People can get bummed out and even question their abilities -- aka wondering why they procrastinate and can&#x27;t focus (e.g. &quot;Damnit! I&#x27;m too distracted with social media!&quot;)<p>I think most programmers would be absolutely fine with being &quot;not so famous&quot; like Chris Hughes[1] with a net worth of $450 million instead of the more well-known Zuckerberg with $40 billion.  Zuckerberg&#x27;s face is on all the magazine covers but most programmers would be ok with no publicity and $450 million.<p>I don&#x27;t think the percentage of techies with the ego to be the next Larry Ellison or Steve Jobs is that high.  Maybe I&#x27;m wrong.<p>[1]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Facebook" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Facebook</a>