10x engineers definitely exist.  Know a few and have hired a few. They are not 10x compared to anyone ever, but generally 10x to their currently aged or experienced peers.<p>They learn for fun.  They are endlessly curious.  They are incredibly humble and get things done.<p>They do get more done in their part time hours in the evenings than a full time equivalent.  More importantly, 10x really helps with building the quick things quickly and growing them as quickly as possible.