Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

https://www.indiehackers.com/@dvassallo/why-i-quit-a-500k-job-at-amazon-to-work-for-myself-36639e3975

by ausjke • 7 years ago

14 7 7 years ago

krisrm• 7 years ago

"What is out there that I could do that would make me excited waking up every day for the next 45 years that could also earn me enough money to cover my expenses?"

This isn't to diminish what the author says - I'm glad he's found his independence, and I hope he finds the "intrinsic motivation" he's looking for.

For me, I think I've more or less shed the illusion that I'm always going to be excited about work. Or even that I'm normally going to be excited about work. I love my job, and sometimes it's great, but it's usually not "exciting". It's strange to me that people in our industry place such importance on our emotions about work, to the point where not being thrilled by our work is seen as some sort of career failure.

gicadin• 7 years ago

Our position is unique where we are able to make a significat amount of money without the large time investment of other professions. Doctors/Lawyers mach our salaries only after a significantly longer time ( school and experience). after investing 10-15 years of their time to such a career its a lot harder to give up and pursue your dreams. This is my explanation why its so easy for people to give up on such high paying jobs in our industry but does not happen across other sectors

johnwheeler• 7 years ago

Question for current/previous Amazon employees: How much of that compensation is likely due to stock rewards vs salary?

lochlan• 7 years ago

Most of it. Base salary caps out at $160k except for NY/SF where it caps out at $180k. Once you get into the higher levels most of your comp is stock, which historically has worked out very well for Amazon employees.

Psyonic• 7 years ago

Base salary of $200K or more is definitely achievable for senior (level 5 or higher) engineers at big name companies in SF. I have friends who recently changed jobs so I know this for certain.

That said, the stock offers were excellent as well, sometimes more than salary.

boolean• 7 years ago

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19135399

jfjiuhuewfhhw• 7 years ago

the same author keeps posting the same content over and over again. https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=DVassallo,

I have seen this many times ... enough!

Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

Related Stories