Coming up on 50 in a few short months.
Been there done it all, from humble beginnings to the upper echelons of big five corporates.
Had the whole house in the burbs with the three car garage and five cars, the dance music studio in the basement.
Stock options and pay up the wazoo.
The money wasn't the problem, the environment was.
The cash just wasn't enough
More importantly my mental health was suffering.
Specifically I wanted to continue being a professional developer with a private space, a shared space and above all work with extremely talented people on serious projects.
My colleagues and myself didn't need break out rooms and enumerable meetings to get stuff done, because creation just happened.
So my wife and I gave it all up and started doing start-ups. She's from a similar background and couldn't stand the facade of modern corporate culture either.
Emotionally draining and ultimately unproductive. You get tired seeing a team of a hundred doing work that can be done with a team of ten or less.
Checked out of corporate and went for a walk in the metaphorical desert.
Came back from it rediscovered the joy of programming, dispersed all my assets and started again.
Now we do things on our own terms and with a low impact that we believe in.
Somehow great people, young and old appear out of nowhere and want to help. That's awesome, and we learn from each other.
Hopefully soon our current project will be released and maybe even useful.
The main thing is you don't need a lot honestly in this business. Patience and just wanting to do the right things goes an awful long way.
I say screw corporate culture, at least SV culture. It's nothing a mirage designed for churn and burn and cares less for actual humans
I mean just look how FAANGM create actual cities around their campus to suck you in.
I'm sorry but that isn't normal. It may be convenient, it may be fun when you are young, but it isnt natural and it creates echo chambers and bubbles that are not sustainable.
My hat is off to anyone who does this job, young or old, it's tough.
But please do it for the right reasons, know that you have to be in it for the long game and the game gets bigger every single day.
Good luck people.
And by the way..
It's worth it