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Comment by startupdiscuss | Hacker News Reader

You're looking at it the wrong way (i think).

The point is not that he is starving, or that he is desperate. The point of that number is what he gave up!

The point is he gave up a job of 0.5 million, potentially 1 million in a few years. To top it off the job had reasonable hours, great people and he was getting positive feedback.

You would not expect people to give that up. The question is why?

Instead, you're pointing out how lucky he was. Well, that is his point! He was so lucky and is giving it up! Aren't you curious why?

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> You would not expect people to give that up. The question is why?

I would absolutely expect people to give that up, as well as any senior economist student would tell you, the labor preference curve is backward-bending after you start making a certain amount of money.

> He was so lucky and is giving it up! Aren't you curious why?

Not in the slightest. There are multiple studies saying that happiness plateaus after a certain amount of income. It's his life and he probably found his own plateau.

> I would absolutely expect people to give that up, as well as any senior economist student would tell you, the labor preference curve is backward-bending after you start making a certain amount of money.

Are you sure this is a good student? The bend in the curve demonstrates the preference for incremental wealth. So you might forego $500k to $600k. Going down to $0 takes you through the steepest part of the curve.

(I guess with interest on savings, the person is going down to something like $25k-$40k.)

> There are multiple studies saying that happiness plateaus after a certain amount of income. It's his life and he probably found his own plateau.

I am not sure what you mean by "probably found his own plateau".

Do you mean he found he didn't need as much money to live?

> I am not sure what you mean by "probably found his own plateau". Do you mean he found he didn't need as much money to live?

He figured out that living on $150k (stated elsewhere) and doing his own thing 24/7 gives him more utility and satisfaction than earning $500k and working at Amazon full time.

Neither one is particularly interesting, because it's already in dream territory for most people and if you gave them a choice of living on $150k and working on their own business (an enormous safety net), most people would be happy with those options.

But a plateau would just mean he quit advancing. This guy didn't stop on a plateau, he stepped off a cliff. That's a pretty big difference.

Exactly that.

Also, the people (me included) that don't question "why" are the people that would do the same if they had the opportunity. Of course anyone can create the opportunity for themselves, and of course the income and spendings are relative, but no matter how you slice it, a half a million safety net, or even 1/10th that, is still a pretty big help to take the decision.

He didn't give anything up. He can have his job back anytime he wants it back realistically. Title should be "Quitting your 9-5 is easy, just make sure you are loaded with $$$ and have the most in demand skill set on the planet."

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