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Comment by ipnon | Hacker News Reader

After crashing and burning the startup rodeo, I gave up. I live off my savings, dabble in crypto for some income, and work on my own software to sell. I've never been happier. Silicon Valley didn't seem to want me anyway.

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Nothing wrong with that. SiValley is fucking toxic and I'd leave in a second if I could afford to(mid-life divorce... long story). Leave SiValley for the folks that need to be there(for ego, for money, to satisfy the lofty goals instilled by their society/family/etc). You'll lead a much more fulfilling life in a normal town with your friends and family around you.

Whatever lets you sleep at night.

> You'll lead a much more fulfilling life in a normal town with your friends and family around you.

This is a false dichotomy. Leaving SV has nothing to do with your friends and family situation. So you can leave SV and be completely alone, or bored, or stuck in a toxic community. And you can also have family and friends in SV.

When I used to complain about the dearth of jobs in my region of the country(Midwest US), people would often say something along the lines of "well duh, the jobs are in SV and the coasts, you've gotta move." This means that I would have to move halfway across the country to one of the most expensive cities in the planet just to have an opportunity for a good job?

There's no way. My family is here. They don't work in tech, they couldn't afford the insane cost of living.

There is a middle ground. I work for a company that is pretty low stress. Salary is also a lot lower than FANG but I'm pretty steady at 40 hours a week and I don't have to live off of savings.

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