Ask HN: What lessons did you learn in 2021?

1. You manager is managing you to the benefit of himself and the company. Not yours... You are being played. The larger the corporation the harder you are being played.

2. You won't make any friends at work and after you leave it nobody will care.

3. When there's packages on the table take yours and get the hell out of the quagmire you work. You will find another job. (See 1 again).

4. Take deep breaths when you start feeling angry.

5. Don't work with teams where no-one ever reads any book.

6. Don't work with teams where they're holding one or more books as Gospels.

7. Do not work for arseholes. Unfortunately you'll usually know they're such after you spent some time working for them.

8. Do not kill yourself working so that somebody else can cash out big. Do not even sweat for such a cause.

9. Do not buy in mission-statements and culture. There's only one mission. To make profit. Prefer to work for someone that admits it.

Here are some of mine:

  - back yourself
  - if you don’t want to be seen as the “tech guy” in pitches, cut your hair
  - trademark even your side projects (made life changing $$$ by doing this)
  - your kids don’t appreciate NFTs as Xmas presents

Built it and they won't come unless you get serious about marketing.