Ask HN: How can I make a lot of money?
I'm going to be a high school senior. I have great grades and SATs. I can go to a lot of different universities. What should I do and why?
I get to work in a job that I love, but I have always worked at a job that I loved. I loved it just as much when I thought it was a big deal to make $1,000. I urge you to work in jobs that you love. I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don’t like because you think it will look good on your resume. I was with a fellow at Harvard the other day who was taking me over to talk. He was 28 and he was telling me all that he had done in life, which was terrific. And then I said, “What will you do next?” “Well,” he said, “Maybe after I get my MBA I will go to work for a consulting firm because it will look good on my resume.” I said, “Look, you are 28 and you have been doing all these things, you have a resume 10 times than anybody I have ever seen. Isn’t that a little like saving up sex for your old age?
There comes a time when you ought to start doing what you want. Take a job that you love. You will jump out of bed in the morning. When I first got out of Columbia Business School, I wanted to go to work for Graham immediately for nothing. He thought I was over-priced. But I kept pestering him. I sold securities for three years and I kept writing him and finally I went to work for him for a couple of years. It was a great experience. But I always worked in a job that I loved doing. You really should take a job that if you were independently wealthy that would be the job you would take. You will learn something, you will be excited about, and you will jump out of bed. You can’t miss. You may try something else later on, but you will get way more out of it and I don’t care what the starting salary is.
When you get out of here take a job you love, not a job you think will look good on your resume. You ought to find something you like.
If you think you will be happier getting 2x instead of 1x, you are probably making a mistake. You will get in trouble if you think making 10x or 20x will make you happier because then you will borrow money when you shouldn’t or cut corners on things. It just doesn’t make sense and you won’t like it when you look back.
I was so stressed out from business things that I responded with, "Ya, I like 'em" Then a few seconds later I understood the joke. He laughed and with his mostly gray beard he said "Yeah that was grandfather-level"
That last part really stayed with me. Grandfather-level. I think the the grandfather-level advice is what you're looking for. It is hard to say without knowing more about you, but my guess is that you want to work toward the thing you really really like. If you don't know what you really like, learn while keeping costs to a minimum so that you can pivot to what you love once you find it.
I am going to disagree with most of the other posters around here and say you should try to maximize your monetary outcome. Those bankers everyone rips on ... if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it. CS is very intellectually stimulating but who is to say that the code I write is better for society than what something a banker does. I don't think that is the case. Academia is for the birds too ... you will be chasing peanuts of funding for years until you have a strong enough reputation.
If I was 18 again, I'd either become a medical doctor or directly go for entrepreneurship. And entrepreneurship is not just tech startups. Have enough b*lls to start a gas station or something. I've spend almost 2 decades learning technology and I am barely adequate. If I had spent half this time learning something like managing people, I think I would be far more successful according to my own metrics of success.
I honestly don't know what to tell you. Just one thing ... recognize the opportunities you are given and be mindful that you may not get the same opportunities again. So be the best you can be.
That said, I'm currently no expert on programming. I've self taught Python, HTML, CSS, some js, and I'm currently learning Ruby on Rails because my friend and I are working on making a web app (he's doing most of the programming, but it was my concept). Right now, I'm not sure if I should declare myself as a prospective CS major or not considering my lack of credentials. Economics would be much easier for me to justify.