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If you go the hard labor route you will break your body eventually and need that retirement or pension. So plan ahead.

If you go the management route you're in good shape for employment and retirement (people don't really change), but you usually have to start by being good at whatever you're managing.

You have chosen a career with high rates of change and disruption, but you're hoping to avoid changing and being disrupted. This is not a winning solution. You may be able to survive for a few years in a lagging employer (large boring corporations, government agencies, certain non-technical family businesses). But eventually, the disruption will come for you too, and you'll find that your cushy job has disappeared and you've been replaced by a $10/mo SaaS.

You need to change something. You can upgrade your mindset to work in a high-churn industry or you can shift your skills and expectations to a low churn industry. But I guarantee it won't get any easier as you get older.

Think of it this way: the Jobs spend was going to happen anyway. But instead of high-speed trains to nowhere (hello California!) we get rovers on Mars. Wasteful, but not a total waste.

2. It depends on whether that amount is worth your sanity and family life.

I almost have to admire it. As a society we have distressingly short memories.

The company will be valued primarily on the final year's revenue. To be a "good deal", the total amount of revenue over 3 years must be <= 8% of the valuation. Since companies are normally valued at 3-5x revenue, that means that the final year's revenue represents 20%-33% of the valuation. No one will ever pay 20% of the value of the company to own 8%.

1. Decide how much money the state needs in taxes to fund the various pieces of infrastructure (roads, schools, etc).

2. Value everyone's property. Divide up the tax proportionally based on property value. If your house is worth twice as much as your neighbor, you should pay twice as much tax.

The interesting thing about this approach is that it creates a stable tax income rate for the state and mostly eliminates market fluctuations. Did the economy boom? Ok great, your house is now worth 50% more but so is your neighbor's house, so the ratio is the same and you pay the same tax as the prior year. Same mechanism works in reverse during a crash.

With this method, the tax paid directly relates to the budget. Spending too much? It's not the economy's fault, it's yours: maybe try voting for different initiatives (or representatives) next time.

This also aligns the incentives for older residents. If an area is economically static you should expect city budgets (and taxes) to increase roughly in line with inflation. If the area grows and develops and becomes a much more interesting place to live, it's no longer the same city. You have the option to pay for those increased services or you can move... similar to the way that you'll pay more rent if the landlord remodels your apartment building. But in fact, the effect is moderated: a house built in 1930 will probably be less valuable than new 2021 construction so the hold-out retiree should see taxes that increase at a rate less than the average.

Very accurate forecasts for a specific spot are possible, but today require a trained meteorologist. In practice, the only time people are willing to pay for this expertise are when they're running an airport, planning a war, or launching / landing a spacecraft.

Perhaps in the future we'll have enough compute power on demand for anyone to accurately model on-demand forecasts for specific spots.

https://medium.com/startup-grind/keeping-your-new-startup-a-...

2. HDR. I saw a demo monitor back in the early 2000s. It was a 12-inch display with a full array of white LED backlights, individually addressable. They had it running next to a normal monitor and the difference in dynamic range was unbelievable. The company that made that demo unit was ultimately purchased by Dolby.

3. VR. I got a demo of the HTC Vive when it was still pre-market and could not believe the lack of latency and true sense of realism. It was a mind-expanding moment.

But let's say you're going to ignore all of that and still try to find a partner first. Your advertisement gives me zero confidence that you have an actual business here. Your idea is: a personal finance budgeting tool, but "fun and easy to use" and based on how you personally manage your finances. I have so many questions! And as a former Product Manager you should have answers:

• What specifically is wrong with existing personal finance tools on the market? What is the killer feature that makes yours better? Have you tried https://lunchmoney.app/ ?

• Let's see those wireframes! User journeys! Something! Right now I'm left with the assumption that you've sketched out some login dialogs and a transaction list but haven't thought beyond that.

• Where's your user research? If you're looking for a cofounder, that implies that you have a thing that needs to be built. Do you know what that thing is? Have you validated with real people that this is a real problem they have? How many user interviews have you done? Again, my assumption is that you've done none of this.

• What will be your role in the business? How do you propose that you earn your 50% of the equity? Remember that "idea guy" is worth nothing... you need to bring sales chops, key relationships / industry credibility, recruiting ability, investment money, or some combination thereof.

• If you've actually thought through this stuff and don't want to reveal your secrets, why not? No one is going to copy you (probably), and you'll get key insight into your market. Before you can ever sell this to a consumer you need to sell it to your early partners.

Finally, remember that some of the best cofounder partnerships work because the people involved have prior history working together professionally. Which of your former co-workers could you convince to quit their job and join you? If none of them, why not? What would you need to do to strengthen your pitch? Do that.

You need to get warm introductions by other means. Use your professional network if you have it. Find out where some of these people hang out (industry events) and start chatting casually; this includes virtual events during COVID. Is there a support group or message board where these individuals go for support regarding the problem you're solving? Try helping them directly since they're actively seeking help. If the VP of data has a problem that your product solves, who does that person task with solving the problem? Target that person instead of the VP.

People with power at the top of an organization are difficult to reach, by design. The front door is locked: you need to find the side door.

Imagine you had a skin-care product that helps any person instantly look 10 years younger, and you want to offer this product to your favorite movie star. How would you reach this person? Not by sending email.

Find a person that's amazing at sales and partner with them. You'll never be great at everything... do what only you can do and delegate the rest.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laser_propulsion

The creation of fire with friction or flint spark would be an achievement, but not a terrible surprise for a person already familiar with the fire concept.

https://www.express.com/exp/style-trial-how-it-works

" It's not the best choice, it's Spacer's Choice "

The CEO is expected to work for the company for free at a minimal level... that's probably all he was planning to do anyway. Any investor putting cash into a young company should be willing to leverage their own expertise and contacts to make that company successful, since that's the only way they will see a return on investment. You don't need another un-named executive at this stage.

One additional thought: you talk about an "interest-free investment" that can also be reduced by 40k/yr. That sounds like a loan. There's something odd going on here: why would anyone invest in a company they think is going to be huge, but then also allow you to buy them out for no interest? Something doesn't add up.