1M+ TC, 99 percentile earnings in tech, how to get there
Compared to medicine, 99 percentile earnings in tech (~450k) seems to be lesser than p99 in finance, management and medicine (1M+) (source: 80000 hours website) Since I'm an SWE atm with 200k at FAANG in Europe, and have low utility for an additional 200k of income (60% savings currently, earning to give), I only see a point in optimizing for the next order of magnitude of income 1M+ . I also have above-average interpersonal skills for a SWE, have delivered speeches to 2000-member audiences, founded a failed startup. What's the best way forward for me to reach 1M+ comp in 7-8yrs? - Move to finance? Trading, etc.? Don't want to do sell-side stuff though. I see some high bonus compensations mentioned in trading. - Move to Product within internet tech and work up to Director/VP - drive vision, get results, keep people happy etc.? - Side business such as real estate or blogs, talks, etc. (starting up after quitting is too risky, high downside, low prob of success) - Move to management in non-tech firm (don't wanna do consulting though) Investing on the side with a conservative ~10 CAGR will only get me there in ~15years, which is a timeframe I'd like to beat.
Oh, please disclose your location (city, not country) to make sure we understand the context.
Anonymity concerns - outside of London etc., European cities are quite small, so its easier to identify people
Jack, is it you?
We're like the same person. I'm thinking management in non tech firm (CTO) is going to be my best bet tbh, but definitely interested in what people have to say here. Have a few side businesses, but it's very hard to scale them while working full time and not taking on funding.
What side businesses do you have? I’m looking for someone to work on a startup with. I really am done with being a #salaryman
I do consulting for blockchain startups and teach a course on udemy.
Start up would be logical trajectory.
How many years of experience you have?
Found a successful startup.
Wrong data. A vp level executive in a medium sized nontech company have no way of making 1mil
Has Uber TC gone to shit with the IPO or something?
Uber is very much a tech company - unlike Zillow lol
Finance makes a million when the market is hot and go broke on decline. Medicine makes a million when people have money to actually pay medical bills or actually have insurance and also have medium 6 figure student loan debt. It's all relative. If you want money you have to own something. True ownership is where you can build that sort of wealth in my opinion
OP wants high earnings with 0 risk lol. There's only a couple ways to get to that level: - Become world class at something (e.g. surgery) - Invent something and patent it - Turn around or scale a business as a leader to a large multiple of it's prior performance, so you warrant that salary. You don't get paid to cash in on something that is already successful - Become an investor and raise your own fund (HF, PE, VC) - Already rich and leverage your privilege for even more returns People who get paid 1M+ probably don't have to worry much about how they can convince someone else will pay them that salary. They have the vision, luck, or some special ability that sets them apart
Nice answer, and comment. Reply to answer: I'm not sure if you implied otherwise, but tech isn't recession proof either, since a lot of TC value derives from easy availability of capital. I agree with your ownership insight, and that's something I'm exploring - trying to minimize risk around that. Reply to comment: obviously, no such thing as 0 risk. Even your US savings account balance would only be FDIC insured up to a small amount. Re: becoming world class, does that apply to tech? The value of our skills are much less concrete and there's no direct-to- consumer market for it, as with surgery. The lack of measurable value also means that sales BS can take you a long way. Cmiiw. Scaling a smaller business to a large multiple as a leader seems like a good idea - how do I spot such opportunities? Networking only? Own fund seems good too, but I'd like to evaluate the results of my own investments before managing money for others for now.
If you get to Director or IC7/8+ at FAANG (US) you should see TC in the 800+ range.
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Lol, I fell asleep after posting this