[bucma]

I think people who are picking up on the 10x assets thing are missing the point... Money can help you feel better about things when things in general aren't going well.

What he says about missed opportunities, and working for idiotic management, that's the big thing here. You work your ass off, the management does dumb things, so the thing you're working on never really pays off, in money or fun.

The fact that his sister has 10x the assets is kind of an insult after injury kind of thing.

[justaman]

I think the disconnect between management and the developers is worth discussing.

Its important for management to understand the difficulties and decisions made by a development team to properly create a roadmap for the business. I think the author is expressing that the lack of respect for the programmers opinions can be detrimental.

[exelius]

It's more that in a business (which is a power structure optimized for efficiency - meaning hierarchical power structure) the programmers are at the bottom of the pyramid. Involving their input would take far too many layers of overhead; so the decisions get made further up where there are fewer people to consult (and hence more efficient).

IMO it is essential in today's world to have competent engineering management in the room whenever any major product decisions are made.

[collyw]

This is probably why there is so much poor software about.

[devonkim]

That sounds like the underlying problem at heart and is why I started down the path of being more customer facing (combined with getting quickly tired of all the nerd stereotype personalities as my immediate coworkers). The reward for incompetence and the perception-driven careers that is so common with professional managers is a slap in the face to everyone that not only are under them but to those that have to live with the consequences of their negligence. There are some that get kicked down, but typically they'll just find another sucker and continue on and on with self delusion that they've actually brought any value besides some vague association with some rich people to the company.

The problem that really bugs me as well as a lot of others is perhaps more deep-seated - that the popular kids from high school really do win anyway and become your bosses, and stories like Steve Wozniak or Bill Gates where smart, technical people can get ahead of the incompetent but very personable charlatans are becoming less and less common. That confidence / arrogance really are enough to succeed (many do work hard but so do the majority of technical workers too with almost none of the rewards) in the eyes of US society is a lingering thought.

[ArkyBeagle]

The work itself has to be worth it, or it's not worth it. External motivation has a low multiplier.

[dinkumthinkum]

It is so oddly ironic for the idea of wanting assets and property to be so anathema on HN.