[ardit33]

1. 72k, for 5y experience is not that great, but it is not that bad either, if you live in low coast area. I know in Raleigh NC (a good place to live). you can easily buy a house for 200k-300k, while in SV/SF a similar place would cost at least 700-900k. So, do your math.

2. If you feel are really good, compared to your peers, than you:

1. Might actually be good (then start your own thing).

2. More likely are suffering form the big fish in a small pond syndrome. If you come in the valley, you will find out they you may be just merely average at best.

I thought I was really good at some point, but I got "schooled" really fast after moving from Boston to SF. But if you really want to work with the best of the best, come to the valley for few years. You can still go home after it, and have a huge competitive advantage vs. your peers that never left.

[nostrademons]

Yeah, I thought I was hot shit in college, thought I was fairly hot shit in my first job after college, then found I was barely average at Google. I think that's a good experience to have, though. If you work with people who're better than you, your natural tendency is to improve, and it's a nice way to disabuse yourself of the programmer's arrogance that so many random coding cowboys have on the Internet.

[Confusion]

If you're average at Google, you probably were hot shit on those previous occasions.