[jwalton]

I’m in Canada. I get paid quite well in my non-FAANG role, I have way more vacation than I’d get at any company that size. I’d probably make a little more at a FAANG role but the salaries here are not the insane salaries they are in the US, and I prefer the vacation. Also at any large company up here I’d have to give ownership of any code I write in my spare time to my employer, and at small companies it’s easier to negotiate that kind of thing and get opportunities to work on open source. Possibly if I was in Vancouver I’d make a lot more working for a FAANG company, but my cost of living would be insane, and they basically try to get you to move to the US. I have some friends at some of those companies, and they’ve tried to poach me, and I’ve consistently turned them down.