Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by chasing 4730 days ago
Elon Musk, Oprah, Marissa Meyer, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey -- these are people who have been wildly over-compensated for their time. (Not that they don't deserve what they get, but they make huge amounts of money.) They work because they want to, and if they didn't they could retire tomorrow and live like kings/queens for the rest of their lives. Odds are, you're not in this camp. And never will be.

(And sometimes I wonder: Are all of these top-tier people workaholics? Or is that a myth that's sometimes created to both justify the amount of compensation they receive and to promote workaholism in their employees? Also: Is it easier to seem like a workaholic if you've got huge piles of cash to pay other people to actualize your visions for you?)
1 comments
antitrust 4729 days ago
> Elon Musk, Oprah, Marissa Meyer, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey

Not to be a cynic, but except in the case of Bill Gates, it's not clear these people were not cases of being in the right place at the right time more than any specific brilliance.

link
jmduke 4729 days ago
It's not exactly Hacker News' oeuvre, but Oprah's story is pretty much the definition of "hustle". She climbed the ranks from radio DJ to assistant producer to assistant reporter to co-anchor to local morning show to national morning show with alarming celerity.

(I can't stand daytime television, but I think her position was won through a lot more than being at the right place at the right time.)

link
chasing 4729 days ago
That's basically what I mean. There are so many other factors involved. "Overwork = Bill Gates" is just about as meaningful as "Dropping out of school = Bill Gates." Maybe! But probably not.
link
mrweasel 4729 days ago
I like that, you frequently hear "You just need to work hard", never "First thing you do is drop out of school".

May Bill need to work harder because he dropped out? Without any context the "work harder" does automatically mean that you'll succeed, nor that it's worth the effort.

David Heinemeier had a beautiful talk about being happy with a million dollars, rather aiming for the billion. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CDXJ6bMkMY

link