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by blhack 4713 days ago
That's a perfect analogy.

Lots of people also want to play pro ball. They can't, and no matter how much they train, they never will be able to. Their body just isn't built for it.

Similarly, there are people who can study their ass off. They'll probably become pretty good, not great, but pretty good.

Then there are a tiny, razor-thin minority of people who were born as some sort of intellectual freak, who will also study their ass off, and become great.

I've known a few people like that. It's frustrating, because I feel like I'm working just as hard, but not getting as huge of results.

2 comments

Except the league minimum for an MLB player is quite high, and has been going up. Why is the starting salary for highly recruited devs relatively flat?
I'm pretty sure the starting salary for the types of people PG is describing here is "whatever I want".
He refers to "open positions for programmers at high tech companies", so I would have to disagree
Agreed; I like where I work, but it would be hard for me to turn down 2x what I'm currently making at just about any company. I suspect that is true for most people.
I'm not a fan of this analogy, as it perpetuates the idea that SV companies need a humongous collection rockstar ninja h4x0rs. I suspect that's not the case for the majority of positions--there's probably a shortage at the tail of the job distribution, but not at the mode.
Sure. I don't think anybody is arguing that every single programmer needs to be a pirate rockstar ninja-hacker, but there is a need, in some places, for those people.
Those people exist. If you pay enough for them, you can hire them.
define "enough". Easy enough for you to pontificate, if you know better, start your own company and pay everyone million $ salaries. What are you waiting for?

p.s. I am an entrepreneur and have had significant hiring challenges for my company. So not spewing out stock lines from Lou Dobbs and his ilk.

Enough for them to come to work for you.

I really don't understand why this is a difficult concept to grasp.

If you were an entrepreneur you would understand....