[eldavido]

Maybe.

I have a roommate in SF. He's freelancing, I'm working at a company. He's making more cash than I am, but I'm working on building a company (as an employee) that's shipped multiple iterations of a category-leading product, raised $XX million in VC, and hired almost 100 people.

I'm not disputing that a good freelancer can clear $120k net of taxes and living expenses, just that that's the best path to take, if the end goal is to be an entrepreneur.

[tptacek]

Are we sure we're talking about the same thing? I'm not suggesting a freelancer can net $120k in a year. That's easy. I'm suggesting a freelancer can net $120k plus living expenses in a year --- a number perhaps closer to $200k-225k. The reason I think that I that I know a lot of people who do --- many of them outside my (particularly lucrative) specialty.

Practically every established consultancy in the US throws off numbers like that year in year out, as a routine. Which is one reason a lot of consultancies end up spinning up product teams.