I know the author wised up and moved on, but I would rather work construction for the rest of my life than be a programmer and live like this.<p>I worked for a startup for a couple of years that really got it right. The CTO really wanted a certain lead developer as his first hire (they had previously worked together) and the lead dev said (paraphrased, of course) "Nope. Not interested in working more than 40 hours per week. Not interested in startup culture. Not interested in grueling deadlines. I like taking long breaks in the middle of the day to go for a run. I come in early, and I get home to my family early."<p>They gave in to every one of his demands and from my understanding, in the 3 or 4 years since he took the job, devs have only worked longer than a 40 hour week maybe 5 times total.<p>That dev team has consistently deployed great feature after another at an incredible rate. I have since moved on but I don't think I'll ever find a place that respected their workers like they did.<p>I don't have a point to that story, no takeaways, no morals, no snappy advice or anything. But paired with my current not as good job, and this article from my worst nightmares, it's made me a bit nostalgic for that wonderful time in my life where I worked for a great place that trusted that happy employees are good employees.
This really is only one small segment of the programming population. I really hate superficial shit like this that paints tech workers in a bad light bc most have ordinary jobs and live ordinary lives and aren’t social recluses.<p>I work typical 9-5, wife and kids. We go grocery shopping and make dinner every night together. We live very modestly and we have lots of non-tech friends and family. It’s literaly nothing special.
This part struck me as so sad:<p>> Programming for me was never supposed to be more than a means to an end<p>Programming is one of my favorite things to do and I do it even when my job is something else. Why do it if you don't like it? No wonder it seemed hopeless.
This is of course in no way representative. If you are a software developer in SF you get very quickly to $140k+. That guy in the closet was probably stashing way North of $60k annually, not counting equity. Do this for 7-10 years and you can retire silver else and are probably in your early 30s. If you work at FAANG you can easily take home way North of $200k. No reason to rent a illegal closet at that point unless you want to be super prudent.<p>As for the author's situation. There are not camps in other cities. He could have attended one elsewhere and then relocate if he wanted. It's also only 3 months. You'll survive. I rented a tiny room between kitchen and living room that saw lots of threw traffic in a shitty old house in Munich when I was a student so that I could do a internship at big Corp. It was less than ideal, but when you are young you can live shitty for a while. It will make you appreciate what you have later.
Posts like these really continue drive home the message of "Silicon Valley is just a shell of what it used to be. Only go there for the sake of relocation or with a job offer in hand." There's nothing left for the dreamers or hopefuls in SV who have nothing to run on but just that--hopes and dreams. It just makes so much more sense to take a pay cut and swing for the fences in Atlanta, Houston, Austin, or Phoenix. Hell, I'll still throw in Boston and Seattle because they're still THAT much cheaper than anywhere in SV.
I came up the same way as the author of this article. If you don’t go to Stanford or otherwise earn yourself a CS degree, you’ve got to rightly, and almost by definition, build experience and connections from the barest of circumstances.<p>Nobody said a nice, well-paid coder job, let alone a successful startup and early position there, would be easy.<p>Besides, he misses the point. There <i>are</i> brilliant men and women in the SF Bay, doing magical things. Maybe they spent time on the Sisyphean path he and I did, maybe not.<p>But don’t go bashing everyone here because you <i>chose</i> the riskiest route and then <i>lived</i> it. He’s right that this place remains a beacon of hope and opportunity all over the world.<p>That’s a good thing dammit
I got out when this kind of situation became pervasive in SF. The old enthusiasm and love for tech were ground out into this kind of boring dystopia that resides there now. Its immensely sad, SF used to be such a vibrant and energetic place.
I call bushit on this story. This article is greatly exaggerated to grab your attention.<p>$1.4k for a closet in an Airbnb with 13 people, where you don't get a key and have to sneak in? Heh.<p>I have found a large room in a newer complex through a company pairing roommates in just a few days. It was $1800. Heck, you could pay $1k for a room in Berkely or Oakland and commute in by Bart.
are you kidding me? it’s written as if it took place over years and decades. “the longer i stayed in the hostel, the more my life slipped away”.<p>it was weeks. i wouldn’t be surprised if the guy living in the closet was the owner of the unit. (or lessee)<p>the author thinks he’s going to graduate from boot camp and “make it”? please.<p>this article and the fact of its (self) publication tells us a lot about the author, and almost nothing about startup life. if you understand that, it is interesting in its own way.
It's a weird story for me and I have absolutely no understanding for it. (no, I don't mean tolerance)
I'm not from the US and am far from any startup experience, but I am a young programmer myself, without either good budget nor education.<p>Programming is the love my life but I would never bear this situation at any cost for it.<p>He states himself that programming was just "means to an end" for him. So why even bother? I just can't comprehend? Sorry for being ignorant or something ... I'd really like to understand
I think this article represents a small segment of people that can’t manage their finances and/or strive for better living conditions .<p>Even at with the base rate of $100k/year - which is cheap, you can rent a beautiful $5k/m apartment and split it with a friend. Heck, you can even cook and eat organic only. Use Uber to move around. Even then, at “maximum living conditions” you should be able to save north of $50k/y. There’s countless beautiful Airbnbs at the same price in case you can only rent short-term. Also, you either choose a corporate job or something you love. You can’t work 15h/day on something you don’t love.<p>All in all, this article it’s halfway BS, halfway poor management of one’s own living conditions and financials
I will be trying remote working soon, this whole culture of co-location is the reason you have SF, London, NY etc.<p>I moved away from London because its economically and socially tough.<p>With a remote job I will be able to make a London salary but live wherever I like, enjoy the outdoors and live life how I see fit.<p>SF, Madrid, Berlin, NY are sparkly places where a lot of people (bar the lucky few) end up trapped.
Seems crazy to live like that for $1200/month when you could find a few roommates and get 4 people in a 2 bedroom for about the same. Still tight, but it beats 12 people in a 2 bedroom for sure!
Probably worth mentioning that this article is from 2016, but I'm sure not much has changed.<p>In fact, this article may have been inspired by a much longer piece from the previous year (1) which focuses on the kinds of dropout teens that Peter Thiel would later come to encourage to head west. Fascinating read.<p>(1) <a href="https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-06-07/real-teenagers-silicon-valley/" rel="nofollow">https://stories.californiasunday.com/2015-06-07/real-teenage...</a>
Unrelated, but my first thought process was a video I've seen of a semi-homeless guy living in an A/C storage locker. He had to sneak in everynight and do some tech macgyver solutions.<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVCTLPNUzo&t=0s&list=LLI462thar4CFee8GIqXwEPQ&index=457" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPVCTLPNUzo&t=0s&list=LLI462...</a>
Based on the description I’m 99% sure I live in the apartment complex described in the article. I can confirm there are a few illegal Airbnbs operating here. The complex has even been trying to combat it by putting out a program where that’s ok as long as you follow certain rules. The rent here is nuts, but if 14 people are living in a 2 bedroom apartment here then the operator has a very profitable scam going.<p>I mean, the real problem is that it's impossible to break into SF if you don't already know a lot or make a lot. As long as a 1br costs $2,000 or more you'll find operations like this.
If you are paying 1200 per month to be in soma with 12 other people that is batshit crazy. And someone is making batshit crazy money off you.<p>There are plenty of places you could get with a few friends for less even in soma. After the first week I would've been talking with others in there about moving out together. Seriously you work at mother f'ing Pinterest and you are ok living like this?
Nice write-up. Honestly speaking I'm pretty glad the system works that way. It puts a good filter on people who want to enter the tech without the real interest in tech. Money is just one part of scheme. Another part is value. If you want get a lot of money but not ready to bring a whole lot of value then the writing is on the wall.
The only time you should be working 80 hour weeks is to build your own business, not someone else's.<p>That brings me to the second point, the only time you should be working is to build your own business, not someone else's.<p>A lot of people fail at both.