

Trying to Find Coder's Heaven - abyx
http://www.codelord.net/2009/11/19/trying-to-find-coders-heaven/

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bh23ha
I'm no Kent Beck, I'm just an average software engineer on the east coast with
a bit less then 10 years experience. Recently I turned down 100K a year + 3
weeks vacation and all kinds of other benefits, from a large well known
company. The people there were super nice and every developer got their own
office with great windows. The job was just simple programming. But I had no
interest in the industry and chose a different offer.

Anyway, I am not sure what Kent Beck's financial needs are or what he means
when he says that _The prices for programming have fallen so far.._ It seems
to me any decent programmer should be able to make a good living just
programming.

Does anyone know what Kent Beck is talking about?

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callahad
You were only offered 3 weeks of vacation after 10 years of experience?

Is this common? What have I gotten myself in to?

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bh23ha
Not quite 10 but yes 3 weeks paid has been standard for me in all 3 big
companies I've worked for most recently.

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m0th87
I like Joel's ideas as a long-term business strategy, but it seems like it
would require a lot of initial capital and would be impossible to pitch to a
VC. Unless you're made of money, those two drawbacks don't go together well.
What's a sound business strategy for getting a "Coder's Heaven" off the
ground?

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JoachimSchipper
Joel advocates consulting until the company can live off its products. Yes, it
takes a while longer to get where you want to be, but the initial investment
is only your own time (assuming you have a computer).

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Periodic
I'm not sure that consulting would be a bad way to go. I've seen a few
companies that have cut staff only to hire them back as consultants at least
part time, sometimes paying more for the person than they were before (minus
benefits).

I wouldn't be so quick to say that consultants are the first to get the axe
when the economy slows down. However, it is a different existence as there
will be a constant turnover on contracts.

