Yeah the focus on exclusively money baffles me. Like cool you get to buy a bigger house and go on some nicer vacations. Depending on the big co, they own you. I can't say I'm not working as an employee right now but every time I've been "broke" and free to do whatever project and take on work as I see fit I've been probably 50-70% happier when you factor in stress from shakier income.
That said I understand risk tolerances and it not being everyone's cup of tea but saying everyone should be a corporate employee ignores an entire set of priorities people tend to have besides stability and money.
On the flip side, working for yourself means the job never ends. As an employee you can do 8 hours at work, 16 hours for yourself. You can drop a project and pick it up the next day. The client is pissed? You're still making your salary. It's up to management to staff correctly, not up to you to kill yourself overworking for a salary and no overtime.
When it's just you, and your entire livelihood depends on sucking up to big fish to get that one payday that will float you for the next few months while you find another big fish, the boundaries between work and home dissolve. You feel a constant stress to get projects done and you even lay awake at night terrified of what happens if your next big fish doesn't materialize. Your performance in any one task decreases because you have to wear every hat. You're a good programmer, but are you a good businessman? Advertiser? Hustler? Lawyer? Can you afford a team? Will do you everything yourself?
If you're still a kid, don't have debts, don't own property, don't have a family, don't have any roots, the risk/reward and excitement of this chaotic and generally financially ruinous lifestyle could be good or even make you happy.
But for many people, the stress of putting your family, your investments, your retirement and ultimately your future on the line is one of the most unhappy things possible.
I don't think there is anything wrong with doing your 8 hours to make a living, and then taking the next 8 hours to enrich your life -- not for profit, but for health. Exercise, learning and growing, cooking and entertaining, starting a family, investing in life and happiness outside of coding... it's just notoriously difficult to do these things as an entrepreneur, and all the "big successes" as a rule (with exceptions) are "16 hour workers", as in, 100% of useful waking hours spent on the job.
I wish this idea would die. It doesn't need to be like that. It is possible to take a more relaxed approach to your own business just as you might as an employee.
Sure some people overwork but that isn't unique to running a business, you will find those people in big companies as well.
Also my experience was that having a family, owning a property and being rooted in my location gave me the support I needed to succeed.
Honestly that just sounds like someone terrible at managing risk and money! As a self employed individual coming up on 10 years now the first year or two was rough, but if you build up a safety net and properly manage money there are no sleepless nights worrying about the next big fish.
It also takes a while to realize that working more than 8/hrs a day is not sustainable. You'll be less productive in the long term. So really even as a self employed individual it's better to work less than a full time job imho.
"No one ever changed the world at 40 hours a week"
"80 hours minimum, with peaks at 100 hours"
A 100 hour week would be 16.6 hours for 6 days and 1 day off, or 14.25 hour days with no days off
The idea that entrepreneurs need to work more than 40 hours a week to be successful is as old as our industry, and I'd go so far as to say that those casually working a schedule that looks more like a salaried position are probably "consultants" and aren't really entrepreneurs trying to build something or change something
That's probably true of a certain sort of startup - writing a bushel of code for a web thingy for instance.
But I've worked at many startups and ok 50 hours would be common. As they say, one pregnancy takes one person 9 months. You can't do it in 4.5 with two people (or by working harder).
Who said anything about changing the world? I think most people would prefer a "lifestyle" business where they can set their hours and scale the business based on that.
That said I understand risk tolerances and it not being everyone's cup of tea but saying everyone should be a corporate employee ignores an entire set of priorities people tend to have besides stability and money.