a recent article in the New York Times delves in the lives and psyches of silicon valley millionaires “who don’t feel rich” because they essentially feel the need to keep up with the Jones next door. this keep-up-with-the-Jones “burden” may have been increased by the sequence of events around the dot-com bubble burst of 2000. many had borrowed big bucks for big houses (among other things) based on their net worth on paper before the downturn. now that the bubble has burst, up to 90% of their paper wealth at the peak of the dot-com craziness has vanished, but the bills and mortgage statements still arrive each month.
so now, many are still working 80-hour weeks, just like they did 10 years ago.
i could have been one of them. thankfully, i was able to step away from silicon valley and have never looked back. i didn’t bank the many millions like those in the article, but i did manage to get out with enough real assets to buy and renovate a home, as well pursue other interests without the need for 80-hour (or 40-hour) work weeks.
August 6, 2007 at 5:13 am
the article was painful reading, and i couldn’t imagine you being one of those poor rich families. you’re mostly the same person i met–what, 17 years ago?–except with better eyewear.
August 6, 2007 at 11:39 pm
such a nice thing to say. thanks.
and, if i ever become like one of those poor rich people, just shoot me and put me and everyone else out of my misery. please.
[ a bit of technical weirdness: i'm supposed to get email whenever a comment is posted, but for some reason, i never get an email when you post a comment. however, i get an email when i comment, which isn't much help. ]