Why I quit a $500K job at Amazon to work for myself

[boolean]

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19135399

[krisrm]

"What is out there that I could do that would make me excited waking up every day for the next 45 years that could also earn me enough money to cover my expenses?"

This isn't to diminish what the author says - I'm glad he's found his independence, and I hope he finds the "intrinsic motivation" he's looking for.

For me, I think I've more or less shed the illusion that I'm always going to be excited about work. Or even that I'm normally going to be excited about work. I love my job, and sometimes it's great, but it's usually not "exciting". It's strange to me that people in our industry place such importance on our emotions about work, to the point where not being thrilled by our work is seen as some sort of career failure.

[gicadin]

Our position is unique where we are able to make a significat amount of money without the large time investment of other professions. Doctors/Lawyers mach our salaries only after a significantly longer time ( school and experience). after investing 10-15 years of their time to such a career its a lot harder to give up and pursue your dreams. This is my explanation why its so easy for people to give up on such high paying jobs in our industry but does not happen across other sectors

[jfjiuhuewfhhw]

the same author keeps posting the same content over and over again. https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=DVassallo,

I have seen this many times ... enough!

[johnwheeler]

Question for current/previous Amazon employees: How much of that compensation is likely due to stock rewards vs salary?

[lochlan]

Most of it. Base salary caps out at $160k except for NY/SF where it caps out at $180k. Once you get into the higher levels most of your comp is stock, which historically has worked out very well for Amazon employees.