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Don't forget Notch. He took his money and bought a mansion and became a DJ.

TBH, if I made a pile, my interests would change dramatically. And running a successful company would not be nearly as validating.

discuss

hef19898|5 years ago

Lately, I thought a lot about an anecdote we used to tell in Germany about business consultants. It goes somewhat like this: A consultant meets an old fisherman at a small port. The fisherman is done fishing and enjoying himself. The consultant asks why the fisherman isn't taking a loan to get a bigger ship and fish more. Because he would make a lot of money to do whatever he wants. The fisherman said that he is already doing that, fishing in the morning and enjoying the sun on a bank at port in the evening.

I came to realise, that I'd rather be the fisherman. Which doesn't mean the other approach is wrong, so.

zelias|5 years ago

How would the fisherman feed himself if he broke his arms? Alternatively, what if he wakes up one day and finds that all the fish near his village have been fished out of the ocean by other, more entrepreneurial fishermen?

If had money saved up, at least he could buy food for him and his family.

netsharc|5 years ago

Longer version: https://bemorewithless.com/the-story-of-the-mexican-fisherma...

dpcan|5 years ago

To be a creator with the freedom to create and not have to make money anymore would be amazing.

Look at Jim Carrey and George W Bush for example. They're pretty much set with money, and now they can paint their hearts out.

NationalPark|5 years ago

W was set for money two generations before he was even born. Imagine if he'd just stuck to painting...

gumby|5 years ago

> Don't forget Notch. He took his money and bought a mansion and became a DJ.

Or the CEO of Goldman Sachs, a successful DJ who became a banker.

canniballectern|5 years ago

Just looked him up - he had a crazy year in 2018. Became CEO of Goldman, divorced his wife, released an EDM single that debuted at #39 on the Billboard EDM charts, and his personal assistant committed suicide after getting caught stealing $1.2 million of wine from his private cellar.

p-law|5 years ago

Only if my company was in the business of breaking new ground, i.e. scientific discovery or innovative engineering. That's why the likes of Alphabet and Facebook have research divisions (including for things rather far afield from their core money-making products): to give execs and talent a greater sense of purpose and to create/develop important stuff.