Post: #176

(05-12-2015 12:24 AM)loki Wrote:  

(05-10-2015 10:35 AM)Phoenix Wrote:  [quote='loki' pid='1014201' dateline='1430830710']
That's how I am making bank and you can too if you're willing to make the effort, build a business and stick with it.

OK lets get this straight, I hate money plain and simple. I hate what it does to people and I hate even more what they do to get it. Quite frankly I just don't care for it which is why I give so much of it away...sounds crazy don't it but its true. I used to chase the dollar when I was a younger man and guess I loved it as well as the power it brings but it damned nearly killed me and cost me every relationship I cherished as well as a lot more which I don't care to go into as its very personal.

The harder you chase money the faster it will run away from you! You guys need to realise that money is simply a side effect of being good at what you do and is not the root cause for doing what you do. Please do not go pick careers based on potential earnings because its a stupid way to go about it and you will end up working a job you hate like a lot of people I and you probably know as well.

Find something you love doing and turn that into a business like I have with ICT. For me ICT is very easy because my brain is wired that way for reasons only our good lord can explain. I am also gun at sales because I am very personable and I can talk to anyone about anything with a degree of authority because I am well read and stuff my head with new information constantly (always have). My other love after tech is business and I have loved business since I was a little kid aged about 8-10. All I did was combine the two I loved when I was forced to change career direction (long story).

See this is why it works so well for me and is also so damned easy, because I quite simply love it and therefore I excel at it. I am doing exactly what I want to do each day and whats even better is the side effect of doing what I love is it makes money, a reasonable amount at that

Try and remember guys if you truly love what you do for work you will never work a day in your life.

Hey Loki,

yeah that's really great advice. There are some people whose only goal is to make as much money as possible in order to retire before 40 - nothing against that - but I always thought that's not the best way to approach your career. As you said, I think it's important to enjoy what you're doing. Some people have a different opinion on this - e.g. the guys at Wallstreet Playboys. But it's great to hear that it worked out for you, doing something that you love, turning it into a business, and actually making bank from it. If you like what you do, you don't have to strive for an early retirement.

Post: #177

(05-12-2015 01:12 AM)Atlanta Man Wrote:  Knowing what I know now if I could go back: I would have taken high school sports seriously, played lacrosse gone to Yale(or Harvard, or Princeton, or the best school I could but Yale first.), Majored in Math with an electrical engineering minor, gone to work at Goldman Sacks(or a good finance job). Plan B would be take the patent bar first and then apply to Law School and only go to a top 5 school preferentially Stanford Law be a patent attorney in Electrical Engineering in Silicon Valley. Plan C go to medical school. These plans A-C all assume I cannot go back knowing lotto numbers or stock market trends, If I had to work hard and earn it. Any of plans A-C ,if you work hard and don't marry or have kids(or gamble), would equal millionaire status before 29.

As for option C: I doubt that you would be millionaire before 29 with medical school. A medical career takes quite a long time. Also, people have a lot of debt after they graduate. Doctors definitely make good money, but rarely before 30. Also, you have to ask yourself if that's something that you want to do - the medical field is a very different type of profession than working at Goldman Sacks ..

Post: #178

(05-13-2015 03:15 AM)ElJefe1 Wrote:  IT consulting / Software sales / Hardware Sales / Business Owner $125 per hour plus $75 just to show up $750,000+ in a years time 3rd year since quitting my job however the bulk of work I dont actually do. I use sub contractors and in house technicians that way I can book multiple jobs a day, the majority of in house technicians I hire and train. Give me someone from Odesk / Elance in another country Ill pay them $4-$5 per hour(Philippines, Slovenia, Ukraine, bangledash) withe a general understanding of networking, computers etc we train them on how to use a few very specific software packages (some open source some not) I sale and its that easy. Or for some more specialized software packages I'll go as high as paying subs $25 per hour, and some onsite guys $50-$60 per hour. Some instances depending on what the software or system in place, I know and have worked with contractors whom charge me $300+ per hour in which case I can easily go up to $500 per hour unfortunately those projects are far and few in between but they do come around.. It just takes balls, and thinking outside of the box not a huge amount of education, money, or specialized skill set but the ability too learn, think on the fly, and product management (finding the right solution to sale and whom to sale it to is key) THIS IS TRUE FOR ALL BUSINESS NOT JUST TECH!!!!.... I've been thinking about starting a thread titled "How to build and run an online business Like a Boss"..... This same conversation was going on in another thread maybe what I've learned could be of assistance to others men here on the forum. I'd go as far as to say fuck the corporate life fighting, clawing, kissing ass, and playing politics on the chance to make $100,000 per year. Theres alot more that comes with those positions than you can ever imagine or want I learned that the hard way in my former life doing sales for the man.

Yeah ElJefe1,

sounds liker you have a lot of great experience - I think many people here would be very interested in a thread titled "How to build and run an online business Like a Boss" - I definitely would. I can tell you have a lot of good insights and experience on the corporate life and running one's own business.

Post: #179

(05-14-2015 07:08 PM)Ice Wrote:  

(05-13-2015 03:15 AM)ElJefe1 Wrote:  IT consulting / Software sales / Hardware Sales / Business Owner $125 per hour plus $75 just to show up $750,000+ in a years time 3rd year since quitting my job however the bulk of work I dont actually do. I use sub contractors and in house technicians that way I can book multiple jobs a day, the majority of in house technicians I hire and train. Give me someone from Odesk / Elance in another country Ill pay them $4-$5 per hour(Philippines, Slovenia, Ukraine, bangledash) withe a general understanding of networking, computers etc we train them on how to use a few very specific software packages (some open source some not) I sale and its that easy. Or for some more specialized software packages I'll go as high as paying subs $25 per hour, and some onsite guys $50-$60 per hour. Some instances depending on what the software or system in place, I know and have worked with contractors whom charge me $300+ per hour in which case I can easily go up to $500 per hour unfortunately those projects are far and few in between but they do come around.. It just takes balls, and thinking outside of the box not a huge amount of education, money, or specialized skill set but the ability too learn, think on the fly, and product management (finding the right solution to sale and whom to sale it to is key) THIS IS TRUE FOR ALL BUSINESS NOT JUST TECH!!!!.... I've been thinking about starting a thread titled "How to build and run an online business Like a Boss"..... This same conversation was going on in another thread maybe what I've learned could be of assistance to others men here on the forum. I'd go as far as to say fuck the corporate life fighting, clawing, kissing ass, and playing politics on the chance to make $100,000 per year. Theres alot more that comes with those positions than you can ever imagine or want I learned that the hard way in my former life doing sales for the man.

Yeah ElJefe1,

sounds liker you have a lot of great experience - I think many people here would be very interested in a thread titled "How to build and run an online business Like a Boss" - I definitely would. I can tell you have a lot of good insights and experience on the corporate life and running one's own business.

+1, I think a lot of people(myself included) would be very interested in your experience and advice on running an online business. Personally I'm just starting out in freelance programming and at one point hope to launch a product or service that will free me from working for an hourly.

Post: #180

ElJefe,

Thanks for sharing your story. I see how with your business model going beyond a single professional billing hourly, you've earned your handle as 'the boss'. It's one option to break away from being limited to billable hours worked.

The numbers you posted are inline with what I know in the industry. I had a friend who worked at a big name consulting agency tell me that his boss was billing out at $300 per hour, so I can confirm your numbers.

fuck the corporate life fighting, clawing, kissing ass, and playing politics

These are good reasons to leave a corporate job and start your own company. But starting your own company gets you into a new set of problems somewhat similar, because now you're competing with other consulting agencies & companies for clients. So it actually becomes more cutthroat as there's no limit to what people do to close deals and get accounts - from taking their clients to dinner, giving tickets to big games, playing politics at a larger level (industry level, city level), etc. As one IT recruiter told me, 'It's a dog-eat-dog world" in the staffing/consulting industry when it comes to getting clients. If you made $750,000+ in a year, then you've got this figured out or maybe this comes easy to you? Can you share some stories on how you made this revenue? Is it from a few big accounts or from many smaller accounts?

"How to build and run an online business Like a Boss"
How much would you say of your business is online and how much is onsite? Do you have to meet face-to-face with your clients before you can close the deal (the sales cycle)? Do you get all your clients from online sites? I had one client that I had to meet a couple of times in person in his office with his employees before I closed the deal then go onsite every other month. Would be great to hear your experiences with this.

(05-13-2015 03:15 AM)ElJefe1 Wrote:  IT consulting / Software sales / Hardware Sales / Business Owner $125 per hour plus $75 just to show up $750,000+ in a years time 3rd year since quitting my job however the bulk of work I dont actually do. I use sub contractors and in house technicians that way I can book multiple jobs a day, the majority of in house technicians I hire and train. Give me someone from Odesk / Elance in another country Ill pay them $4-$5 per hour(Philippines, Slovenia, Ukraine, bangledash) withe a general understanding of networking, computers etc we train them on how to use a few very specific software packages (some open source some not) I sale and its that easy. Or for some more specialized software packages I'll go as high as paying subs $25 per hour, and some onsite guys $50-$60 per hour. Some instances depending on what the software or system in place, I know and have worked with contractors whom charge me $300+ per hour in which case I can easily go up to $500 per hour unfortunately those projects are far and few in between but they do come around.. It just takes balls, and thinking outside of the box not a huge amount of education, money, or specialized skill set but the ability too learn, think on the fly, and product management (finding the right solution to sale and whom to sale it to is key) THIS IS TRUE FOR ALL BUSINESS NOT JUST TECH!!!!.... I've been thinking about starting a thread titled "How to build and run an online business Like a Boss"..... This same conversation was going on in another thread maybe what I've learned could be of assistance to others men here on the forum. I'd go as far as to say fuck the corporate life fighting, clawing, kissing ass, and playing politics on the chance to make $100,000 per year. Theres alot more that comes with those positions than you can ever imagine or want I learned that the hard way in my former life doing sales for the man.

Post: #181

I'd be very interested in ElJefe's thread. I make decent coin, but I've only done a little bit of work on the side. I'm really damn good at what I do, but I've always drawn a blank on how to explore it outside of a corporate life or a huge investment.

Post: #182

This would be a huge undertaking and I'm not much of a writer so what would make this easier PM me with specific questions as I dont want to derail Ice's thread. much similar to bad guys quesitons would be perfect. I'll start a thread answer as much as I can though I wont be getting specifics in what I exactly I do or sale but its applicable to sooo much of the tech field if thats the space you are in it'll be helpful. Definitly so for anyone else wanting to build an online business and market it, their products or services as the same techniques are applicable to just about any business out there. Hopefully my experiences and insight can help someone here.

Post: #183

(05-19-2015 02:43 PM)ElJefe1 Wrote:  This would be a huge undertaking and I'm not much of a writer so what would make this easier PM me with specific questions as I dont want to derail Ice's thread. much similar to bad guys quesitons would be perfect. I'll start a thread answer as much as I can though I wont be getting specifics in what I exactly I do or sale but its applicable to sooo much of the tech field if thats the space you are in it'll be helpful. Definitly so for anyone else wanting to build an online business and market it, their products or services as the same techniques are applicable to just about any business out there. Hopefully my experiences and insight can help someone here.

Hey ElJefe1,

no worries, I don't mind if you answer questions in this thread, I'm curious to learn more about your experience myself.

I work in the tech field too, so your insights & experience are definitely very valuable.

Post: #184

This thread is really fucking inspiring. I am finishing my graduate degree in mechanical engineering and I feel like I've wasted so much time in school only to come out starting at 70-80k a year. Not that it's bad but I know of very few engineers who make 150+ even after 10-15 years. I don't want to be chained to a desk making some giant defense company millions of dollars while they only pay me a marginal amount of it.

Post: #185

(05-21-2015 06:14 PM)fiasco360 Wrote:  This thread is really fucking inspiring. I am finishing my graduate degree in mechanical engineering and I feel like I've wasted so much time in school only to come out starting at 70-80k a year. Not that it's bad but I know of very few engineers who make 150+ even after 10-15 years. I don't want to be chained to a desk making some giant defense company millions of dollars while they only pay me a marginal amount of it.

Who said you have to stay working in that field when you actually work out what you want to do in life?

Who said you cant invent something that racks up zillions in patent royalties?

Don't become another drone, you are redpill and free now!

Post: #186

I do e-commerce and earn over 150k a year after all is said and done. I studied accounting but never worked as an accountant, I can't tell you how upset I was when I saw how hard accountants work and how little they make. Total miscalculation on my part, but education is always good so it's cool. I starting retailing online and it has gone well, being the boss and it's perks and drawbacks of course.

Unless I was planning to be in the medical field or some extreme science I didn't see a way to become financially secure while young unless I opened or bought a business. But man those oil sands.....if only I knew!!

Post: #187

(05-22-2015 04:26 AM)Francis K Wrote:  I do e-commerce and earn over 150k a year after all is said and done. I studied accounting but never worked as an accountant, I can't tell you how upset I was when I saw how hard accountants work and how little they make. Total miscalculation on my part, but education is always good so it's cool. I starting retailing online and it has gone well, being the boss and it's perks and drawbacks of course.

Unless I was planning to be in the medical field or some extreme science I didn't see a way to become financially secure while young unless I opened or bought a business. But man those oil sands.....if only I knew!!

Hi Francis K,

if I may ask, what do you sell online?

And how do you market it so that you get so many customers?

Post: #188

(05-22-2015 11:38 AM)Ice Wrote:  

(05-22-2015 04:26 AM)Francis K Wrote:  I do e-commerce and earn over 150k a year after all is said and done. I studied accounting but never worked as an accountant, I can't tell you how upset I was when I saw how hard accountants work and how little they make. Total miscalculation on my part, but education is always good so it's cool. I starting retailing online and it has gone well, being the boss and it's perks and drawbacks of course.

Unless I was planning to be in the medical field or some extreme science I didn't see a way to become financially secure while young unless I opened or bought a business. But man those oil sands.....if only I knew!!

Hi Francis K,

if I may ask, what do you sell online?

And how do you market it so that you get so many customers?

Also interested in this. Used to work in the Big 4 hated it and trying to start a retail business in a niche sport.

Post: #189

I actually started that data sheet as I said I"m not a writer so its the best I could do sittting at an airport in Poland. I'll also answer Bad Guys questions on that thread

/thread-47772.html

Post: #190

Gentlemen... giving this thread a bump because i was recently contacted for the following Cloud-Security expert job...

I have a strong Cyber Security background with some cloud, however, they are looking for someone with senior security architect experience with the major providers like Microsoft Azure or Amazon AWS.

Why should you give a hoot - I am currently being contacted for multiple positions in the $85 to $110 per hour range - one on the low end was 100% remote work from home NO travel for $55 an hour and another Senior Security Architect at $170.00 hour...

If you qualify for this position and are willing to travel up to 75% the position pays $250.00 US Dollars per hour on contract with potential contract to perm conversion. This is by far the best paying job I have been contacted for recently - pay special attention to the job requirements and associated technologies and do the math gents - this is where the big $$$ demand is right now.

Title: Security Architect
Location: Remote with travel to Client sites, up to 75%
Duration: 6 months+ (likely 1 year+, with opportunity to convert to perm, FTE)

Our client is in need of an experienced Security Architect with a Cloud background. This resource does not necessarily have to be completely specific to Cloud but must have significant exposure to Cloud Environments and Security Architecture in those environments. A resource with experience at the technical level would be great, but not required. However, this architecture level resource must be able to provide solutions to the Security Managers/Directors, detailing the kinds of Security capabilities that are needed to support security controls in Cloud environment, as compared to what they have in their traditional on premise environments.

Relevant experience we are looking for:
Salesforce in the SaaS space
Azure in the IaaS space
AWS in the IaaS space

Security Domains: (Macro level security capabilities)
Identity - Salesforce Identity; Okta Identity
Data protection - SkyHigh Networks; CipherCloud; SalesForce; Azure; Entrust; Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB's); other encryption vendors
Security Monitoring - Splunk; ArcSight
Monitoring Space:
Cloud-specific: AlertLogic, LogRythm (other cloud SIEM vendors)
Cloud Security Governance & Compliance: Policy Enforcement, Policy Definition Enforcement Products:
Dome9
Illumio
Evident.io
AlertLogic - Cloud Insight

Post: #191

(05-21-2015 06:14 PM)fiasco360 Wrote:  This thread is really fucking inspiring. I am finishing my graduate degree in mechanical engineering and I feel like I've wasted so much time in school only to come out starting at 70-80k a year. Not that it's bad but I know of very few engineers who make 150+ even after 10-15 years. I don't want to be chained to a desk making some giant defense company millions of dollars while they only pay me a marginal amount of it.

Any engineer who has worth will move into consulting.

I'll be moving into consulting later this year with just the owner. He says starting salary is at 150 an hour so that's great.

Post: #192

(03-22-2016 03:13 PM)Mentavious Wrote:  

(05-21-2015 06:14 PM)fiasco360 Wrote:  This thread is really fucking inspiring. I am finishing my graduate degree in mechanical engineering and I feel like I've wasted so much time in school only to come out starting at 70-80k a year. Not that it's bad but I know of very few engineers who make 150+ even after 10-15 years. I don't want to be chained to a desk making some giant defense company millions of dollars while they only pay me a marginal amount of it.

Any engineer who has worth will move into consulting.

I'll be moving into consulting later this year with just the owner. He says starting salary is at 150 an hour so that's great.

Yep, I'm on track to gross between 160 and 210k this year depending on what contracts get renewed. Actual take home pay is less because of self employment taxes, shop space, etc. but it's still pretty good.

Post: #193

(03-22-2016 03:13 PM)Mentavious Wrote:  

(05-21-2015 06:14 PM)fiasco360 Wrote:  This thread is really fucking inspiring. I am finishing my graduate degree in mechanical engineering and I feel like I've wasted so much time in school only to come out starting at 70-80k a year. Not that it's bad but I know of very few engineers who make 150+ even after 10-15 years. I don't want to be chained to a desk making some giant defense company millions of dollars while they only pay me a marginal amount of it.

Any engineer who has worth will move into consulting.

I'll be moving into consulting later this year with just the owner. He says starting salary is at 150 an hour so that's great.

Fellow mech engineer here, just wondering where are you guys based? also how did you make your way into consulting mentavious? I'm on my way out of my current industrial automation role atm, but I think I actually have way more automation experience than mechanical which I think is hurting me since my degree was on Mech Eng

Post: #194

Ok, I make about $250k base salary not including bonuses.

I do patent litigation at a well known general practice law firm in the US. When I was working overseas as an expat I got an extra $90k as a cost of living adjustment. I am about 8 years out of law school and have had this salary for a few years. It used to be that firms paid associates all the same amount based on their years since law school, but since the crash in 2008-2009, many have gone to a three tier system and there are ranges for each tier.

Unfortunately in law, it's hard to get the top jobs. It's easier in patent law because people with engineering backgrounds are harder to find, but at the same time, it's getting harder to bill so much and recently patent cases have become less frequent. If you don't make partner by about 10 years out from law school, you're either kicked out and have to go in-house with a company or made "of counsel" and basically get a salary indefinitely, or until they no longer need you. When you get to consideration for partner, you need to bring in some work, which is tough.

I basically hate the job, but I'm trying to look for opportunities to build off it. I may try to eventually start my own firm or try to start a completely different business with capital I've saved. It's very tough because my real love was software (studied comp sci) but realistically there's an upper ceiling of about 120k to 150k for software development, and even that is extremely hard to obtain.

I did the expat thing for a while and it was very lucrative because of the extra cash, but I got completely anally reamed on taxes when I came back for complex reasons, and lost over 100k of savings due to that. I am considering doing it again to rebuild my savings and make sure I don't make the same tax mistake again.

Anyway, I studied comp sci and then went to law school after a few years. I was lucky enough to know people who helped me in the door, but that's not absolutely necessary. It's harder now than 10 years ago, but still a lucrative field. It's not very fun though. I teally want to pivot to something else but I'm telling myself to bide my time and make the best of it because there's very little else that can make me this much money. FYI, salaries as a first year out of law school start at about $160k base.

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Post: #195

Op did you learn anything from this thread?

Since you posted have you sought out any local people who make whatever you consider to be a lot of money or is it still true that you havent met anyone who you think makes 150k. (I am sure you have met people who make more than yhat but didnt know it.)

Post: #196

OculusDexter, what about tuition? Many of the software developers who make 120-150K didn't go to good schools. Some of them went to foreign schools for free or almost free, some don't even have a college degree. My question is, for a young guy who is considering different career paths, is it still better money-wise to become a lawyer than a programmer even though the law school is very expensive?

Post: #197

These salaries are impressive compared to those of Europe

Building a net worth which can enable you to live off passive income can takes an entire life here in EU if you rely on a corporate job, unless you are in some niche like London investment banking etc

Post: #198

(03-22-2016 03:51 PM)bleaknight Wrote:  Fellow mech engineer here, just wondering where are you guys based? also how did you make your way into consulting mentavious? I'm on my way out of my current industrial automation role atm, but I think I actually have way more automation experience than mechanical which I think is hurting me since my degree was on Mech Eng

Automation work pays fairly well and is relatively location independent. Hardest part is landing your first gig but once your foot is in the door you'll likely get a lot of repeat work and then can slowly expand your client base. Get involved in your local IEEE chapter and whatever other professional societies are relevant to your specific line of work. Volunteer to teach a class or organize a meeting on the latest and greatest trends in automation. Going rates are in the 100-300/hour range depending on the size of the contract and type of work. I start negotiations at 5x what my salary would be if I was a W2 employee and go from there. Typically it's not worth taking a job for less than 3x. My last contract just accepted the 5x number without negotiating so even that is probably a little low.

Post: #199

So... Firstly, I don't think people who didn't study computer science at a good school are usually the ones making the best money. It is a lot easier to get into that industry with raw skill than a killer degree, but it still takes work to overcome that lack of a good degree. But yes, you can still do well in software with raw skill. It's one of the most meritocratic industries starting out.

That said, once you start to make more, employers are always looking at how that can fire your ass and hire an Indian. You have to move into management or else get into a startup somehow. That's pretty tough. If you're super lucky, you get a job at Google where they will actually let you stay as an engineer until 40 and beyond. Otherwise it gets tough in your thirties.

Anyway, I think software is a great area to start out. Particularly AI is going to be huge in coming years. Machine learning. But if you later decide to do law, the tuition can be ridiculous. You need to find a good state school and go live there to get in-state tuition. For example, UVA law school is awesome in the rankings but can save you a mint if you're in-state. I did this at a different school and managed to come out with no debt, while others came out with 100k or more in debt.

If you consider law, you need to go to the best school possible, but if you get into a few schools in the top 40 and you have a choice between a few options, be smart. You really need to understand the reputation game with law schools. Top 14 are the best schools and some firms only consider people from the top 14. As a patent guy you can still do well from other schools in the top 30-40, but it is very very important what their US News rankings are.

Many people go to a cheap school for a year or two and then transfer to a better school. Not to save money, but because they can prove themselves and get killer grades first year if their LSAT wasn't that great. Then they can graduate from a better school. All anyone ever looks at for beginning lawyers is your school, grades, and whether you were on law journal. For patent guys, they also consider your undergrad school and any engineering experience you had. It's a plus to have a few years practical work experience before law school, but not strictly necessary.

Beware that if you choose a top school and get into debt, then don't get a top tier firm job, you will be in trouble. Also, even if you do and you have a lot of debt, you will have tow work for a while to pay it off. If you hate it, you're stuck for a while.

But all that said, I make much more than I would in software, so it worked out monetarily for me. I just don't like the work really... But others really love it.

If you are considering software, you should do that first and see how it goes. Get to know smart people and try some startups early on in Silicon Valley. If it doesn't work out great, you cons always consider law school after three to five years.

Post: #200

(03-22-2016 03:51 PM)bleaknight Wrote:  

(03-22-2016 03:13 PM)Mentavious Wrote:  

(05-21-2015 06:14 PM)fiasco360 Wrote:  This thread is really fucking inspiring. I am finishing my graduate degree in mechanical engineering and I feel like I've wasted so much time in school only to come out starting at 70-80k a year. Not that it's bad but I know of very few engineers who make 150+ even after 10-15 years. I don't want to be chained to a desk making some giant defense company millions of dollars while they only pay me a marginal amount of it.

Any engineer who has worth will move into consulting.

I'll be moving into consulting later this year with just the owner. He says starting salary is at 150 an hour so that's great.

Fellow mech engineer here, just wondering where are you guys based? also how did you make your way into consulting mentavious? I'm on my way out of my current industrial automation role atm, but I think I actually have way more automation experience than mechanical which I think is hurting me since my degree was on Mech Eng

A former alumni from my university contacted me.

Sorry I can't help with mechanical engineering as I'm in material/aerospace engineering.

I've also know people making connections through business schools but that's from top 10 unis (here in the states) and getting in that way.

I think it's quite difficult to get in off the street.