I didn't want to go here, but I do have direct knowledge from two final rounds I was passed over for that h1b visa holders were selected instead of me and paid less. (I knew employees at these startups)
Part of why I'm just considering doing something else is the fact that so much of this work is going to be outsourced. Most of my friends who are actively running startups don't even bother hiring inside the US and just use latam contractors.
Unfortunately, I need money. I have effectively a net zero income for 2025, this after years of entrepreneurship just isn't good enough. I find it ironic how on HN anyone advocating to push themselves into a position where they have more options (more income) is met with accusations of being "entitled" or outlandish.
Let's say my skillset isn't as "senior" as I think, how on earth do I escape the tar-pit of being a semi-junior senior (to quote DHH)? This problem is what's been tearing me apart... I genuinely don't know what to do.
I also have some medical stuff I need taken care of and I can't afford to liquidate more of my retirement. So "bootstrapping" another company is just something I'm not interested in.
It seems like the cashflow situation will rule out some options, at least for the moment, like boostrapping etc. Contracting could be a temporary option, esp for US companies that need in-person support with good language skills. This would blunt some of the competition from abroad.
Regarding learning "out of the tar-pit", it's hard to give out specifics without knowing more details about your experiences. But it might be worthwhile to reach out to other senior engineers in your network, not to ask for a job, but to ask for advice about switching from entrepreneur/founder to employee. It could be a good way to build rapport and identify what you should be learning next.
Your health obviously takes priorty over everything else. Medical problems can really push you into despair if left unaddressed. Money you can always make back later.
> I find it ironic how on HN anyone advocating to push themselves into a position where they have more options (more income) is met with accusations of being "entitled" or outlandish.
> Let's say my skillset isn't as "senior" as I think
The people from the first sentence were trying to get you to understand the content of the second sentence.
Thanks for your thoughts - but I'm not going to pat myself on the back trying to make the US median income. To be clear, I'd accept anything over $70k at this point.
I guess what I mean to say is don’t get the idea that $100-120k for a non-senior developer job in a middle America city is a bad living. You’ll probably live better with that than you do now in the Bay Area.
I was at a concert last night and met someone working concessions who used to do training for a tech company. She has been out of career work for 2 years. Has a promising job opportunity but no offer yet. Real life isn’t necessarily going to cut you a break.
You aren’t superior to everyone else. Maybe you aren’t passing the vibe check rather than the tech screen if this is your level of humility in interviews.
The Midwest includes some amazing and really nicely affordable cities like Chicago. You would even find mental institutions like the twin cities, Milwaukee, Madison, Columbus, Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh to be really nice places with lots to do.
And I’m not even telling you that you’re resigning to being a plebeian with median income, but you can’t help being snobby anyway.
You've had already several replies commenting in your attitude issues; but it seems you are still to young to see them. I really, really hope in my heart that you can still keep the way of life you are used to. Although, from what I've seen in the US and the world currently, it will be quite difficult.
It is a reality that us people from Xenials (myself), Millenials and Z have have lived our work lives in a generally confortable era. I myself ended my BSc in 2004, way after the dot-com bubble burst, and fortunately the 2008 crisis didn't hit me.
But, the advice you are calling "boomer coping" (or similar) has some experience in there, most likely from people that suffered the 2000 dot-com bubble burst. From the accounts I've read of older friends, there were people with plenty of experience and great CVs washing dishes at local restaurants.
Right now, the way things are moving in our field, with AI, outsourcing and everything else playing, it looks like the skillsets are getting cheaper. So, we are getting punched by reality and I believe it will only get worse.
> But, the advice you are calling "boomer coping" (or similar) has some experience in there, most likely from people that suffered the 2000 dot-com bubble burst. From the accounts I've read of older friends, there were people with plenty of experience and great CVs washing dishes at local restaurants.
Also the early 90s weren’t great: the Cold War ending meant that a lot of defense contractors laid off very specialized workers. For an example of that circa 1994:
I've run out of options in my network and at this point I just need to make at least $70k before I have to resort to working at a UPS store or something that will cause my skills to further deteriorate.
I've actually never really had issues passive system design rounds. I had to get through those to get to both on-sites I mentioned. It's partially why I started applying to solutions eng roles.
Fortunately I have some vaguely profitable side projects that keep me busy - trying to stay sharp with those.
Aside from that and leetcode what would you recommend I do to practice?
