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Ask HN: How do you escape golden handcuffs at FAANG?

5 points by oumua_don17 ↗ HN
I’m currently at a FAANG company and have achieved FIRE, but I’m finding it hard to walk away from the golden handcuffs.

Those who did it, how did you do it? What did you move onto from FAANG?

8 comments

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bigfatkitten
Lived within my means with the knowledge that the party would not go on forever.

Pretended my base salary was my only salary, and invested the rest.

rvz
Just leave and build your own startup / business.

What are you scared of?

davydm
I didn't move from FAANG, but a very similar equivalent in my home country. I saw people "golden handcuffed" all the time, and the honest truth is that you have to decide what's more important to you - spending cash on vacuous bullshit and being unhappy at work, or not dreading every monday. You can still find places that pay well, and you don't have to sacrifice your life to them. The big thing is learning to live within your means - or, simply, to be able to say "no" to the little kid inside you who wants everything.
oumua_don17
>> spending cash on vacuous bullshit and being unhappy at work ...

I don't find anything incorrect in your response per se but I hope those weren't your assumptions about my situation and I didn't specify the details either. I've lived within my means, spend only for comfortable leisure travel, no mortgages; otherwise I wouldn't have achieved FIRE.

Neither am I sacrificing due to work as it's a good team with good WLB, it's just that I'm no longer excited by the work without dreading the Mondays. So as I mentioned in another response it's very likely that I'm actually scared of leaving this comfort level.

KaiLetov
The money thing is real though. What helped me was starting to build stuff on the side before quitting. Shipped a couple of small projects, got some revenue trickling in, and at some point the side thing became more exciting than the day job. That's when leaving felt obvious, not scary.
oumua_don17
How'd you handle the no compete and whatever you do is ours clauses pretty much the norm at FAANG's?
gaws
> Shipped a couple of small projects, got some revenue trickling in

What did you ship?

potsandpans
What's your number?

My strategy is to go until I can't take anymore pain, then just walk away guilt free.