> Do experiences compound? Will I enjoy an experience more at 25 than 45? Maybe, and there's always some balance, of course. No one should work themselves to death.
It doesn't really have to compound. If you travel a few weeks every other year in your 20s or 30s it adds up to a lot more experiences than if you hadn't. When you get up to 40 it makes a meaningful difference.
Before the pandemic you could take a flight almost anywhere for less than $1000. Not using that opportunity ends up defining people, or at least their situation, whether they like it or not.
And don't get me wrong. I understand that it isn't always so simple. Still if I had to choose I would choose the version of myself that is willing and capable of traveling.
Could you go traveling when you are 40? Sure, but it isn't necessarily the same thing.
The thing is that people didn't lose interest in startups. Startups lost interest in people. I am still interested startups that do things differently, accelerators that enables startup that otherwise wouldn't happen or other things that are, well, interesting. But those are few and far between these days.
I also fundamentally disagree with the idea that you have to like something because of its process even if you dislike the outcome. Ironically I think that was what put YC apart in the first place. Every other incubator would talk about their fancy offices, lawyers and contacts but then wouldn't produce many notable startups. And by that measure YC probably never would have happened, or at least didn't deserve support.
It's something I think about whenever there is a development with some really popular company. That if the company had adopted the mindset of those rooting for it it probably wouldn't have been successful in the first place.
The distribution of topics really seems to be about the same. What seems to be missing are the "hacker celebrity" and research talks. But as far as I have seen the bulk of talks have always been similar to those this year. They just don't get the big crowds.
The opportunity described is only common in a handful of companies in handful of cities. Outside of this it is going to be rare even in the US. Since Sweden doesn't have a large presence of these companies you are going to have to move to for example Zurich or London for it to be common. It isn't a Sweden versus US thing, it's a "achieving a high level in a major company that gives you stock" versus not. The opportunity still exists in Stockholm but requires more achievement, effort and luck because it is less common in absolute terms.
That said it sucks to work in Sweden because it's all about making money through inheritance, housing, stocks or contacts. But I guess that is how it is in many places these days.
It doesn't really have to compound. If you travel a few weeks every other year in your 20s or 30s it adds up to a lot more experiences than if you hadn't. When you get up to 40 it makes a meaningful difference.
Before the pandemic you could take a flight almost anywhere for less than $1000. Not using that opportunity ends up defining people, or at least their situation, whether they like it or not.
And don't get me wrong. I understand that it isn't always so simple. Still if I had to choose I would choose the version of myself that is willing and capable of traveling.
Could you go traveling when you are 40? Sure, but it isn't necessarily the same thing.