What is The Opportunity Cost of 2 Years?

Without winning tactics, you could be stuck where you are now. A $ 6-figure mistake?

Welcome, Avatar!

First off, a special thank you to the readers who pay to make this newsletter possible.

Your kind words, success stories, and support go a long way.

– Fullstack

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The next post is coming together nicely, I think you’re going to like it.

In the meanwhile, I thought I’d give you a heads up on a few small changes coming to the newsletter.

High ROI

First, the wins keep on rolling in.

• $$ 5-figure promotions

• $$$ Juicy 6-figure job offers

• Avoid getting laid off

• Fixed manager relationships

Readers are getting huge value when they apply the tactics they find here.

A special congratulations to BowTiedFocus, who joined as a paid sub a few months ago, and just got his next promo faster using the tactics shared in this Substack.

Source: Twitter

Readers like BowTiedFocus are getting huge return on investment (ROI) on their pennies per day on a paid subscription.

I think you probably will to.

How high is his ROI?

For BowTiedFocus: $10,000 promotion / $125 for an annual sub = 80,000%

Bonds today yield 5%. Stocks long term hit 7-14%.

80,000% ROI is incredible!

He got back 80x the money he invested. And not in some speculative coin or company. He invested in himself getting access to new tactics so he could win.

And that’s just one reader. So many have written in with their success stories.

It’s incredible.

More Tactics to Come

The paid archives are getting close to the size of a business book, but without the fluff, dated advice, and HR language that make you usually stop reading after the first chapter.

Rest assured, if you like what you’ve seen so far, you’re going to like what’s coming next.

The pipeline is saturated with new tactics that will help you succeed.

Here’s a taste of what’s coming up for paid subscribers:

• Your first SEV: how to get promoted – not fired – when you ship a bug that takes down production

• Stop stopping: how to handle a code freeze from management caught with their pants down

• The art of the pivot: how to transition from sales, marketing, or customer support into software engineering

• Early career case study 2: dying startup as long as the check will cash

• Early career case study 3: rapid prototyping, accelerated learning

• Resumes are for recruiters, I care about your code: how to get your next job

• KtSaaS launch discount code

• Early access and discount code for upcoming Build your next SaaS in Kotlin course

I could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so no guarantees, but with your support all of the above is going to happen.

The Opportunity Cost of 2 Years

Want to get your next promotion? Even with a bad manager?

You can make it happen.

Want to get a new tech job? Higher salary, benefits, vacation?

You can make it happen.

Want to pivot from your existing job to a high-paying tech career?

You can make it happen.

On a long enough time scale, you can make any of these happen.

But how long would it take you if you don’t have proven tactics?

For me? It took over 2 years.

I had to learn everything from scratch. I made a lot of mistakes, and wasted my time on things that didn’t help me.

How much did those 2 years cost me?

$10k? $50k? $100k?!?

My best guess is $350k.

If I could have paid $10/m, my ROI would have been 1,458,000%!

I could probably never in my lifetime find an investment on the stock market that makes that in 2 years.

Hell even at $50/m or $100m, I’d have made off like a bandit.

Like with stocks, better strategies & tactics compound into life changing differences in outcome.

But guess what, that opportunity cost keeps going up each year.

My slow start early in my career continues to cost me. It continues to haunt me.

2 years of slow or no promotions has set my entire career earnings back by 2 years.

I’m at a much higher salary now, but could have gotten to this level much earlier if I had the right tactics.

Over time, my opportunity cost for those 2 years is looking like it will be closer to $700k, probably one of my biggest financial mistakes so far.