How to Make Wealth
<img src="http://www.virtumundo.com/images/spacer.gif" height=15 width=1> Want to start a startup?
<img src="http://www.virtumundo.com/images/spacer.gif" height=15 width=1> 想要创业吗？
Get funded by Y Combinator .
获得 Y Combinator 的资助。
</td > May 2004 (This essay was originally published in Hackers & Painters .) If you wanted to get rich, how would you do it?
</td> 2004 年 5 月（本文最初发表于《黑客与画家》。）如果你想致富，你会怎么做？
I think your best bet would be to start or join a startup.
我认为你最好的选择是创办或加入一家初创公司。
That's been a reliable way to get rich for hundreds of years.
数百年来，这一直是一种可靠的致富方式。
The word "startup" dates from the 1960s, but what happens in one is
“初创公司”这个词可以追溯到 20 世纪 60 年代，但其中发生的事情是
very similar to the venture-backed trading voyages of the Middle Ages.
与中世纪风险投资支持的贸易航行非常相似。
Startups usually involve technology, so much so that the phrase "high-tech startup" is almost redundant.
初创企业通常涉及技术，以至于“高科技初创企业”这个词几乎是多余的。
A startup is a small company that takes on a hard technical problem.
初创公司是一家解决棘手技术问题的小公司。
Lots of people get rich knowing nothing more than that.
许多人致富时只知道这一点。
You don't have to know physics to be a good pitcher.
你不必了解物理学才能成为一名优秀的投手。
But I think it could give you an edge to understand the underlying principles.
但我认为它可以让你有优势理解基本原理。
Why do startups have to be small?
为什么初创公司必须规模较小？
Will a startup inevitably stop being a startup as it grows larger?
随着规模的扩大，初创公司是否会不可避免地不再是一家初创公司？
And why do they so often work on developing new technology?
为什么他们如此频繁地致力于开发新技术？
Why are there so many startups selling new drugs or computer software, and none selling corn oil or laundry detergent?
为什么有这么多初创公司销售新药或计算机软件，却没有一家销售玉米油或洗衣粉？
The Proposition Economically, you can think of a startup as a way to compress your whole working life into a few years.
从经济角度来看，你可以将创业视为将你的整个工作生涯压缩为几年的一种方式。
Instead
相反
of working at a low intensity for forty years, you work as hard as you possibly can for four.
低强度工作四十年，你就尽力工作四年。
This pays especially well in technology, where you earn a premium for working fast.
这在技术领域的回报尤其丰厚，你可以因快速工作而获得溢价。
Here is a brief sketch of the economic proposition.
这是经济主张的简要概述。
If you're a good hacker in your mid twenties, you can get a job paying about $80,000 per year.
如果你是一名二十多岁的优秀黑客，你可以找到一份年薪约 80,000 美元的工作。
So on average such a hacker must be able to do at least $80,000 worth of work per year for the
因此，平均而言，这样的黑客每年必须能够为网络完成至少价值 80,000 美元的工作。
company just to break even.
公司只是为了收支平衡。
You could probably work twice as many hours as a corporate employee, and if you focus you can probably get three times as much done in an hour.
你的工作时间可能是公司员工的两倍，如果你集中注意力，你可能在一小时内完成三倍的工作。
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