I think the strongest case for this is if you’re aiming for “ramen profitable”—deliberately keeping burn low while you explore ideas, so that you’re not beholden to finding a job immediately, or pitching a funder on something legible but not moonshot-y.
But I think there’s ultimately a lot more upside to be gained from being more productive/impactful, than money you can possibly save by being frugal. Toy model: you can at most reduce your own expenses by 1x, but you can increase earnings/impact by 10x or more. So I encourage people to move to the boomtown for their field (SF if you’re in AI, Berkeley/London if safety, DC for governance, NY for finance, etc).
I think the strongest case for this is if you’re aiming for “ramen profitable”—deliberately keeping burn low while you explore ideas, so that you’re not beholden to finding a job immediately, or pitching a funder on something legible but not moonshot-y.
But I think there’s ultimately a lot more upside to be gained from being more productive/impactful, than money you can possibly save by being frugal. Toy model: you can at most reduce your own expenses by 1x, but you can increase earnings/impact by 10x or more. So I encourage people to move to the boomtown for their field (SF if you’re in AI, Berkeley/London if safety, DC for governance, NY for finance, etc).
See also Paul Graham on cities.