davidvincentmiles.com

In a quick, almost reckless change of plans, I have decided to move to San Francisco. There will be questions , so in true computer nerd style, I put together a fictional FAQ (list of “F”requently “A”sked “Q”uestions, for the non-nerds) to hopefully answer the majority of them.

Q #1: WTF?!?!

A: I can’t give out all the details because the situation involves more than just me (while some know more than others, I think I need to wait for a press release before shouting it from the rooftops). But, let me try to explain the gist. Basically, back in October, a computer game company based in San Francisco offered me a job. They flew me out there, wined and dined me a bit, and put me up in a nice down town hotel. It just so happens that they conducted interviews in a way that let me expound, uber-nerd style, on a variety of topics including Actionscript language features, databases and scalability. And, everyone knows how much I like to expound. So, I aced the interview and they came to me with a really nice offer…that I initially turned down. Part of me just didn’t want to go back to a full time job. However, long story short, despite continuously saying no, they kept sweetening the offer and tightening the deal to the point where I finally said yes.

Q #2: But that’s like…in California…on the west coast?!

A: Yeah, I know. And, I’m an east coast man through and through. However, California contains certain attractions:

1. Nerd conferences – As a guy who started developing video games in the fourth grade, one could almost call it sacrilegious that I haven’t gone to the Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco (I also keep missing the one in Austin, by a hair). Whenever it comes around, I can never get my act together enough to fly out there, but I think I could manage to walk a few blocks to the San Francisco convention center. San Francisco also hosts plenty of other computer and IT conferences and I wouldn’t mind trying to hit several of them during my tenure there.
2. 3-D Movies – As a kid, I always dreamed of seeing name in the credits of several video games. Check. Next, I want to run my own 3-D movie animation studio. To do that, I will need to make connections with serious movie and 3-D modelling talent. And, I can’t think of a better place to do that than California.
3. Proximity to Japan. I have a slight obsession with all things Japanese. (yes, more than just the women ) Living in the states, I can’t get a much easier flight to Japan than San Francisco. Expect to see pictures of me standing in Tokyo sometime within the next year.

In general, I felt a longing to spend a little time on the west coast, but worried that since I could never find a Georgia girl wanting to spend time out there , I wouldn’t get the chance. Now, someone wants to pay to send me out there, so I think I should take that opportunity. But for the record, if I didn’t get to simultaneously fulfil some of my west coast desires while working, I would have turned down the job. I see it all as part of “being ready” plan.

Q #3: Hey wait a second…I thought full-time, 9-to-5 jobs were anathema to you? The bane of your existence…your kryptonite…?

A: Well, yes and no. I hate that jobs take parents away from their kids for so much time. I hate that health insurance remains tied to employment, so you need a full time job just to ensure your family can afford medical assistance in an emergency (hopefully, this will change in near the future). I hate that people have to pigeon-hole their vacations into two weeks per year. I hate that people stress out over needing to squeeze all their expenses into a fixed income, with no recourse if something unexpected, like a broken down car or an injured loved one, suddenly crops up. I don’t think people should have to live that way.

However, I do think one should get a job under these circumstances:

1. Fresh out of college – Unless you started a multi-million dollar business in college, go ahead and get a job once you graduate. At the very least, you will see, up close, just how ugly corporate America can get.
2. The financial reset – As an entrepreneur, you may not achieve success the first time you strike out on your own. Nor, the second time. Or, the third. After each try, you’ll typically need to get a job to pay off maxed-out credit cards and late bills. Sort of get back to equilibrium. I call this the “financial reset”.

   Now, I started doing contract work a few months after I came out here and also pull in some passive income, so I currently have no need for a financial reset. However…

3. The runway – As in CASH runway. The cash runway signifies the amount of money you have on hand to pay your expenses while making little to no income. How long of a cash runway do you need? Let’s just say that a “too long” runway does not exist. You want as long of a runway as possible because once it runs out you crash…hard ( trust me ).

So, in an effort to extend my cash runway WELL into the future, I accepted this job.

Oh, and for those wondering, I see passive income as the superior choice to a 9-to-5 job.

Q #4: AHA! So, if passive income is the superior choice, why not focus on that?

A: I make money passively right now through Google’s Adsense network by running ads on my various blogs. As of November, Google Adsense pays me hundreds of dollars a month, without me having to lift a finger. That’s the good news. The bad news is my expenses run more than just “hundreds of dollars a month”.

Making money through Google Adsense happens in 5 different phases:

• Phase #1 – Making ANYTHING at all.
• Phase #2 – Get paid once. (i.e. Google won’t pay you until you’re account with them reaches $100)
• Phase #3 – Get paid monthly.
• Phase #4 – Break the $1K per month barrier.
• Phase #5 – Get paid five figures per month (yes, some individuals with well established websites earn $30K-$50K PER MONTH, without lifting a finger).

I currently sit at Phase #3, working my way to Phase #4. So far, so good. BUT as of November, my contract work will end. So, either I push to increase the amount of passive income I make, or accept this job offer. I thought long and hard about that because with a laser focus, one CAN push Google Adsense into the thousands in a one month period. However, as I stated earlier, many other reasons drive me towards California besides just a job or money, so I think it makes the best sense to accept the offer.

Let me say one more thing about full-time jobs. As my good friend Brendon Bushman mentioned, sometimes a person can really grow at a place that respects your unique knowledge and talents, wants to pay you (very well) for leveraging said skills, AND provides an environment where you can learn new things. However, in the IT world, finding a place like that borders on the impossible. I would not have accepted this job if I didn’t think my new employer fell into that category. And for the record, even if I had a more solid foundation of passive income to stand on, I would still probably take on some consulting work, if only to get the chance to reality-test my ideas while getting paid like a consultant ( i.e. large sum of money ).

Q #5: But, you just moved out to Colorado like what…8 months ago??? Leaving so soon?

A: Colorado is a magical place. Seemingly at random, you can turn one way and drive past gorgeous greenery, as far as the eye can see. Make another turn and get overwhelmed as the beauty of majestic mountain vistas wash over you. Throughout the year, you can choose to play in the dirt one day, and then in the snow the next. During the fall, you may have to dig your car out of 2-3 feet of snow everyone once in a while , but it DOES melt pretty quickly when the sun comes back out and the GLORIOUS spring and summer weather easily makes up for it. All in all, in the future, I could definitely see myself living in Colorado permanently. If not, whatever woman I marry will need to put up with me wanting to go back at least once or twice a year.

Q #6: Okay, then…what about Austin?

A: I talked about moving to Austin even BEFORE I moved out to Colorado. Unfortunately, (and this really hurts to say), I have officially taken Austin off the table. I do not know where I will live permanently after my sojourn to the west coast, but I do know that I want to spend some time back in Atlanta. My mental time line for this cannot fit both Austin and San Francisco. So on that time line, San Francisco will replace Austin. But, I will definitely make plenty of time to visit.

Q #7: Alright, fine. One last question: why is there a picture of Sean Connery naked on your website?

A: That pic comes from The Rock, which took place in San Francisco. In the depicted scene, Sean Connery sings “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” while taking a shower. You can bet your sweet booty that I will get my fill of all the San Francisco-y stuff highlighted in that movie, including riding the (supposedly expensive) cable cars, touring Alcatraz and sitting exactly in this spot:

(that’s the Museum of Modern Art, by the way)

After I go see the King Tut exhibit, of course.