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Comment by vpmpaul | Hacker News Reader

I really don't get this are you in some super poor country? No offense intended. I'm an IT manager of a mediocre real estate company and I have a decked out home office with all the new toys and with a mini data center that could power a medium size office. In all probably totaling in the mid 5 figures. All company paid and I doubt they remember I exist most days. Where are these tech first companies that barely allow a CTO to scrape by with no resources?

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High pay does not imply that you live in a large house with ample space for an office even if you can afford it. Someone living in a $1M+ condo in an urban high-rise for the lifestyle is unlikely to have space for an office if they did not plan on needing one when they bought it. Most people aren't in the habit of spending lots of money on things they don't plan on using. Even if you wanted to move to a larger house since COVID means you now need an office, in many regions there is no housing available to buy.

I don't have a home office either and no one would confuse me with being poor. Until COVID, I had no use for one.

If you're in a high COL area, then the constraint is usually an extra room away from your family, not the equipment. Not always an option to buy or rent a place with another room once you start working from home. My company sure isn't paying an extra $500-1,000 per month to cover rent/mortgage.

Remember: "CTO" sometimes means "I am the technical founder of a 3 person company"

Not to say it applies to the OP, but there are "CTOs" (poorly compensated, ramen startup engineer with a fancy title) then there are CTOs (well compensated--cash and equity, and C-Suite or C-Suite adjacent individuals at a well-capitalized real business)

Between the two extremes mentioned there is the engine of the global economy. That's where we are.

Not the GP, but my guess is probably Canada?

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