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Comment by jameshart | Hacker News Reader

That's not a fair characterization of the choice in the show.

The algorithm he's developed is, we're led to believe, potentially the seed for world-changing, billion dollar business possibilities. The reason he's been offered $10M for it is because the potential buyer believes they can realize that potential, and that without them its inventor can't.

The question he's faced with is not "Take ten mill or start a company", it's weighing up, given that this is a multibillion dollar idea, can you, with a little seed funding, realize at least $10M of value out of it by going it alone?

Saying "take the $10M and then start a company anyway" is ignoring the rather crucial step "*come up with an equally valuable idea which you haven't sold the rights to"...

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The thing is, I estimate $10M is enough to satisfy my financial needs for a lifetime of unemployment. I genuinely think I would take $10M now over $100M in 6 months, after 6 months of arduous soul-sucking work.

Of course, there are potential problems with what I just said. Firstly, my estimate could simply be wrong. Maybe $10M "doesn't go as far as it used to." Secondly, it could be argued that this would actually be a selfish decision to make, since even if I can live with $10M, I could put in the 6 months of work and do a lot of good in the world with the extra $90M.

Rule of thumb: 3% withdrawal rate makes a lump sum of money last a lifetime with near certainty. That's a $300K a year "job" without working a minute. Take $500K-$1MM to buy a house outright and you have $270K-285K/year and your housing expenses are property taxes, upkeep, and insurance.

A 4% withdrawal rate is a high probability to last 40 years.

$10MM is "set for life" money by any reasonable account. (It also happens to be my, "Well, I'm obviously working because I genuinely like what I'm doing" level, because I sure as hell don't have to at that point...)

Not having (nearly) $10MM, I still think that I'd put in the extra 6 months of work in addition, as $100MM is the beginning of family dynasty territory, where I could "feed" several generations of my family (including siblings and nieces/nephews) with nothing more than a charter to "be well", "do good", and "enjoy life". That's less unselfish than your idea that you could do a lot of good for $90MM, but it's the reason I'd toil at an unpleasant job for an extra 6 months. The payout there is literally $500K per day, or over $750K per workday. Gut it out...

Yeah, that's pretty much the rough estimate I was going by.

Don't want to spoil the last episode, but he wasn't offered $10M for a good idea.

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