Casey's Blog

 SDE1  SDE2  Vancouver  $CAD 60,000*(1-22.35%)  = $CAD 46,590  $CAD 90,000*(1-24.50%)  = $CAD 67,950  Seattle  $USD 150,000*(1-25.11%)  = $USD 112,339  *1.4 CAD/USD  = $CAD 157,275  $USD 210,000*(1-26.66%)  = $USD $154,013  *1.4 CAD/USD  = $CAD 215,618  $ Difference  $CAD 110,685  $CAD 147,668  Pay Gap  30 cents on the dollar   32 cents on the dollar Sources: Canadian Income Tax Calculator:  https://simpletax.ca/calculator Washington Income Tax Calculator:  https://smartasset.com/taxes/washington-tax-calculator https://angel.co/salaries https://www.levels.fyi/ https://www.teamblind.com/

At the beginning of your career, it's more important to build a strong technical foundation. What this means is a deep understanding of reality and how things work. A deep understanding comes from knowledge or experience, which means having seen or done things. Only then can you begin to see patterns and think in more abstract terms. Only then can you get things done. After that, use your accomplishments to build your credibility and reputation so you can garner the respect of others. With others' respect, you can build a strong network that will help you navigate the world and get more things done. Armed with both an expertise and a team or a network, you will naturally be invited to a seat at the table. A seat at the table will connect you to other individuals that can give you a broader understanding of the world and a wider network. Others witnessing your growing knowledge and network will want to invite you to their tables as well. All of these invitations and participatio...

BATNA - Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement. People give all kinds of advice to negotiation. However, what I have found is that tactics do very little to influence the outcome. Instead, BATNA is all that matters. You have to be willing to walk away because you have a better alternative. It can be the current demand for the product or service that your business is delivering. It can also be the current job that you are holding. So if you are interviewing, don't stop when you have received an offer. Use the new-found confidence to land another one. Only then will you have the basis to compare your true value on the market. A bidding war is oftentimes the best means to achieve the most favorable end; i.e. the highest price for the product or service that your business is delivering.

A respected and well-known brand-name does wonders for your mind. The same product or service can be perceived much more favorably when attached to a brand. The same is with attending a prestigious business school or joining a prestigious firm. The learning may be comparable to other experiences, but the benefit of the doubt and the opportunities naturally attracted to a brand is unparalleled. Two talented individuals may start out in very similar positions, but the doors a brand can open will cause the trajectory of the two individuals to diverge significantly over time. Their performance and potential may be very similar at first, but the lower friction one experiences will enable the individual to accelerate and grow at a faster rate than the other. Over time, it will be harder and harder for the other individual to catch up. This is why you should follow the crowd and pursue what others would think highly of. A common misconception is that you have to trade-off between learning and...

More than anything, interviews test your storytelling ability and your willingness to practice a number of mutually known questions beforehand. Contrary to popular beliefs, interviewers do not prefer you to demonstrate your problem-solving skills on the spot. Rather, interviewers prefer you to demonstrate that you have prepared and practiced answering a set of questions that are frequently asked in an industry. It is not uncommon for an interviewer to ask you questions that are, word-by-word, straight from the same interview-prep book or online resource that everyone in the industry has been using. Examples of this include Vault Guide to Finance Interviews for finance interviews and LeetCode for software engineering interviews. Your job for this portion - the technical portion - is to play the game and give your interviewers the answers they want. Once you have practiced to a point where you know how to approach a question as soon as you see it, you are then ready to proceed to the oth...

Income Statement + Net Revenue or Net Sales - Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) or Cost of Sales (COS) = Gross Profit - Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) = Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) - Depreciation and Amortization (D&A) - Stock-Based Compensation (SBC) = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) or Operating Income - Interest = Earnings Before Tax (EBT) - Current Tax - Deferred Tax = Earnings After Tax (EAT) or Net Profit or Net Income Cash Flow Statement + Net Income + D&A + SBC + Deferred Tax + Other Non-Cash Items = Cash Flow from Operating (CFO) before Working Capital - Change in Accounts Receivable - Change in Inventory - Change in Accounts Payable - Other Changes in Net Working Capital = Cash Flow from Operating (CFO) - Capital Expenditure - Acquisition + Divestiture = Cash Flow from Investing (CFI) + Net Equity Issuance + Net Debt Issuance = Cash Flow from Financing (CFF) + Cash Flow from Operating (CFO) + Cash Flow from I...

A strategy builds a sustainable competitive advantage. What is strategy? A strategy explains how, in the face of competition, an organization will achieve superior returns A strategy is a hypothesis on future demand A strategy is a focus A strategy is a decision on what not to do A strategy is a tradeoff A strategy is not one activity A strategy is an entire system of activities that fit and reinforce each other A strategy is an integration of decisions and actions across independent units What are examples of a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA)? Any differentiator that cannot be easily replicated by a competitor is an example of an SCA Network effects are examples of an SCA Unique resources are examples of an SCA Brand loyalty is an example of an SCA Culture is an example of an SCA Habits are examples an SCA Barriers to entry are examples of an SCA High fixed costs are examples of an SCA

After 8 years of business school and work experience, I finally realized that it's not that hard to start a business. The key is to find buyers for a product or service that you can deliver .  Being an employee is a business. You are delivering a service to your employer in exchange for a fixed income stream. Being self-employed or owning a business is not that different from being an employee, except as an owner you retain more equity and upside. It's true that some products or services may require you to have the capital, credential, experience, expertise, knowledge, or network to deliver, but many of those requirements can be hired on the market. Even capital can be raised. It is always possible to raise more money if you can deliver the return. Once you have the capital, you can hire almost everything else on the market. Therefore, if you can find the demand, the supply will follow . And if you can  find buyers for a product or service that you can deliver, then ...

The common saying of "location location location" doesn't just apply to real estate; it applies to careers as well. Rising housing prices often result from rising income. A hub has its own network effect. A city with many talents will attract many new employers, which will attract many new talents, and so the virtuous cycle continues. Just like a go-to platform that attracts both buyers and suppliers, a metropolitan city with an inherent scale advantage will attract both employers and talents as well. Consider the following thought experiment: Assume one city has a total addressable market (or TAM) of 300 people and another city only has a TAM of 30, and that an employer will only need to hire one employee to develop a product to sell to the entire city. For the same skill set and experience level, assume it will cost $250 in city A (the city with a TAM of 300 population) to hire the employee and only $50 in city B (the city with a TAM of 30 population). Which city should...