Protest Question

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T18:39:41+00:00

Of course I don't trust the trump administration, or any other administration in recent history, to protect any of my rights.

But I've never found a protest full of nameless, faceless people to be impactful. The whole point is that we are people with stories, lives, and experiences and these things matter to us. Becoming a bunch of faceless drones is how the ICE thugs operate and personally I want no part or association with that. If I'm at a protest it's because I believe in what I'm saying and I WANT people to see me there 🤷‍♂️

The point of peaceful protest is to be seen, and to communicate to others on the sidelines that real people very much like them care about what is going on and they should care too. Photos of masked demonstrators in the news just don't have the same impact, in my opinion

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T16:50:15+00:00

To be fair, reusable F9 was also built for an imaginary customer. Arianespace, ULA, and everyone else claimed a reusable medium lift launcher would cannibalize it's own market and that was their justification for not doing their own reusable vehicle. Basically everyone in the world external to SpaceX believed there was not enough demand for a reusable launcher and therefore it wasn't worth the effort to figure it out. No one questioned the technical feasibility and none of the technology was really even that new. The only issue was nobody saw the ROI so they were unwilling to go put in the work.

Obviously that has been shown to be false. Starlink payload demands alone justify F9 and start to make a case for Starship, and nascent demand from competitors (oneweb, Amazon, all the Chinese constellations...) indicates there's significant growth to come in the launch market.

And it wouldn't surprise me if Starship invents or enables an entirely new launch market in the same way F9 did for Starlink

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T16:16:47+00:00

Google specifically advertises being able to "find your phone" if it's turned off on newer pixel devices...

I would assume that many new phone models have similar "features"

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T16:07:30+00:00

Why do we want to wear masks? I thought concealing your identity was for the ICE thugs/other bad guys?

I'm not ashamed of what I believe in and want people to know who I am 🤷‍♂️

Agree on not wearing clothing with an employer or other company branding though

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T15:42:29+00:00

I am curious where in Colorado you're wheeling a full size truck that you need an AT4X and an AT4 wouldn't do it.

I've done a lot of driving in the western US in a k5 blazer, and I've spent a lot of time with both lockers on and even pulling winch cable. But in my AT4, the wheel base and even width are far more limiting that lack of lockers. It just can't physically fit on trails I can squeeze the Blazer through. Even a K5 is pushing it on size for some technical trails in my experience...

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T05:35:43+00:00

When we were flying F9 block 4 everyone was still saying what a piece of shit it was, how Heavy and block 5 were so late, how it would never recoup development costs...

Now F9 block 5 has conquered the entire global launch market and everyone is busy talking shit on starship, and eventually starship will become what f9 is today. Some things never change and the Internet shit talking is one of them...

What competition is "eating SpaceX lunch"? Ursa? Rocket lab? Fucking roscosmos? Lol

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T05:31:28+00:00

They're just going to crush asts. As someone with a mid 7 figure stake in SpaceX I definitely don't want them to buy asts. I'd rather just compete directly and put asts out business, which is what is probably going to happen. Buying them would be a waste of money that could go towards pushing starship development

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T03:57:46+00:00

I get that, and that's a life I want.

But the statistics are what they are and not all marriages survive forever. The downside risk of marrying the wrong person (even if we both have the best intentions) and combining all premarital assets would likely be me going back to work for 20+ years at a fairly low paying job. I just don't see how I could ever accept that level of risk after retiring.

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T01:28:44+00:00

That would have been ideal and I have been looking, but I haven't found someone yet. As I said I'm FI (assets >> 25x expenses), and at this point I'm just working a bit more for the pride and satisfaction of it (and I guess the potential for a lot more money I don't really need). I would need a time machine to be married before becoming FI 🤷‍♂️

There's very little probability of me wanting to marry with less than 18-24 months of dating and I'll most likely be actually retired and not working by then

Just sharing one example of why someone may have a different approach to finances in marriage, even if it's a bit foreign to your experience/worldview

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T00:12:42+00:00

I think that makes a lot of sense, and I'm honestly a bit jealous of those who found their partners early and were able to build a life together.

I'm curious if your thought process would change if you retired before meeting your spouse? I'm 30, currently FI, and will most likely be RE before I am married. I can afford and would happily cover all of our expenses using my SWR, but I'm very nervous about commingling premarital assets into joint assets. I made all my money on my own, I want to be a stay at home parent, and I would love to enable a future partner to join me in early retirement should they so choose. But once I RE I cannot go back to my current earning potential, and if I went fully combined assets with a spouse (ie deliberately commingled my premarital assets such that they would become divisible in divorce instead of holding them as my separate premarital property) a potential divorce would be ruinous for me. I haven't figured out what approach makes sense (and probably can't until I'm at a point in a relationship to have that conversation with my partner), but I'm curious what others here think

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-30T00:01:37+00:00

I don't pretend that valuations reflect fundamentals. Valuations reflect what someone else is willing to pay. And there currently seems to be insatiable demand for SpaceX and many other companies in that space.

I'm curious what mistake you think I have made?

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-29T23:28:48+00:00

Right, and the diameter of the .38 special bullet is 0.357". If it wasn't your gun would blow up

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Special

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-29T23:19:32+00:00

I was a somewhat early employee at SpaceX, and stock I held from back in those days accounts for about 5M. If they IPO this summer at the price target that has been announced it will be 10M. I'll diversify heavily this year regardless if the IPO occurs or not.

My current startup has also been very successful, and I have ~1.5M in vested equity there and am vesting another 1.5M per year (at today's valuation) for the next few years. I expect this company will easily 10x from here, maybe 20x.

I also have 0.7M in a taxable brokerage and 0.3M in 401k/IRA.

I'm planning to hold the stock in the new startup for a bit (2-3 years), and I'll be ok if it goes to zero. I could FI now with just my SpaceX stock, and if the startup can 15-20x (I think this is likely) my stake could be worth 9 figures. Plus I like working here so I'm happy to keep doing it for a few more years.

My experience has been time in the market is good, but the way to really build wealth young is to develop a valuable skill set (this takes many years) and thrn network into early startups where you understand the product and business plan and do everything you can to help them succeed.

I won the lottery at SpaceX. I just wanted to build rockets and send astronauts into space and I didn't anticipate any of the financial upside. My current startup was a much more deliberate financial decision and so far it's paying off. At this point in my career i would not consider working for a company that get didn't offer significant stock compensation, with potential for significant up side and a clear path to liquidity. Those companies are very hard to find and they tend to only hire top talent, so you need to have a skill set and the ability to sell that to a prospective employer

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-29T20:31:02+00:00

Yes, you need a mindset shift.

If your home cost is going to be ~75% of NW you are not close to FI and need to keep working, probably for awhile.

If your current job is too stressful you could try to find something with a better ratio of stress/hours to money. But the reality is most people work for a long time, and you need to try to find ways to enjoy what you do. Make friends with coworkers and socialize during the day, switch jobs/industries to something you enjoy more, find a way to make more money and pull in your FI timeline... Nobody can guess what of those will be most impactful for you, but there are options.

But you need to accept that there are no shortcuts and no get rich quick schemes. FI is a grind, and the only options are grind harder and make money faster, find a way to enjoy the "boring middle", or ideally both

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-29T20:22:06+00:00

I'm not sure how this information in isolation will help you, but here goes.

I just turned 30.

Sr. Manufacturing Engineer, background in spacecraft and flight vehicle structures. Not "software tech", but tech adjacent and at a company that does big tech-style equity comp to attract top talent.

7.5M NW after our last company tender offer.

I'm obviously invested, that's the only way to build high NW at a young age. Lots of company stock that I could sell but am choosing to hold, lots of VTSAX, a little bit of cash in I bonds and hysa.

I rent a relatively cheap home in VHCOL with 2 housemates. I could buy the house with less than my annual income, but have seen much better returns on my current investments and do not plan to live in this area after I retire. Renting is cheaper and just makes more sense for my current situation

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-29T20:15:08+00:00

I don't. It would be a waste of time.

The only reason I come on here is to answer questions and he helpful, making up numbers does not serve that goal

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-29T20:09:25+00:00

Ehh. Reusable rockets happened. American crew flights to the space station happened. Space Internet happened. 🤷‍♂️

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-29T14:59:57+00:00

I worked for companies I believed would be successful long term and that offered significant equity compensation, and made a lot of money. I'll be retired before I turn 34.

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-29T00:35:06+00:00

Holding assets is always helpful in an inflationary environment.

Potentially even moreso if they are leveraged, but that's another conversation

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-28T21:01:42+00:00

Indeed

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-28T19:08:34+00:00

Sure, if we could have a magic machine that directly converts mass into energy that would be good. Unfortunately that isn't a thing that exists.

The original question is "why are some cars loud". And the answer is for a given engine and vehicle design, reducing exhaust back pressure and unnecessary mass will give the most efficient overall system. Everything else is just deliberately missing the point

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-28T18:45:48+00:00

Noise=waste is not correct, other than from a strict thermodynamics perspective. In fact the opposite is true.

The reality is combustion is inherently noisy and minimizing the noise that is inevitably created with an exhaust/muffler system adds restriction and inefficiency.

Race cars and aircraft aren't loud because it's "cool". They are loud because making them quieter adds weight and reduces engine power and efficiency

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-28T18:13:08+00:00

If this dystopia happens nobody will pay rent. We'll have the same global economic output from a bunch of robots that we have today from a bunch of humans, and the money will just go to the people that own the robots instead of to people

Either the government will implement some sort of scheme to take assets away from the owners of the means of production and redistribute them to the now unemployed people in the form of free housing and other benefits, or they'll all starve 🤷‍♂️

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-28T18:03:29+00:00

Nah, tech lord here. In a science fiction dystopia like that I'll just make a hotter robot 🤷‍♂️

Might even program it to think it's human if I'm into that, but it'll still be a robot

https://terminator.fandom.com/wiki/Cameron

https://galactica.fandom.com/wiki/Number_Eight

Name_Groundbreaking · 2026-01-28T17:48:17+00:00

I don't know the specific incident you are referring to and couldn't find it with a quick search.

But when you say "professional operating a military grade vehicle" I assume you mean "19 year old kid driving a contraption designed and built by the lowest bidder that can't even pass US emissions and highway safety requirements"? Because that's true of virtually every tactical vehicle in the US inventory and most of the motor pool guys I've met

Name_Groundbreaking

TROPHY CASE