The thing I've come to realise recently is that most people in IT are resigned to the fact that they work for money and live life outside work. Even the thought of starting a company never enters their minds. I quit recently to start up a company and almost everyone from my old employer that found out I was leaving asked me what employer I was moving to. On hearing my news most said something like "wow that's really brave!". I kept saying is it? The reality is it would have made more sense to them if I'd said I was taking a career break to travel the world for six months. I kept saying but this way my cost are much lower and I have a (hopefully good) chance of making real money, compared to the traveller that comes back - all be it having had a lot of great experiences - broke and looking for work again.
In defense of the amazing people who raised me with the work/pay assumption, they lived most of their lives in the Soviet Union, where there weren't many options aside from working for money handed down from a higher power.
most people in IT are resigned to the fact that they work for money and live life outside work
It's definitely not just in IT.
For the sake of argument, one could say that life/work separation is good, and that people who start startups are workaholics missing out on all of the interesting things in life.
When I quit, everyone asked where I'm going. When I said "I haven't worked it out yet" (as I was shaping a startup) people just couldn't process it... Half assumed I just didn't want to say.
For a lot of people I just said "I'm going travelling", because it was something they could process.
