Yes, but also no. PG is not just saying that this is good for people, but also should be sought by their employers. The former is fine. Go find a thing that brings you joy and pay. The problem is when employers seek people who find joy in their work so they can abuse them by cutting other benefits.

Well those are two separate things.

Not saying that Paul Graham is or is not a ruthless capitalist who is trying to exploit people no matter what.

But I think Paul Graham is referring to the first thing in the context of this article.

But he also talks about using this as a mechanism for distinguishing YC candidates. So this is coming from a place of "how do capitalists choose laborers".

I feel similarly.

I think, however, that PG's idea of "a project" as much as he says it should be "for fun" -- is actually just a segway (wormhole) into a start-up!

> One way to ensure autonomy is not to have a boss at all. There are two ways to do that: to be the boss yourself, and to work on projects outside of work. Though they're at opposite ends of the scale financially, startups and open source projects have a lot in common, including the fact that they're often run by skaters. And indeed, there's a wormhole from one end of the scale to the other: one of the best ways to discover startup ideas is to work on a project just for fun.

FYI: it's spelt segue. Segway is the brand-name of a self-balancing wheeled contraption that was supposed to revolutionize urban transportation 2 decades ago, but only saw success in the mall-cop niche.

Yikes! I guess I've never seen "segue" in writing before, always spoken. I didn't know!

I feel you! I mostly suffer from the opposite problem (seen words in writing by never heard them spoken, and end up pronouncing them wrong).

We also have Segway tours in Chicago, where you get to ride one while seeing the sights.

I guess VCs wouldn't be considered "bosses"?

VCs don't want you to feel like they're bosses.

Indeed, sometimes founders learn "the hard way" who the boss really is.

A very suspect position coming from an investor who wants to turn your passion project into a profitable corporation that he has a large stake in.

Precisely! In the PG world-view "success" means a unicorn start-up and a billion dollar "exit."