Leverage

What I wish I knew earlier:

The different types of leverage that exist - generally these types of leverage also have an associated debt. Human, Capital, Knowledge etc. The only way to have a big pay off is to utilize the compounding that leverage allows. One must also be aware of the acute pain that this leverage can inflict on the user. Humans are hard to manage, interest is hard to keep in check, and code becomes expensive to manage.

When starting one's career you are likely to be the leverage of someone else. There is an artform to the balance between being usefull and just being used. If your boss likes to teach you, treats you fairly and isn't an A-hole than you are doing much better than most. It is amazing how many companies and positions exist that take advantage of their human capital, they take it for granted and put up with outsized “brain damage” in order to eek out every last dollar. This model is not sustainable. You do not need to motivate your team with a stick if you treat them well and compensate them fairly. If anything it will make your life much harder in the long run as corporate knowledge will cease to exist due to the high turn over.

what I will do moving forward:

Value those around me. Utilize the leverage that I have been fortunate enough to achieve, and understand that the proverbial stove is hot. If you are levering up to do anything you must ensure that you are correct and the expected value of the pay off vs the risk you are taking on is worth it and that you will not be sunk. Gameover is not an option that you want in real life.