An exceptional post by Patrick McKenzie.

It's a long post. Here are some of the best bits:

“Money is also the convenient method of keeping score for optimizing businesses, which feels like a game to me. I really enjoy winning games with complicated rules sets, especially by optimizing the heck out of play, because optimization is often as much fun as actually playing the game.”

“Along the way, almost totally by accident, I discovered that you could open a small software business on the Internet pretty much without asking permission from anyone. I discovered that I really, really liked almost every aspect of doing business, in the same way that I really, really did not like most aspects of working at a megacorp.”

“The world isn’t a meritocracy.”

“You can often get what you want.”

“Working five days a week? Your choice.
A job which doesn’t excite you? Your choice.
Money insufficient to buy whatever it is you want? Your choice.”

“Thomas mentioned that, if I had phrased my invitation as “Why don’t I consult for you” rather than “Why don’t we grab coffee”, he would have gladly written me a check…He told me that he would have paid $15,000, and it blew my mind. “