Day: August 9, 2025

• Many of personal stylist Amanda Massi’s clients are men working in tech, finance, or real estate.
• Massi said her tech clients want to look good without standing out and don’t have time to shop.
• She recommends upgrading the classic tech guy uniform with nicer pieces like knit tees or raw denim.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Amanda Massi, a luxury personal stylist based in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I have always known that I wanted to work in fashion.

While getting my master’s in fine arts with an emphasis in fashion design, I got a job assisting a stylist to support myself and to pay for school. After about six months, I realized, “I can do this. I don’t need to assist anybody.”

I got in with the tech crowd just through word of mouth. I built up my own network and went to a lot of events. When one tech guy likes you, they tell their friends, and then they tell their friends, so it’s a very tight-knit circle. I was able to build a good foundation pretty quickly in San Francisco.

I’ve since relocated and work out of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. My clients are about 65 to 70% men. They mostly work in tech, finance, and real estate. The women that I style are also business owners or very philanthropic. I also work with celebrities and people in music.

I always find that when men seek fashion advice, they truly want to know the answer, but they are clueless, don’t have time for it, or are just really bored of grays and navy blues. Most of the men I style want a silent, confident look. Then I have a few who are extremely maximalist and very adventurous in their style.

Tech guys want to look good, but not have their clothes stand out

I definitely understand that part of the tech industry’s culture is, “I’m too smart to care about what I wear.” In San Francisco, initially, my tech guys would say, “Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t care what he wears.” And I would say, “That’s great. Good for them. But you called me, so you obviously care. Also, they have a B in their bank account, and you’re almost there, but you are not there yet.”

For men who work in tech or are leaders in finance and real estate, what they wear is very important. They are exhibiting their company and representing their employees and investors.

They’re already confident, but they just want to have that feeling of being exceptional, especially if the tech company is newer or they’re doing another round of investing. You need to look a certain way when you go into an investor room and ask somebody for hundreds of thousands or a million dollars. You can’t just show up in a ripped T-shirt or a Comic Con shirt.

For the most part, my tech guys are not buying that expensive of clothing, but they are investing in quality clothing that’s going to stand the test of time. They want things that are more neutral and that fit really well. They just want to look silent, confident, and polished, but not to the point where people notice what they’re wearing.

One of my biggest clients owns a huge tech company and only wears Cuccinelli and Zenya. He is very dressy for the tech world, but some things that he says make me laugh, like, “I don’t have time to put on a belt, so I don’t want any pants with belt loops. I only wear loafers. I don’t have time to tie my shoes.”

I only find that in the tech world. They are always rushed for time. They just want to lock in and get the day started.

An elevated uniform

I’m all for the T-shirt and jeans. That’s the tech uniform, but we can do a knit T-shirt instead of a cotton shirt. It’s going to fit you better, hug your body better, last longer, and look polished without trying. It’s more comfortable than cotton and also more absorbent.

Or let’s get a raw denim instead of a stretch denim, because the stretch denim is going to warp. It’s going to change, it’s going to hug you in places you don’t want to have hugged, whereas a raw denim is going to keep its form all day. So when you’re sitting and you’re coding for 10 or 12 hours, you’re going to stand up, and your jeans won’t have a droopy butt because you’ve been sitting and stretching your jeans all day.

They often don’t know these alternatives, like a knit T-shirt or raw denim, exist. They’re also extremely analytical, so they want to know the reasons behind these choices, not just the feeling behind them.

So we can do a uniform. That’s what Steve Jobs wore every day, and he looked nice. A turtleneck is a nice uniform. For clients who want an actual formula, we do that. Their closet looks like a beautifully organized store, with all the gray, blue, and white T-shirts lined up, and then the corresponding denim or slack, and then their shoes right underneath. They just go down the line every day, and that’s what they wear.

But it’s a better quality. It’s a better fit, it’s a different fiber. It’s something that was tailored for them. So when they put it on, it just looks much more put together than buying something off the rack.

• Uber is hiring as the company works to become a “super app.”
• Software developers can make base salaries of up to $266,400, according to federal data.
• Here’s what Uber pays some of its tech workers, from data scientists to IT project managers.

Uber wants to be a “super app,” and it’s hiring people to make it happen. So how much is it paying them?

The company is probably best known for the millions of gig workers who pick up and drop off riders or deliver food for Uber Eats. But Uber is looking to expand those services — with self-driving cars, for example — as well as offer customers targeted offers.

Last year, it also reportedly considered making a bid for Expedia, though no deal materialized.

“We’re slowly moving towards a super app of sorts,” CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.

Like many tech companies, Uber has taken a more financially cautious approach to its corporate head count over the last few years. But it’s still looking for new hires.

In early August, Uber had close to 800 open positions listed on its website. Some of the teams with the most open roles included engineering, operations, and sales.

Uber filed to hire just under 500 workers through the H-1B visa program in the first half of this reporting year, according to filings with the US Department of Labor. That’s more than the roughly 350 filings that Uber made during the same period in 2024.

Some of the most common job positions that Uber filed to hire through the program were data scientists, operations research analysts, and software developers.

Companies are required to submit this work visa data, which includes salary information, to the US Department of Labor for all foreign hires. However, the compensation figures don’t include equity or other benefits that employees can receive in addition to their base pay. The filings also include industry average pay rates for US workers.

Here’s a look at the jobs that Uber disclosed salaries for:

Computer and Information Systems Managers can make up to $360,000

Staff Software Engineer: $225,200 to $258,800

Manager, Engineering: $235,100 to $287,000

Senior Manager: $230,800 to $299,700

Senior Director, Engineering: $360,000

Data Scientists can earn up to $199,400

Scientist, Tech: $111,966 to $174,900

Senior Scientist, Tech: $185,300 to $199,400

Staff Scientist, Tech: $219,400 to $250,000

Applied Scientist: $133,100 to $179,100

Data Scientist: $125,950 to $175,019

Senior Data Scientist: $150,400 to $164,300

Information Technology Project Managers can earn up to $215,900

Product Manager: $158,700 to $197,000

Senior Technical Program Manager: $215,900

Senior Program Manager: $144,500 to $163,600

Operations Research Analysts can make up to $185,300

Scientist, Tech: $149,650 to $174,900

Senior Scientist, Tech: $169,800 to $185,300

Senior Operations and Logistics Manager: $138,650 to $142,850

Regional Operations Manager: $108,600 to $140,950

Manager, Sales Operations: $157,400

Software Developers can make up to $266,400

Software Engineer: $98,516 to $195,300

Software Engineer II: $113,308 to $135,005

Staff Software Engineer: $225,200 to $266,400

Senior Software Engineer: $151,819 to $235,500

Senior Applications Developer: $187,800 to $209,700

Do you have a story to share about Uber? Contact this reporter at abitter@businessinsider.com or 808-854-4501.

• My 7-year-old wanted to make money, so I encouraged him to start a neighborhood recycling service.
• He went door to door with a wagon, collecting cans and bottles each week.
• He took initiative and built something on his own; it reminded me entrepreneurship isn’t about age.

My husband and I have built businesses across multiple industries, both separately and together. So, with our kids, business concepts are part of everyday conversations. We often discuss the cost of goods, profit margins, and customer value.

But even more than that, we’ve always believed that if our kids wanted something beyond the basics, they could absolutely work for it and then be able to pay for whatever they want for themselves.

We don’t pay for chores because our family is a team, and chores are part of being a team. However, if they want a pair of Jordans, a video game console, or anything else, we support them in building a business and managing their money. That gives them autonomy and ownership, and it teaches lessons no allowance ever could.

When my youngest son, who was 7, told me he wanted to make money, we got right to business and discussed what he wanted to do. He had done lemonade stands before, so we brainstormed ideas like painting curbs or selling kindness rocks, and he chose recycling.

He built the business himself with a little help and a wagon

He had made a ton of lemonade signs before, so he got to work on a poster board for his new business. We created a flyer based on what he wanted to include, and we discussed what he would say at each door to make it an easy pitch. He grabbed one of our wagons, filled it with bins and bags we bought at the dollar store, and started walking down the street.

I stayed a few steps behind as he knocked on doors, introduced himself, and asked our neighbors if they’d set out their recycling each week so he could collect it. Some said no. A few weren’t home, but plenty of people said yes. Watching him pause at each door and then start talking, I saw his confidence grow with every neighbor. Each “yes” was a celebration, and every “no” was a surprise and a lesson.

He made a list of every customer and their contact information so he could keep track of pickup routes. He provided the bins and bags each week and collected the recycling on a set schedule. Then we’d load up the car and drive to the local redemption center behind the grocery store, where he would sort cans, bottles, and glass to be weighed and cashed out.

He even created a give-back plan and stuck to it

My son also wanted to give back to the community. So he decided to split his earnings evenly: one-third to spend, one-third to reinvest in the business, and one-third to donate.

When I asked him where he wanted the money to go, he said he wanted to help the homeless. With my help, he chose a local outreach program that provides job training and housing assistance to help people get back on their feet.

From tracking inventory to handling rejection to learning how to follow through, his business taught him so much more than how to make money.

He stuck with it for years, and when his interests evolved, so did his ventures. He learned how to clean high-end sneakers and offer new laces as an upsell, launched a car wash and offered vacuuming as an additional service, started walking dogs, and recently created a business called Capo Helpers to assist neighbors with yard work, weeding, and more.

Entrepreneurship is important in our household

Now, at 12, he has had years of experience earning income and taking pride in his work. He often texts me to say he’s picked up a dog-walking job and will be back soon.

He sometimes brings friends along, but he’s learned that not all of them are willing to do the work, which has helped him choose partners more wisely.

What I love most is that these businesses haven’t been about us pushing him. They’ve been about supporting his ideas and giving him the freedom to learn, try, and grow. With every idea and new effort, he’s learning that he can create whatever he wants for himself.