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Ask HN: How do you know it's time for you to quit your FAANG job?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you know it's time for you to quit your FAANG job?

#21

Post by auntienomen »

antonyt wrote: post #14
blastonico wrote: post #8

Is Microsoft considered FAANG?

Depends on who you ask. In a literal sense, no. But lots of people use "FAANG" as a shorthand for a wide range of established tech companies with relatively high compensation (and RSUs with actual value). In that sense, yes.

"Options/RSUs with actual value" is a very nice way to put it.

Re: Ask HN: How do you know it's time for you to quit your FAANG job?

#22

Post by kemayo »

Since it sounds like you're asking when you should quit to focus on a startup... to avoid potential legal troubles, the answer is before you started working on the startup (or certainly before you launched the startup). Ergo it's when you've got enough saved up to support working until you think you'll make income / get funded.

Otherwise, if you don't care about the legal / ethical risk, I'd say that you need to make a decision about where to focus once the startup is consuming enough effort that it's crowding your life.

Re: Ask HN: How do you know it's time for you to quit your FAANG job?

#24

Post by photochemsyn »

FAANG is obsolete, the new acronym is MAAMA (change three letters to account for Facebook->Meta, Netflix->Microsoft, and Google->Alphabet).

The goal here is to be able to say "Big MAAMA's outsized influence in the tech sector", of course. Also has some relevant historical antecedents, i.e. "Ma Bell".

Re: Ask HN: How do you know it's time for you to quit your FAANG job?

#25

Post by greesil »

If you have an idea that you honestly think relieves people's pain, and those people have money, and you think you can put a team together to successfully execute on that in all ways (tech, sales, etc). I don't know your circumstances but this is a tall order. The people that do this well have a network already. You can start building the network and have a day job if you don't have kids.

Re: Ask HN: How do you know it's time for you to quit your FAANG job?

#29

Post by Dopameaner »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #6

I left a FAANG-like job in 2016 (VP, CTO) to join a startup. It was a disaster. I then co-founded a startup. I left two years later, parted ways with the other two co-founders in a friendly way. All this time, I funded my life with my savings. I had enough on the side to do that, and thankfully other things went well in my life, so I don't really regret it, but... If I could go back, I'd simply tell myself that most…

Similar story, but went back to FAANG

Re: Ask HN: How do you know it's time for you to quit your FAANG job?

#30

Post by ericmcer »

simonebrunozzi wrote: post #6

I left a FAANG-like job in 2016 (VP, CTO) to join a startup. It was a disaster. I then co-founded a startup. I left two years later, parted ways with the other two co-founders in a friendly way. All this time, I funded my life with my savings. I had enough on the side to do that, and thankfully other things went well in my life, so I don't really regret it, but... If I could go back, I'd simply tell myself that most…

As I get older this more and more seems like the way. I have friends with 10+ years at a single job. They work 2-4 hours a day remotely and are so senior they would be very difficult to replace. They will easily be able to retire in their early 40s. Meanwhile I have done 1-3 years at a bunch of different places, tried to start my own things, and am still grinding out 10 hour days.
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