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Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

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Re: Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

#41

Post by marshallbananas »

testmasterflex wrote: post #31
marshallbananas wrote: post #26

I burnt out hard after almost 20 years programming, mostly web things, last decade in the full-stack JavaScript ecosystem. Last year I started building simple electronic stuff with the Raspberry Pi Pico board. It's not far off from programming and I had to learn C (Python feels too JS somehow), but being able to literally move things with electrons and code and talk directly to the metal awakened something in me. I g…

Any special YouTube channel you got inspiration to do that particular project?

I've added a list of my favorite channels to my comment.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

#42

Post by sieabahlpark »

shortcake27 wrote: post #18

When it comes to burnout, the general advice I received is take minimum 1 year off work. I left my job a few months ago as the burnout got so bad I wasn’t able to conjure up the motivation to tackle the simplest of tasks. First couple months I didn’t feel any better and I was getting worried. But I’m _just_ starting to feel better now. I’m finding myself more positive and less stressed. So what am I doing? I’m living…

Yeah I'm sure everyone can be unemployed for a year straight and live out of their car.

That sounds completely reasonable and not absolutely, in any way, privileged or insane.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

#43

Post by zeruch »

It's crypto related but a bit on its ear, but AML/KYC firms (disclosure, I work for one that got bought by Mastercard) take a more rigorous, and less hype-centric approach (mostly because it's about Anti Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism funding on Crypto, than about Crypto itself). Lot's of data, lots of interesting problems.

Otherwise, I'd say if you have a musical bent, certainly any Ableton like project would be a bounty of "fun" (I've always wanted to see a drum programming rig that equal parts Ableton and Reason)

Re: Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

#45

Post by 314 »

m00x wrote: post #22
gopalv wrote: post #11

> Part of me is tired of spending so much of my life in front of a computer. I left my job 2022 February to not sit in meetings and mostly be a preventer of bad engineering rather than a builder of good stuff. On a good day, I told people how they were wrong - on a bad day, I told them how they were wrong, again. If you have the option of taking a sabbatical, I would recommend taking one out of your own choice rather…

> I left my job 2022 February to not sit in meetings and mostly be a preventer of bad engineering rather than a builder of good stuff. On a good day, I told people how they were wrong - on a bad day, I told them how they were wrong, again. You sound like a great guy to work with with all this modesty and open mindedness.

You don't know what their job was, or what kind of engineering decisions they were having to work around. You don't know what kind of corporate hieracrchy they were stuck in, or what effect it had on what they were building. Without knowing any of those things it is a bit premature to be making character judgements.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

#46

Post by sircastor »

As a random suggestion for a project to pursue, over the past few years I've thought that there needs to be some way to cryptographically sign media that was recorded by a camera - basically a way to say "Yes, this is a real thing that happened, and you can prove it with this signature." Especially given the leaps in audio, video, deepfakes, etc, we're all going to need a means for verifying that something is real.

I'll grant that something like this is not a panacea - we need good solid media literacy. But I think a technical solution will help us out.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

#47

Post by mwidell »

I felt less and less excited about tech/programming over the years. Not sure if I would call it burnout, but just a sense of boredom and that I didn't learn new and exciting stuff anymore.

7 years ago I decided to just leave it all, reset my life, and try something new. After trying some different things I found a new passion for photography. Which in turn lead me to start a youtube channel about photography. Which is now my full time job. Never been happier in my life!

If anyone is curious about my story, I have a 20 minute video about the transition from tech entrepreneur to photography youtuber here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfHvh87gm7M

Re: Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

#48

Post by jaggederest »

janussunaj wrote: post #2

(OP here) I wanted to avoid a wall of text, so I'll elaborate here on where I'm coming from. My complaints with FAANG have to do with perverse incentives that reward nonsensical decisions, poorly thought-out and over-engineered projects, grandiose documents, duplication of work, selective reporting of metrics, etc. The few times I had a really good manager, a sane environment, and fulfilling work only lasted until th…

I'm about to turn 40, was in something of the same situation if you squint a little. As with anything YMMV, but here's my advice.

Take your sabbatical, do something crafty but not-at-all-software-related*. I chose ceramics.

When you reach the point where you start programming tools to help with your new avocation, it's time to go back to the job market.

Took me about 5 months. I made some beautiful (and ugly!) things, learned maybe the equivalent of an accelerated BFA with a minor in chemistry, have a new hobby ongoing, and am excited and enthusiastic about joining a new company shortly, doing something new and different, where my skills matter.

* Woodworking, machining, welding, weaving, sewing, painting, bricklaying, stone carving, raising livestock, growing bonsai or orchids, meditation, long distance running. Whatever it is, pick something physical, grounded, and engrossing, where you can put a bunch of time and effort in, to achieve a real change of pace.

    If they think you're crude, go technical; if they think you're technical, go crude. I'm a very technical boy. So I decided to get as crude as possible. These days, though, you have to be pretty technical before you can even aspire to crudeness.
    
    -- William Gibson, Johnny Mnemonic

Re: Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

#49

Post by lovich »

sieabahlpark wrote: post #42
shortcake27 wrote: post #18

When it comes to burnout, the general advice I received is take minimum 1 year off work. I left my job a few months ago as the burnout got so bad I wasn’t able to conjure up the motivation to tackle the simplest of tasks. First couple months I didn’t feel any better and I was getting worried. But I’m _just_ starting to feel better now. I’m finding myself more positive and less stressed. So what am I doing? I’m living…

Yeah I'm sure everyone can be unemployed for a year straight and live out of their car. That sounds completely reasonable and not absolutely, in any way, privileged or insane.

You got flagged, but yea that’s crazy. I don’t make faang money but make like 60% and I still could only safely take off 8 months after having saved up for years.

Being able to take off a year to recover from burnout, without dealing with the stress of having no income for a year, means you are probably post money if not close.

If that’s the case and the OP has interests like they listed, just start a company doing something you like. You won’t get validation from building someone else’s product.

Re: Ask HN: Burnt out from big tech. What's next?

#50

Post by badpun »

sircastor wrote: post #46

As a random suggestion for a project to pursue, over the past few years I've thought that there needs to be some way to cryptographically sign media that was recorded by a camera - basically a way to say "Yes, this is a real thing that happened, and you can prove it with this signature." Especially given the leaps in audio, video, deepfakes, etc, we're all going to need a means for verifying that something is real. I…

Sounds interesting! It would probably require a hardware solution though - a private key and encryption chip tightly coupled with the rest of the camera hardware, so that it cannot be reached from the outside (to extract the private key).
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