Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#411

Post by smoofles » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 2:32 PM UTC

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #401

ascar wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Direct link https://old.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/rkk9qg/im_a_new_s... for everyone else having a hard time figuring out how to find the actual comment. Really worth a read and absolutely puts OPs story into perspective.

odd that most in this thread think this story is fiction, some even suggest it might be a marketing ploy to peddle a book. Is really the whole world like this or is there a difference depending on jurisdiction (e.g. comments reflect values of US?). While I can't prove a negative, this story is highly plausible in Europe where legal/HR will be on your ass and even fire the CEO if it turns out they had knowledge. In 20…

> Alas ... not for mistreating or overworking employees but for lying on the business plan.

Business plan can be easily marked a “mistake out of sloppiness” if you don’t want to fire people.

Abuse is bad for the image and evidence collection takes ages (and hence is expensive).

Lying to the board works much better to get rid of people fast. I would bet you weren’t the first startup to do a bisserl of Zahlen frisieren.

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#412

Post by citizenpaul » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 2:41 PM UTC

Welcome to the wonderful world of large_corps. Yes this is normal. The crazy part is it sounds like you are in a good one, since you didnt have to sit in three seperate four hour meetings with a project manager for this request. The good thing is now you are work free till sometime q1 2022. Get a part time job and double dip. Take long walks and level up skills. Learn the corp structure and internals.

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#413

Post by lojack » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 2:57 PM UTC

HatchedLake721 wrote: post #395

lojack wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is probably one request in a long queue of requests that team is dealing with You've explained away the crux of the problem without even identifying it as a problem. Queues are an inappropriate construct for managing work. If something urgent & important takes weeks to even get looked at then there is a prioritization problem. If something that isn't urgent or important even gets worked on at all then there is a co…

> Based on what OP has described, the company is likely doing a lot of work they shouldn't be doing and working on things in the wrong order. How can OP, as an engineer, or anyone else, that just joined a much bigger organisation, have any clue that a company is doing work that they shouldn't be doing AND they are doing it in a wrong order?!

Good leadership that sets clear direction and initiatives followed by good middle management that takes these initiatives and disseminates it into something relevant and actionable by the teams doing the work. If you're lacking this then its worth trying to ask for this information to help inform your decisions.

For the record I fully acknowledge that this may not be possible and they very well may need to work within the system in a less-than-optimal state. Understanding the root of the problems help you navigate and ideally enact change even if it's more localized.

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#414

Post by lojack » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 3:00 PM UTC

fknorangesite wrote: post #164

lojack wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is probably one request in a long queue of requests that team is dealing with You've explained away the crux of the problem without even identifying it as a problem. Queues are an inappropriate construct for managing work. If something urgent & important takes weeks to even get looked at then there is a prioritization problem. If something that isn't urgent or important even gets worked on at all then there is a co…

> If something urgent & important Who said OP's task was particularly urgent or important? Maybe it's getting pushed down the list because they don't have a prioritization problem. We don't know - all we have is OP's (limited) perspective.

I also said:

> Similarly, the work OP is doing may be much less important than they think it is.

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#415

Post by michaelcampbell » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 3:03 PM UTC

cwkoss wrote: post #236

harmegido wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty interesting to contrast OP's experience with this recent /r/bestof that describes in detail why things might be the way you're describing: https://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/rkru22/uloosesignif...

Wow, thats a truly excellent comment. Everyone who manages people should read that IMO.

If only it had any basis in reality.

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#416

Post by derekzhouzhen » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 3:06 PM UTC

You have huge misunderstanding about the relationship with the parent company. You think you are a valued customer, however them think you are a burden that does not help their bottom line. Get it?

If I were you, I would ask myself this question first: What is the motivation to migrate to their platform? Is it from your team, or is it from some requirement of the parent company? If it is the former, I would retrofit my app to fit their platform, even if it would take 5X or 10X the effort. If it is the latter, just sit back and let them drive the process.

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#417

Post by jeffrallen » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 3:18 PM UTC

dogleash wrote: post #21

>Is this how it's like at all large companies? Not all, but a lot. >What should I do? Short term: Mentally check out. Embrace the Zen of just doing what's asked of you. It's not your job to be a go-getter anymore. Half because of institutional complexity/inertia, and half because in a tall organization hierarchy the middle managers don't want anyone below them swimming outside their lane (even if it would be to their…

Also: consider the possibility that bigco bought your littleco not to nuture/integrate/leverage it, as they said in the press release, but to kill it. Help your new corporate masters achieve their nefarious goal by taking their paycheck until you find something better and then split.

It's stupid, but are you really willing to try to solve all of the world's stupidity?

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#418

Post by loandigger » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 3:23 PM UTC

The thing you need to adjust to is this unfortunate truth:

At large companies, NO ONE makes decisions anymore.

It's the PROCESS that makes the decisions.

And the Process takes a lot more time than you are accustomed to.

This will not change.

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#419

Post by sarora27 » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 4:02 PM UTC

I went through a similar situation 2.5 years ago and had a pretty similar reaction. Reflecting back on this experience, here's what I'd tell myself knowing what I know now.

1. Accept that you are now in a Rest & Vest position. The days of "all hands on deck" are now behind you. Nothing is a fire drill anymore and no one really cares (nor is incentivized) to just do things quickly.

2. Do a problem audit of the biggest challenges you faced/solved for pre-acquisition.

3. Start making an exit plan based on your vest schedule & any other financial incentive schedules you may be on (ESPP, 401k, etc)

4. Start working on solving one of the problems you uncovered in your problem audit. Do your best to pre-sell the solution before you code anything.

5. Leave after you've been able to successfully presell your solution to atleast 10 paying customers.

OR

LEAVE and find a new job at another startup

Re: Ask HN: Startup acquired by a large company and it sucks. What to do?

#420

Post by achillesheels » Wed, Dec 22, 2021, 4:17 PM UTC

danielmarkbruce wrote: post #178

achillesheels wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The judgment, however, is that while one is not the same priority any longer, one's priorities are necessarily devalued, due to the a competition for resources, namely, time. I see the common explanation here is to just shrug at the state of affairs. Is this the best management can do? I can see why Fortune 500 companies die now.

When you say "is this the best management can do", I believe you are thinking about it in the wrong terms. It's a trade off. Almost all these decisions are trade offs and there isn't a strictly better option available. I read most of the explanations here pointing to that trade off and understanding it. Let's assume for a minute the poster has joined google. Do you want some random person changing code in a system us…

Fair point regarding the golden goose. My point is there is more motivation to keep things as-is then to continue to adapt. Why is that? Because all the key decision-makers can just get up and leave when revenue starts to deteriorate. The good ones always do, because they are in it for more than a paycheck to support their mortgages.

Give birth and do not possess-Tao Te Ching, 10