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Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

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431–440 of 547 posts

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#431
post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Layoffs are not the primary risk of being an employee at a gambling company.

You’ve piqued my curiosity. What would you say is the primary risk of being an employee at a gambling company?

Crime, criminals. Mostly organized crime, but the occasional whack jobs who “just need an edge”. Doesn’t matter where you are in the organizational hierarchy, I’d argue the most at risk are the lowest level employees.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#432

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> instead of learning how to start and run a business Because the stress and risks of running a small business as a solo inexperienced first time business owner are insane compared to a regular 9-5. Especially if you start hiring other people, your liability then increases 10 fold as now anything can happen with them (sick leave, absenteism, low performance, sabotage, etc) but you're still bound to the same deadlines…

> Because the stress and risks of running a small business as a solo inexperienced first time business owner are insane compared to a regular 9-5. Believe it or not you get over this. It’s kind of like the fear of going up on stage to give a presentation. Some people get an addictive rush, these are usually serial entrepreneurs who just love to be in charge because they have no problems with risk/stress tolerance (mo…

>Believe it or not you get over this.

If your business succeeds. But if your business doesn't, you either enter zombie mode or you find yourself in the bread line.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#433

It's interesting how so many people have an aversion to being a business owner / entrepreneur, and will instead put in so much effort to optimize being a well-paid employee, instead of learning how to start and run a business. These salaries listed are great salaries, no doubt, but they are not dramatically more than say, a guy running a successful local plumbing business. And the ceiling is limited as an employee, w…

Startup guy who’s now at FAANG. I’m technical technical technical (IC track). I love building products. Prototyping to find PMF and then spinning that up into a staffed project, then onto the next new thing. Get to work with excellent SWEs, PMs, PgMs, etc. In startup land I was doing so much, pitches, recruiting, coding, landing page design, dev ops, pretty much the full stack. In FAANG land I can just focus on exist…

> I love building products. Prototyping to find PMF and then spinning that up into a staffed project, then onto the next new thing.

How many products you have actually finished and worked on and polished over years if they produced something valuable in the end?

That defines the actual realised value of the business. Jumping from one product to another does not mean that all of them were constantly producing revenue or were success. It might look good in the CV but what was end result?

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#434
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does a low level wizard need to know more specifically?

There's nothing too terribly special about low level wizardry, other than you really _do_ need to understand how the hardware works, and how your language works. Oddball skills you really need to know (and can easily pick up if you have a mind to) include: a) Reading processor/part data books. These are your API docs. Most of your answers are in there if you care to look. b) Reading schematics. You don't need to be a…

This sounds like a typical embedded software engineer and I frequently see people around here complaining about the low salaries for these roles. What am I missing?

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#435

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> instead of learning how to start and run a business Because the stress and risks of running a small business as a solo inexperienced first time business owner are insane compared to a regular 9-5. Especially if you start hiring other people, your liability then increases 10 fold as now anything can happen with them (sick leave, absenteism, low performance, sabotage, etc) but you're still bound to the same deadlines…

isnt this the purpose of LLCs?

LLCs limit your financial liability, but you can still work thousands of hours on a business and end up making nothing. If you work the same thousands of hours as an employee, you will make money.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#436

Earlier quoted context omitted.

~Calm down. It's a common misconception.~

Apparently this belief is far more common than I thought. I expected it to be closer to the percentage of Americans who think the Earth is flat (10%)[0]. Evidently 50% of Americans[1] believe you pay your highest marginal rate on all of your income. I'm blown away, and genuinely humbled. I don't understand how someone can get a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac home loan, raise children, have a long and successful career and no…

Wait til you learn how many people can't do simple percentages like 10% of 150 or how many people can't do basic arithmetic like 19+15.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#437

Sure, if you work at many hedge fund you'll make similar money, and likely more if you are good at the job and the fund has success. One other nice thing is that instead of restricted stock you get actual money. And generally the money will be locked up for less time than the 4 year vesting that these companies often follow. And on top of that you can usually invest your money fee free in your own fund to help juice…

>One other nice thing is that instead of restricted stock you get actual money.

Stock at FAANG is basically equivalent to cash. You can sell it as soon as you get it.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#438
post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everyone should attempt to start a small business or a side consulting gig. Failing that, you should strive to make it to VP-suite Utter horse shit. I want to earn enough to live without too many worries, and spend time with friends and family. Being able to leave at 5 is irreplaceable

I don't think there are many places in tech where an employee can leave at 5 and expect to keep their job.

You've been brainwashed.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#439

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> instead of learning how to start and run a business Because the stress and risks of running a small business as a solo inexperienced first time business owner are insane compared to a regular 9-5. Especially if you start hiring other people, your liability then increases 10 fold as now anything can happen with them (sick leave, absenteism, low performance, sabotage, etc) but you're still bound to the same deadlines…

> Because the stress and risks of running a small business as a solo inexperienced first time business owner are insane compared to a regular 9-5. Believe it or not you get over this. It’s kind of like the fear of going up on stage to give a presentation. Some people get an addictive rush, these are usually serial entrepreneurs who just love to be in charge because they have no problems with risk/stress tolerance (mo…

I don’t see much evidence of actual experience in this comment. Maybe you have a lot of experience and aren’t very good at conveying it but honestly, it sounds like you have thoroughly drank the startup koolaid.

> Believe it or not you get over this.

This screams either a lack of experience or a lack of meaningful social relationships. Many people never get over this - it is incredibly risky and stressful being a solo founder.

> You get better at handling the stress as you get more comfortable with where your business lies and what value you offer, et cetera.

Again, not true. Some people can do this and others can’t. Fundamentally, it depends on actually providing value, being aware of the value you provide and being able to quantify that. Those are three difficult skills and many people cannot acquire them.

> Everyone should attempt to start a small business or a side consulting gig.

Absolutely no. Many people should not attempt this. In fact, I’ve been doing this for around thirty years and I think the majority of people should avoid it. People with young families, credit card debt and spending problems have no business going out on their own.

> Failing that, you should strive to make it to VP-suite of your company where in most cases you’ll be tasked with running an arm of the business - the risks are there but it’s more of a simulated environment as well.

No, people should strive to make a living, pay their bills and find something approaching happiness.

Re: Ask HN: Is it possible to make FAANG salaries without working there?

#440

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alot of getting hired into these roles depends on your upbringing/perceived social class by the people at the fund, the school you went to, how you present yourself, whether they want to work with you, how trustworthy you are, etc. The technical pieces are pretty far behind.

I've done a fair amount of technical hiring at hedge funds, my experience doesn't support this comment. There is some amount of credentialism/elitism in hedge fund hiring, but I see that more on the fundamental investment side, and much less for technical roles. There are a lot more hedge funds than FAANG companies, and different funds can have very different cultures.

I'm talking about traditional small long short funds, private equity, and under the radar very elite hedge funds. Its different for quant shops like citadel or two sigma. Those treat you like a commidity programmer that they pay a 20% premium on over FAANG
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