61–70 of 133 posts
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Where the heck do you live that you can get a 2BR in the NY metro area for $1100? Even the scuzziest areas start at $800-900 for a 1BR.
Well, he is 3 hours out. There are alot of cheaper areas in that big of a radius.
In my experience, there's only one rule to surviving an acquisition: find political cover immediately . Upon acquisition, you and your team are an alien entity embedded in BigCo's immune system of political networks and operating rules. They don't know what to do with you, you are a threat to established patterns, and you will lose to the experienced players . So unless you have C-suite cover and a title to match it,…
This completely describes our experience. Thank you.
> 3-4 hour daily commute It saddens me that anyone thinks this is acceptable. I know some people don't mind it, but what a waste of your life to do this for any extended period of time.
Seeing people saying, "It's me time." is a bit disconcerting. Respectfully as an opinion, spending between 2 and 4+ hours a day sitting on a bus/train is not "me time". Why do I think that? Because of what I suspect the answer to this question would be: If you had 2 free hours at home would you spend it doing the exact same task that you would do for 2 hours on a bus?
I understand that a two plus hour commute is a choice and obviously there are people willing to accept it. But I am suspicious that the "me time" argument is in reality a rationalization to make what would generally be unacceptable appear acceptable.
And as an appeal to the emotional side, you have one life. Do you really want to spend 10% of your life on a bus every month?
> One of Facebook’s internal slogans is something like “always do what’s best for Facebook”. Is that real? Like they really have this slogan that like comes straight out of a modern interpretation of Marx's theory of alienation shoved right into their employees faces? http://i.imgur.com/oVb4J0b.png
Absolutely disengage. What's past is past.
Trust (not quite) no one. I've only had people depending on me in one of the five acquisitions I've been through, and I simply told them exactly what I think will be the result.
Quintuple check the evaluation criteria and totally, ruthlessly overfocus on that. This is a test. Identify any Catch-22 early and escalate these quickly.
Then do what you can to reengage. But you will almost certainly be a redheaded stepchild. Look at it as an opportunity to reinvent yourself a bit. Chances are you have close to nothing to lose. IMO, relaxing is better than not relaxing.
> 3-4 hour daily commute It saddens me that anyone thinks this is acceptable. I know some people don't mind it, but what a waste of your life to do this for any extended period of time.
Do they seriously expect you to work 8hrs with a commute like that?
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I think she means it in a day-to-day sense. People will make comment and put forth actions that could come off as rude or malicious, but it's more likely they don't understand where you're coming from (a culture clash which could lead to discussion, or to fights, depending)
Yeah, or just completely oblivious. Most of the technical "advice" they insisted on giving us was just completely wrong. Also, gotta say, I was never as self-conscious about being a woman in tech until we got acquired by Facebook. I've never had so many experiences of walking in to a room (as a tech lead) and having a dude look me up and down and say, "ummm, how technical are you?"
I'm plonking that alongside "when did you stop beating your wife"-style trap questions.
> 3-4 hour daily commute It saddens me that anyone thinks this is acceptable. I know some people don't mind it, but what a waste of your life to do this for any extended period of time.
mathgeek, your sentiment is seconded. Seeing people saying, "It's me time." is a bit disconcerting. Respectfully as an opinion, spending between 2 and 4+ hours a day sitting on a bus/train is not "me time". Why do I think that? Because of what I suspect the answer to this question would be: If you had 2 free hours at home would you spend it doing the exact same task that you would do for 2 hours on a bus? I understan…
Of course, I like being only 15 minutes from home. But I miss having that external crutch a bit.
"Surviving," "Trauma," "Shock","Dismay" ? I've founded a company through an acquisition and led mobile for another. Life was definitely much much better before the acquisitions. But the perception that it's anything but a first world first world problem ... is a bit misleading and entitled.
That's a very dismissive attitude toward real emotional attachments. The loss of something you've poured your life into can genuinely be traumatic, shocking, and dismaying. I don't like the notion of applying the "first-world problem" dismissal to things that aren't trivialities. It's one thing to laugh about how you have to get up from the couch to get a remote. It's another thing entirely to talk about major change…
IMO, it's important to retain the capacity for grace in these things. Not least for your own sake, much less you're career.
I would read the parts of Shelby Foote's "Civil War" surrounding Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. It helped. Whatever else may be said of Lee, he was a master of grace under pressure.