181–190 of 429 posts
I have mixed emotions with Buffer's shtick. On the one hand there's something fresh and unique about it. On the other, I think: just put your heads down and get to work serving customers! I'm guessing the main benefit of the open-ness is marketing. I doubt it helps the company much beyond that.
Sometimes just vocalizing things came lead to new insight. I like their approach, minus the salary transparancy.
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My rule is this : if I have equity then I am family. No equity, I am just an employee.
Some startups take your equity off you if you leave.
Would anyone join that company going forward? Would they be able to raise money from investors? Would their attorney drop them?
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Are you saying it is customary to fly people business class in the Valley, rather than coach? Especially for a team retreat?
I cannot speak for Valley customs. But all of the (non-Valley) companies I'm familiar with extend business class to employees for international travel as a matter of policy.
This may be a little cynical but: "With our culture of bringing our whole selves to work and seeing team as family, with shared values we live by,..." In the American business world, you are an employee until you aren't. Confusing being an employee with being "family" is a mistake, both for the company and the employee. When times get bad, companies do what it takes to survive, including throwing employees overboard.…
So how do you account for companies like ours when, during hard times the CEO and CTO took no pay for two months so that they could continue paying employees? Or by offering employees the same class of stock as the founders with the same voting rights etc...?
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Judging by the downvotes, it looks like your comment is controversial. I actually agree with you. In a relationship we trade constantly, something for something else: love for love, company for company, or any combination. They are like constant bi-directional streams. As long as both parties are happy with what they receive and give, they will maintain the relationship; when that's not the case, well, that's when we…
I appreciate the comment. If downvotes facilitate thoughtful discussion and inquiry, I'm cool with them. I don't know if I see much of a difference between strategies that work in business, as against strategies that lead to successful, long-term relationships. If you're in a job where your manager ignores you, rebuffs your efforts for honesty in your communications, and generally treats you poorly, should you mainta…
I was not arguing against applying such strategies, I was merely suggesting we shouldn't always use them – to make room for flexibility – as I was trying to avoid claiming complete equivalence between the business and personal sides.
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Well, I am apparently massively underpaid. And I have to commute to work. Lose-lose.
TBH, that's a win-win. There's nothing better than being content with what you're paid, and then learning that there's huge upside potential. The worst thing ever is finding out that you're in the top 2% of salaries for your role in the industry, and then knowing there's nowhere to go but down from there.
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Salaries in the San Francisco Bay Area are very high compared to the rest of the world due to high housing costs and extreme demand for engineers. $155k is average for 5-10 years of experience at a non-startup. You can certainly go much higher or lower depending on the company, your experience and your negotiation skills.
I'm comparing to Southern California; I doubt the Bay Area has 65% higher cost of living.
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This is so 100% on point. I think the Netflix NYT article from yesterday had a more realistic tone regarding the "family" aspect: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/magazine/can-netflix-survi... > The key concept is summed up in the 23rd slide. “We’re a team, not a family,” it reads. “Netflix leaders hire, develop and cut smartly, so we have stars in every position.” Your last sentence here is really important. If tha…
> cut smartly I actually think this is important. Working with an asshole is a big problem, and I fully admire leaders who know when it's time to let someone go because the situation cannot improve. It certainly beats working in a caustic environment because people are afraid to fire someone.
Their whole motto is "we're a professional sports team" so if you can't play ball (or there's no longer a ball for you to play with) then you're cut from the team. This was different from the family viewpoint where a company takes an employee and tries to grow them or find new work for them.
They're not really referring to "culture" fit, team compatibility, or even cutting assholes, just whether or not you can provide value to Netflix at that moment.
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Perhaps true, in a real super rational techy view of the world, as long as by long term you mean the entire life of all the family members. But not a particularly useful observation, just as the concept that "giving to charity is an act of selfishness, since people only only do it to feel better about themselves" might be true but is not useful.
Not even, you know that some families aren't so functional and actually very destructive. Children and parents "break up" all the time. Ask anyone who is LGBT for example (especially older and trans). Also many families have that "one uncle" (or whatever) who is somewhat estranged and isn't invited to stuff. All without a "super rational techy" view of the world.
To be transparent is quite a difficult thing. You expose yourself to so much scrutiny.
Godspeed Joel as you and your team bounce back from this slight setback. We all fall. how we get up is what matters.