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Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
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Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
#2Freelancing and consulting. It's fun, pays decently well and is fully remote.
Left Google SRE because of how mentally draining it was, how draconian the IP clauses were (everything you create belongs to Google!), and how generally I didn't see a future for myself there.
Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
#3Freelancing and consulting. It's fun, pays decently well and is fully remote. Left Google SRE because of how mentally draining it was, how draconian the IP clauses were (everything you create belongs to Google!), and how generally I didn't see a future for myself there.
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Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
#4Running my own bootstrapped SaaS startup, Canny (https://canny.io). I've always wanted to do a startup.
Last year I wrote a blog post about the biggest lessons learned during the transition. Seems pretty relevant. https://hackernoon.com/software-engineer-to-saas-founder-c16...
Also left SF to be a digital nomad. SF is so expensive and if you aren't fundraising you don't need to be there. There's so much of the world to see, and it's easy to be productive anywhere there's internet.
Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
#5Freelancing and consulting. It's fun, pays decently well and is fully remote. Left Google SRE because of how mentally draining it was, how draconian the IP clauses were (everything you create belongs to Google!), and how generally I didn't see a future for myself there.
Even something you create in the weekend belongs to google when you are in contract with them ?
Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
#6Freelancing and consulting. It's fun, pays decently well and is fully remote. Left Google SRE because of how mentally draining it was, how draconian the IP clauses were (everything you create belongs to Google!), and how generally I didn't see a future for myself there.
Even something you create in the weekend belongs to google when you are in contract with them ?
Yes. At least according to their contract in Ireland (and other locations, from what I've asked).
Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
#7I left Google after three years as an SDE because I had really really had enough of my bosses, I wasn't promoted when I figured I deserved it, and a project that meant a lot to me wasn't getting the staffing it needed to succeed.
I left for a more senior position at a smaller, less prestigious software company, though I've moved again since. Right now I'm working remotely from Toronto for a Silicon Valley start-up.
Ultimately, I wish I had approached working for Google a bit differently. I thought it was sort of an overgrown startup, and you were supposed to look for something that needed doing and do it. No. Google is a large highly structured company with a distinctly process-oriented culture. It's a place where you do what you are told. That famous proverb about Japanese nails absolutely applies. I eventually figured that out, but by then it was too late.
Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
#8Freelancing and consulting. It's fun, pays decently well and is fully remote. Left Google SRE because of how mentally draining it was, how draconian the IP clauses were (everything you create belongs to Google!), and how generally I didn't see a future for myself there.
Even something you create in the weekend belongs to google when you are in contract with them ?
Some good discussion here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2208056
Bottom line is that at least in California, employees theoretically have the right to IP developed in their own time on their own hardware, but in practice, there are numerous caveats, and litigation can be extremely risky.
One of the caveats is that the invention should not overlap with a company's "existing or anticipated line of business", and with the FAANGs being such behemoths, that can cover almost any form of software development.
Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even something you create in the weekend belongs to google when you are in contract with them ?
Yes. At least according to their contract in Ireland (and other locations, from what I've asked).
Has that ever been tested in court? Sounds a bit too draconian to me (but then IANAL).
Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?
#10I left Google after three years as an SDE because I had really really had enough of my bosses, I wasn't promoted when I figured I deserved it, and a project that meant a lot to me wasn't getting the staffing it needed to succeed. I left for a more senior position at a smaller, less prestigious software company, though I've moved again since. Right now I'm working remotely from Toronto for a Silicon Valley start-up. U…
> That famous proverb about Japanese nails absolutely applies.
"The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."