Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 449 posts

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#41

Post by mtlynch »

DecayingOrganic wrote: post #33
mtlynch wrote: post #23

Ex-Googler here. I was a SWE L4 and left after four years in frustration with the promotion process ( https://mtlynch.io/why-i-quit-google/ ). Since then, I: * Moved out of my $3.3k/mo Manhattan apartment and bought a home for $200k in Western Massachusetts. Paid in cash so I no longer have to pay rent/mortgage. I feel like my time is much less "metered" now because my annual living expenses are so low, I can pursue…

It's a good idea to improve your web developer skills, but I think the problem lies within your entrepreneur skills. I'd highly recommend the book Disciplined Entrepreneurship to you. It consists of 24 steps that is focused on product conceptualization, which I think you'll pretty much appreciate it.

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#42

Post by mtlynch »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #29
mtlynch wrote: post #23

Ex-Googler here. I was a SWE L4 and left after four years in frustration with the promotion process ( https://mtlynch.io/why-i-quit-google/ ). Since then, I: * Moved out of my $3.3k/mo Manhattan apartment and bought a home for $200k in Western Massachusetts. Paid in cash so I no longer have to pay rent/mortgage. I feel like my time is much less "metered" now because my annual living expenses are so low, I can pursue…

Congratulations on buying your freedom and having the ability to work on projects that interest you.

Thanks! I much prefer this to having a job. I hope I can find a way to make it work forever.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#43

Post by mtlynch »

ccantana wrote: post #28

I was a SWE L3 at Google for three years. I left after having similar problems with the promotion process mentioned by others. Since then, have moved from SF to Ecuador and started a humor publication explicitly making fun of companies like FANG ( https://techloaf.io ). It’s very cathartic...

This is my first time seeing TechLoaf. Really enjoyed it. Great work!

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#44

Post by earhart »

I did ten years at Microsoft; loved it, but wanted a change, and Google desperately wanted people with VM experience to build GCE.

I was at Google for six years; I had a lot of fun building various parts of cloud, but then at some point realized I didn’t really care a lot about the component I was working on, and looking around, I didn’t see a lot of other projects going on that I really felt passionately about.

I had some savings, and wasn’t really worried about finding •some• other software engineering job in Seattle if that ran low, so I decided to take off to think about what I really wanted to be doing in life. And then a friend reached out to me - he was founding a startup, and was I interested in joining?

So I did an ML startup for a couple of years. It was tremendous fun; lots of work, but I felt very connected to what I was building, why I was building it, &c; it felt good to be really thinking about the product from an end-to-end, “How is this going to delight the customer?” point of view. I think I’d have had to be a director at Google to have the same level of involvement with the entirety of what I was building...

And then, we were bought by Intel. It’s not too different, though - it’s a much bigger company, of course, but I feel pretty connected to the stuff I’m working on; I see and understand the business case, and my role in it. I don’t know that I’ll work at Intel forever, but certainly for the foreseeable future; I’m having fun, and feel pretty fortunate to be working here.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#45

Post by sunshinerag »

godelmachine wrote: post #20
jacquesm wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That famous proverb about Japanese nails absolutely applies. "The nail that sticks out gets hammered down."

I was thinking - "Everything looks like to nail to someone who has a hammer"

Wow so apt

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#46

Post by tonfa »

asaph wrote: post #15
johan_larson wrote: post #7

I 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…

> I left Google after three years as an SDE Were you on a 4 year vest schedule for your stock grant at Google? If so, did you leave some money on the table?

Isn't it standard that grants are renewed yearly? If so you'll always be "leaving money on the table" (but then if you switch company you'd probably get a new grant, right?)

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#47

Post by mtlynch »

asaph wrote: post #15
johan_larson wrote: post #7

I 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…

> I left Google after three years as an SDE Were you on a 4 year vest schedule for your stock grant at Google? If so, did you leave some money on the table?

Google gives equity refreshes once per year, so you always have unvested stock. They try to design comp to avoid situations where your total pay suddenly drops 4 years after your initial offer package fully vests.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#48

Post by sjg007 »

mtlynch wrote: post #23

Ex-Googler here. I was a SWE L4 and left after four years in frustration with the promotion process ( https://mtlynch.io/why-i-quit-google/ ). Since then, I: * Moved out of my $3.3k/mo Manhattan apartment and bought a home for $200k in Western Massachusetts. Paid in cash so I no longer have to pay rent/mortgage. I feel like my time is much less "metered" now because my annual living expenses are so low, I can pursue…

Do you feel disconnected in Western Mass? I am not sure how remote you are but I live in a remote area now but work remotely and feel it. Hell, even in the Bay area I was remote-is since the commute was isolating. All I can say about the culture there is that you have to job hop to develop relationships that may lead to future opportunities.

*Btw your cartoon on your blog is good. If that's your original creation you might consider developing it out.

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#49

Post by ccantana »

mtlynch wrote: post #43
ccantana wrote: post #28

I was a SWE L3 at Google for three years. I left after having similar problems with the promotion process mentioned by others. Since then, have moved from SF to Ecuador and started a humor publication explicitly making fun of companies like FANG ( https://techloaf.io ). It’s very cathartic...

This is my first time seeing TechLoaf. Really enjoyed it. Great work!

Thanks! Comes out every Thursday, so keep your eyes peeled later this morning if you subscribed :)

Re: Ask HN: Ex-FAANG developers, where are you now and why?

#50

Post by mrlinx »

DecayingOrganic wrote: post #33
mtlynch wrote: post #23

Ex-Googler here. I was a SWE L4 and left after four years in frustration with the promotion process ( https://mtlynch.io/why-i-quit-google/ ). Since then, I: * Moved out of my $3.3k/mo Manhattan apartment and bought a home for $200k in Western Massachusetts. Paid in cash so I no longer have to pay rent/mortgage. I feel like my time is much less "metered" now because my annual living expenses are so low, I can pursue…

It's a good idea to improve your web developer skills, but I think the problem lies within your entrepreneur skills. I'd highly recommend the book Disciplined Entrepreneurship to you. It consists of 24 steps that is focused on product conceptualization, which I think you'll pretty much appreciate it.

Could you share why you think that's a problem in his approach/method?
Post reply on HN