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Ask HN: What is so special in working for Facebook?

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Re: Ask HN: What is so special in working for Facebook?

#21

Post by terra_t »

random42 wrote: post #16
toolate wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does the stock thing work? Is it given to all engineers? It seems to be just Silicon Valley companies who give away stock/options as a matter of course, so I'm a little mystified.

The two startups I worked in so far (Incorporated in the US, working in India), have offered me stock options, so its certainly not a "Valley only" thing.

I've had people try to offer me stock options in the kind of companies that would never go public too. It's a very popular option for shady businesspeople with M.B.A.'s.

Re: Ask HN: What is so special in working for Facebook?

#22

Post by bluedevil2k »

terra_t wrote: post #21
random42 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The two startups I worked in so far (Incorporated in the US, working in India), have offered me stock options, so its certainly not a "Valley only" thing.

I've had people try to offer me stock options in the kind of companies that would never go public too. It's a very popular option for shady businesspeople with M.B.A.'s.

A company doesn't have to go public to make money on your options. A profitable company pays dividends with their profits, and the options, when exercised, give you a share of those profits. Might not be a jackpot (and few are), but an extra $30k a year, every year, is nothing to blow off.

Re: Ask HN: What is so special in working for Facebook?

#23

Post by yaskyj »

joezydeco wrote: post #20
tgriesser wrote: post #5

I'm sure any pre-IPO stock issued to their employees, while not being a really rewarding thing right now, is going to pay off big in a relatively short timeframe... see: http://techcrunch.com/2010/09/01/google-making-extraordinary...

At this point in the game, can any new employee expect to get options that are not insanely diluted? I guess if you're a Lars Rasmussen-class talent you're going to get some special class of stock to entice you to come over, but what about the rest of the new hires?

Dilution doesn't really apply to these employees. They don't care about their amount of ownership in the company. All that matters is how much stock they get and what they expect the stock to be worth at IPO. If they've received 10,000 shares and the IPO is at $100, then they're millionaires by the end of that day (on paper, at least).

Re: Ask HN: What is so special in working for Facebook?

#24

Post by joezydeco »

yaskyj wrote: post #23
joezydeco wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At this point in the game, can any new employee expect to get options that are not insanely diluted? I guess if you're a Lars Rasmussen-class talent you're going to get some special class of stock to entice you to come over, but what about the rest of the new hires?

Dilution doesn't really apply to these employees. They don't care about their amount of ownership in the company. All that matters is how much stock they get and what they expect the stock to be worth at IPO. If they've received 10,000 shares and the IPO is at $100, then they're millionaires by the end of that day (on paper, at least).

...at the end of the employee lockout period, you mean. =)

By most estimates there are 300 million shares of Facebook generated in various capital rounds and whatnot. From my experience, if you're coming into the game this late you'll make some money with an IPO but only the founding members and VC groups will make fuck-you levels of wealth on the offering.

Re: Ask HN: What is so special in working for Facebook?

#25

Post by brosephius »

random42 wrote: post #17

In not any particular order, 1. Good quality true "Web scale" work. 2. Top benefits (and I suppose a decent paycheck too). 3. Smart peers. 4. Realistic chances of hitting the IPO/Acquisition jackpot through equity. Whats not so great at working there?

#4 doesn't really apply so much to newer employees. granted I don't know this for a fact, but at this point I'd be surprised if your average software engineer gets jackpot-level equity.

Re: Ask HN: What is so special in working for Facebook?

#26

Post by karmawhore »

I like their philosophy that you can make changes and push them often so that you do see immediate gratification that your work means something. A typical non-startup developer's work could take years before it ever hit a desktop.

While the stock options that others mention is a motivator, typically companies use options to buy down your salary. You would make $120k, but, we're going to give you $90k + $30k in options that could be worth more than $30k in a few years. Pre dot-bomb, extremely greedy employees would work for a .com, trade huge amounts of salary for options and live frugally until the IPO. I can think of one guy that worked for Real Networks for a few years that took 66% of his pay in options which were underwater when his options matured.

Options are a payment type and are a gamble on the employee's part. The employer believes that shared ownership will also motivate employees, which makes those options worth more.

Re: Ask HN: What is so special in working for Facebook?

#27

Post by gsivil »

random42 wrote: post #17

In not any particular order, 1. Good quality true "Web scale" work. 2. Top benefits (and I suppose a decent paycheck too). 3. Smart peers. 4. Realistic chances of hitting the IPO/Acquisition jackpot through equity. Whats not so great at working there?

If I may start from your good points: 1.) In a network of 500 million users already are the scaling problems still open? I would suspect that the biggest scaling problems appeared much earlier. If somebody knows what are the scaling problems that such an enormous networks faces would be very interesting.

2.) I would guess that top programmers can have top benefits in several companies. Even less excellent programmers could get a decent paycheck in many places

3.) I am not familiar with the demographics of facebook but my gut feeling is that most of the programmers are in their early twenties or mid-twenties. This was also my impression during one of the job fairs that I have attended.

Re: Ask HN: What is so special in working for Facebook?

#28

Post by gsivil »

gsivil wrote: post #27
random42 wrote: post #17

In not any particular order, 1. Good quality true "Web scale" work. 2. Top benefits (and I suppose a decent paycheck too). 3. Smart peers. 4. Realistic chances of hitting the IPO/Acquisition jackpot through equity. Whats not so great at working there?

If I may start from your good points: 1.) In a network of 500 million users already are the scaling problems still open? I would suspect that the biggest scaling problems appeared much earlier. If somebody knows what are the scaling problems that such an enormous networks faces would be very interesting. 2.) I would guess that top programmers can have top benefits in several companies. Even less excellent programmers…

cont 3.) I am not so sure what type of mentoring somebody could get there

Definitely extremely smart peers

At the same time it seems that top programmers are moving to Facebook. Do they see something in the potential of the company that I fail to see. I guess the possibility of huge financial success besides the "stockmarket" value that is already established they foresee something else.

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