Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
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Re: Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
#2"...the value Google is getting out of my work is worth many multiples of my total compensation. And that’s a position that every engineer should strive for, since that’s how you can be confident that you will remain gainfully employed."
As an entrepreneur, something about this statement bothers me... something about all the value I create getting skimmed off the top and taken away by someone else. Yeah, that's probably it.
But if you just want to do neat engineering work, then, sure, I get it.
Re: Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
#3"...the value Google is getting out of my work is worth many multiples of my total compensation. And that’s a position that every engineer should strive for, since that’s how you can be confident that you will remain gainfully employed." As an entrepreneur, something about this statement bothers me... something about all the value I create getting skimmed off the top and taken away by someone else. Yeah, that's proba…
On the flip side, much of the value you are able to create may come as the result of the infrastructure and colleagues provided to you by that same "someone else". Seems particularly true at a place like Google.
When you work for yourself, you get to keep 100% (minus taxes) of (probably) a smaller number; whether that is best for you depends on your personality.
Re: Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
#4Okay, so Google has a problem retaining the subset of great engineers who're also entrepreneurial.
That's still a problem.
Re: Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
#5FTA: "A startup is totally the wrong place for me."
There are startups out there that depend on superior engineering for their living. Off the top of my head, this guy would do very well at Heroku, Dropbox, RethinkDB, Clustrix and FlightCaster.
Re: Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
#6From the perspective of working on file systems, I don't see a viable way to innovate and monetize. I completely see the OP point of view, from his perspective. I disagree with the conclusion though.
It is true that a lot of the big startups aren't innovating in technology. They are innovating in the business model space. But that doesn't mean you can't create some innovative technology to build a startup around it.
Re: Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
#7The following sentence is very not true and quite misleading:
> Similarly, you don’t work on great technology at a startup. .. They are about business model discovery...
If that is true, then why do technology startups exist at all? Isn't discovering business model very much connected to discovering new technologies (new, more efficient ways to solve problems)? In other words, if a technology startup is not planning to invent something, then it not should probably exist in the first place.
It is true there are some Web 2.0 startups which are not about technology at all, but these startups are anyway not looking for great engineers.
Re: Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
#8"...the value Google is getting out of my work is worth many multiples of my total compensation. And that’s a position that every engineer should strive for, since that’s how you can be confident that you will remain gainfully employed." As an entrepreneur, something about this statement bothers me... something about all the value I create getting skimmed off the top and taken away by someone else. Yeah, that's proba…
I agree with your comment, but would like to point out that this is almost always the case.
As an example, I used to work at a SaaS company, and we generated more value for our customers than we charged in fees. Well, duh, otherwise they wouldn't be our customers for long.
Same goes for every lasting business model: your cut <= your value generated.
Re: Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
#9"...the value Google is getting out of my work is worth many multiples of my total compensation. And that’s a position that every engineer should strive for, since that’s how you can be confident that you will remain gainfully employed." As an entrepreneur, something about this statement bothers me... something about all the value I create getting skimmed off the top and taken away by someone else. Yeah, that's proba…
As an entrepreneur, something about this statement bothers me... something about all the value I create getting skimmed off the top and taken away by someone else. Yeah, that's probably it.
If your small, righ-risk start-up earns $300,000 in profit in one year, paying the CEO a $90,000 stipend doesn't seem unreasonably low, does it? Most of those profits are probably best invested into other parts of the company.
Sure, you might still own that value in terms of stock, but that is high-risk stock as opposed to a company like Google, whose stock is much more stable. (And Google's internal investments include nap rooms and such).
Re: Google has a problem retaining great engineers? Bullcrap.
#10Okay, so Google has a problem retaining the subset of great engineers who're also entrepreneurial. That's still a problem.
Where does the author say that?
He is claiming that the startup life is for people interested in entrepreneurship, not technology. If their attrition rate truly hasn't moved at all, then I don't see how one can say there is a problem retaining any subset of people.