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My Time at Snap

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Re: My Time at Snap

#101

Post by akhilcacharya »

wikibob wrote: post #98
akhilcacharya wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m on a 5/15/40/40 vesting schedule. I think it’s fine because it ends up being the same TC but more cash heavy. Tech stocks have been stagnant my tenure so I don’t mind that much.

Can you elaborate? I know Amazon has this extremely unequal vesting schedule. Are they now doing yearly comp targets and bringing you up to that target with cash?

Amazons “signing bonus” is just a way to equalize the total compensation over 4 years. It’s paid out monthly in the second year which doesn’t make it much of a bonus. This is as someone with 1 year of tenure. After the first two years folks get stock refreshers.

Re: My Time at Snap

#102

Post by oarsinsync »

purple_ducks wrote: post #91
eeZah7Ux wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I think Ayn Rand and her writings were a pox on modern life and it is unfortunate she is held in regard by anyone, let alone intelligent people... However, living off social security wasn't really ironic given that she viewed the social security payouts as reimbursement for the (what she considered unjust) payroll taxes she had been forced to pay. Also, being selfish was central to her philosophy so this was in keepi…

I see this perspective a lot - having only read The Fountainhead, I don't understand it at all, and suspect this is largely based off her other works (including Atlas Shrugged)?

My interpretation of The Fountainhead was as I described previously - the importance of staying true to who you are, even if this results in missing out on riches (or goes against popular opinion).

Re: My Time at Snap

#103

Post by pm90 »

solidasparagus wrote: post #62
rwallace wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He did play ball. He played ball for month after month, even as the cost of playing ball kept ramping up and up and up. Eventually it became higher than he could stand, and he started showing symptoms of mental health problems. At that point, he wisely left rather than end up with full-blown depression. When you are dealing with people such that what they want is not for you to get a job done, but to humiliate you fo…

I can't really judge from the outside, but it sounds like maybe he played the wrong ball-game a little bit. He overdelivered technically and underdelivered politically. This is still absolutely a problem caused by John and not the author, but it sounds like there might have been an easier path if he'd spent a little more time working John's ego and a little less time delivering technically.

As a facts-driven engineer, i can relate to being incredibly annoyed by a John and finding it distasteful to spend time with a person like that. It’s not just that it’s a bother to get through, it’s physically revolting and I find it hard to not get flustered at having my time wasted this way. If delivering politically means kowtowing to a John, I just can’t bring myself to do it and can totally empathize with the author.

Re: My Time at Snap

#104

Post by spats1990 »

curiousgal wrote: post #48
paxys wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally in the next line he says that the conference rooms were always booked and not really an alternative (which is pretty standard in any office)

That's a different issue now isn't it? Access is provided but not guaranteed. You don't see cities with bike lanes forcing those lanes to be clear.

>You don't see cities with bike lanes forcing those lanes to be clear.

Yes, you do (if I understood what you mean correctly): https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/cdot/supp_info/bicycli...

Re: My Time at Snap

#105

Post by huhtenberg »

sanderdlm wrote: post #72
huhtenberg wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This actually sounds like a near-perfect setup to me. Get it, program, get out. If I want to socialize, I'll do it outside of work.

It may sound like it but I can assure you that it's not. Humans are social animals and when you have to spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week in a setting with little to no peer interaction, it'll start to wear on you. The first month is awesome. Complete freedom & autonomy, then the depression starts kicking in.

You certainly can assure me, but that won't do much.

I've been doing it for 30 years, I know how I like it.

Re: My Time at Snap

#106

Post by dagw »

cntlzw wrote: post #27
dangwu wrote: post #16

> ...the workload we had mostly kept us working separately on our own tasks with little room for interaction. It wasn’t uncommon, for the first part of my time at Snap, to get up in the morning, drive to the office, go through the work-day in the same room as two other people but rarely speaking to each other, and then drive home... Sadly, I find this to be all too common in the industry. It’s super isolating and dep…

Yes, maybe it is just me, but that does sound like a good work environment. I do not call myself socially awkward, but at work, I want to work! Getting stuff done.

I want to work! Getting stuff done.

Me too! And I find it much easier and faster to get better stuff done when on a team with smart and creative people rather than locked away trying to solve everything on my own. Working with smart people who know things I don't is inspiring and makes me produce better work, and hopefully they can gain from my areas of expertise.

It doesn't even have to have anything to do with socializing per se. I don't need to know about your kids or what you did on your weekend and we don't even have to eat lunch together or go out for beers after work. But for me having someone I turn to and say "Hey can you take look at this thing, I can't get it to work" and having them understand what I'm trying to do and say "Have you considered this different approach, here let me show you" is a key to me getting my best stuff done.

Re: My Time at Snap

#107

Post by ordinaryperson »

paxys wrote: post #47

We have all worked for a "John" in the industry. The big systematic problem is that after being fired from Snap (probably after already collecting massive paychecks and a hefty chunk of equity), he will go to another big tech company and impress them with his resume and bullshitting skills. They will hire him and deal with his antics for a few years, while he ruins more people's careers, then he will move on. Rinse a…

> We have all worked for a "John" in the industry.

Agreed. But since so many middle managers are twits isn't it incumbent on the employee to learn a set of skills to deal with Johns?

Managing people is hard. Being a good manager is really hard, which is why there are so few of them.

Rather than rail against how terrible Person X is as a manager I feel like it's more productive to say, "Unless I start my own company there's always going to be some clueless middle manager above me. How do I deal with him/her effectively?"

Re: My Time at Snap

#108

Post by vijucat »

Oh, John, there you are again! How do you manage to be in so many places at once? Which reminds me to ask: which firms have implemented the "No Asshole Rule" well?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_No_Asshole_Rule

Here's a list by the author from 2012, FYI: https://bobsutton.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/02/the_no_assho...

Re: My Time at Snap

#109

Post by TomVDB »

Waterluvian wrote: post #24

Regarding the attractive stock vestments: in my opinion you need to avoid like the plague, anything that makes it hard to walk away from your job at any time. You need to be in the driver's seat for your life and career. Otherwise you're just going to become miserable FAANG engineer cattle through one mechanism or another. Good on this person to walk away like that.

Attractive stock vestments are potentially what will make it possible in the futures to walk away at any time...

Re: My Time at Snap

#110

Post by neuronic »

golergka wrote: post #86
neuronic wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What a horrible working style. You can be very productive while being social as well. In fact, the shittiest projects have consistently been those where people don't communicate and communication includes a human factor, starting at the most basic level. Why? Because fundamentally we are social animals and opening up to this circumstance will allow meaningful, project-related communication at a much more useful level…

I'm on the same team as you - that's why I can't really work remotely - but let's acknowledge that it's a personal preference. People are different, much more than we can usually imagine. You can't tell another person, whom you really don't know that well, what she can or cannot do; and different projects require different people and different models of communication.

I acknowledge it, yes. And I should be more thoughtful of people with. for example, heavier levels of introversion than me.

A really good setup would likely be something that respects all sides on the spectrum - people who prefer to be quiet and working in solitude should not be judged for it.

Neither should people with more social approaches be dreaded by the introverts. That would be ideal. In essence, we need a system that is able to integrate all preferences and make use of them in the most productive way.

Thank you for reminding me that I should be more considerate.

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