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Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

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Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#201

Post by christiansakai »

sriram_malhar wrote: post #53

I quit full-time work in 2001, after being burned out in the dot com boom. I did well for myself financially after the startup I was in got bought. The phrase "well" is of course subjective, considering that no colleague of mine quit. I left a whole lot of money on the table, but never once have I regretted it. I decided that the name of the game is to optimise quality of life. That means, infrequent brutal deadlines…

I am 32 now. I am inspired to read this. I still need to get over the fact that I am not making anywhere near a FAANG engineer.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#202

Post by Redoubts »

virgilp wrote: post #86
Redoubts wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call that stressful, just interesting.

You need to make decisions in a high-uncertainty environment. If you care about your work... it's much more stressful to have actual decision power than to have none and just vent with your colleagues about how bad the top-level decisions are.

Sorry, that just sounds like the opposite of boring to me.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#203

Post by [deleted] »

christiansakai wrote: post #201
sriram_malhar wrote: post #53

I quit full-time work in 2001, after being burned out in the dot com boom. I did well for myself financially after the startup I was in got bought. The phrase "well" is of course subjective, considering that no colleague of mine quit. I left a whole lot of money on the table, but never once have I regretted it. I decided that the name of the game is to optimise quality of life. That means, infrequent brutal deadlines…

I am 32 now. I am inspired to read this. I still need to get over the fact that I am not making anywhere near a FAANG engineer.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#204

Post by lotsofpulp »

C1sc0cat wrote: post #169
tempsolution wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a few years? What kind of lifestyle do you have that a few millions only last a few years? I really doubt with that math you would have been able to save a few millions in the first place, unless you won a lottery.

At a FANG they are probably living in a high COL - got to pay that mortgage

Also, if your friends are also earning similar amounts, then the activities they take part in are probably going to be more costly too. Which usually means if you want to continue being in the circle, or at least an active member of it, you’ll need to engage in some of those activities, especially if you have kids, and then things get expensive.

Throw in a healthcare issue and there’s not much wiggle room.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#205

Post by draw_down »

blablabla123 wrote: post #196
nvarsj wrote: post #149

These kind of posts keep making me think I should go work for a FAANG so I can actually retire one day. Anyways, as someone on the other side, who has never worked for or applied to FAANG, I have a few reactions. First, your salary is absolutely ridiculous. I know hard working people who have built their own businesses with blood and sweat, and they still don't make as much as a slacker engineer at FAANG. So I'd say…

> mature tooling that exists at FAANG I never worked at FAANG but even after more than 10 years working in tech, it still surprises me how undervalued well working tooling is. I'm not talking about 100% automation with infinite possibilities. Just really basic stuff, like deployment or setting up a development environment. That should always be a no-brainer.

Maybe it should, but that stuff is hard to get right and therefore expensive. It only starts making sense once you have a lot of engineers to amortize the cost over, and who are too expensive to be kept idle due to issues that arise from bad tools/lack of tools.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#206

Post by virgilp »

Redoubts wrote: post #202
virgilp wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You need to make decisions in a high-uncertainty environment. If you care about your work... it's much more stressful to have actual decision power than to have none and just vent with your colleagues about how bad the top-level decisions are.

Sorry, that just sounds like the opposite of boring to me.

I wasn't debating the "interesting" part, I was debating the "I wouldn't call that stressful" one.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#207

Post by Tangokat »

I don't have experience working for FANG but here is what I think you should do:

1) First appreciate that you are in a GREAT position, 99,999999999% of people do not have your options.

2) Absolutely quit. Your life is short, making the most of it is not being bored to tears.

3) Do not get a job immediately, you need to figure out what you want to do so you don't get stuck in a boring position again. The way to do this in my opinion is to get stimulus you would not normally get. Travel, try out completely new technologies, learn a weird hobby, try going to a silent retreat for a few days, climb a mountain etc.

It sounds like you still like to code so you need to figure out what motivates you. Is it working for yourself? Do you just need a different work/life balance? Do you need to try and help save the world?

4) Find something new to do, you won't be certain the new "job" is for you but that's fine. Don't be afraid to try out new stuff, eventually you will find something you enjoy.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#208

Post by mertnesvat »

sriram_malhar wrote: post #159
mertnesvat wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your answer is very inspiring and also perfect example for youngsters to understand money and productivity are not the only things that matters in life. I had a similar junction in my life and I selected money instead of pursuing family and academic life, now I'm starting to think maybe wasn't a good decision. I'm getting older (38) Do you mind if I ask did you also quit your job to pursue Phd? Nowadays started worki…

Yes, I did. At the age of 42! Funny you should ask. I posted about my experience in a recent thread a few weeks back. Search for my user name here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21299546

Yes indeed, I've read with enthusiasm :)

Thanks for sharing, I want to congratulate you and your wife because I assume as we get older big changes like quitting job, moving to another country or even moving to another house is getting harder to decide. But I guess hard choices are mostly fruitful in the long run.

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#209

Post by jefftk »

I quit Google in 2017 to go work on something I thought would have a large positive effect on the world: https://www.jefftk.com/p/leaving-google-joining-wave

I liked the startup work similarly to my work at Google, though it was very different. I needed to be much more focused on "what's the number one thing I need to be doing for the company now" and not "how can I design and build in a way that will work for the long term".

After about five months the product failed (for non-technical reasons) and I was laid off. I decided to come back to Google and start earning to give again: https://www.jefftk.com/p/rejoining-google

Re: Ask HN: Quitting Big Tech, what is it like?

#210

Post by verletx64 »

blablabla123 wrote: post #196
nvarsj wrote: post #149

These kind of posts keep making me think I should go work for a FAANG so I can actually retire one day. Anyways, as someone on the other side, who has never worked for or applied to FAANG, I have a few reactions. First, your salary is absolutely ridiculous. I know hard working people who have built their own businesses with blood and sweat, and they still don't make as much as a slacker engineer at FAANG. So I'd say…

> mature tooling that exists at FAANG I never worked at FAANG but even after more than 10 years working in tech, it still surprises me how undervalued well working tooling is. I'm not talking about 100% automation with infinite possibilities. Just really basic stuff, like deployment or setting up a development environment. That should always be a no-brainer.

Easier said than done even if you _do_ get the time to invest into it.
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