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Downsides to working at a tech giant

blog.garrytan.com

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Re: Downsides to working at a tech giant

#71

Post by garry »

scarface74 wrote: post #61
seph-reed wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you work for a giant corporation of any sort, you are inherently breaking capitalism as it is. There's no foreseeable way around this , it's irresponsible, and all the suffering you're seeing it the world is the cost of many many millions of people giving themselves a pass on this. I strongly urge you to recognize that any of the life benefits you get from working at one of these places are reaped from the lives…

As opposed to working for a small money losing company backed by VCs who hoped to be bought out by big tech companies....

Well this is why it's important to work on something that you believe in. I think there is a fatalism to think all small companies are going to fail. Individual employees should use their own judgment when thinking about whether a startup will work— they are often more right than not since startups tend to be self-fulfilling prophecy. If lots of smart people like you want to join too, then it actually becomes a lot more likely.

That being said by the numbers most startups fail, and there is no guarantee a startup role will get you a positive outcome vs other alternatives.

Re: Downsides to working at a tech giant

#72

Post by friendlybus »

anaisbetts wrote: post #54
gameswithgo wrote: post #30

On the bright side you didn't have to associate with Peter Thiel or Palantir.

Seriously - not earning $200m in blood money by helping the US Government imprison and torture refugees is imho a Bullet Dodged

Got a link? I'm in the dark

Re: Downsides to working at a tech giant

#73

Post by neves »

thaumasiotes wrote: post #19
nostromo wrote: post #10

Not buying Apple Stock in 1999 cost me $200M too. Not to mention what not picking those winning lottery numbers cost me...

It might not be too late for the lottery numbers! I can't find it now, but I remember reading about a guy who was arrested in China for buying winning lottery numbers after they'd already been announced. The semi-surprising thing, to me, was that he did this more than once. Seems like a clear example of when you should take the win, and then leave in dignified haste.

This is usually money laundering. A Brazilian politic had won the lottery 7 times.

Re: Downsides to working at a tech giant

#74

Post by senordevnyc »

seph-reed wrote: post #64
seph-reed wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously not all. You know how english is with these words. There's a gradient. The point at which there's no point in going up against them is definitely too far. Competition is important to a healthy capitalist economy.

I think... I think if it's not obvious to people why supporting companies that undermine competition is bad.. I think maybe I should stop commenting here entirely. I'm going to log out, and not log back in. I'll be happier, you guys can enjoy yourselves too. Cheers and good luck.

[flagged]

Re: Downsides to working at a tech giant

#75

Post by modwest »

zadkey wrote: post #68

It seems like he has found the problem with companies. "Even though these companies pay a lot of money, in real terms, what software is doing in society is creating a lot more value than what they pay you. Google's pure profit per employee is actually $1.6 million per year, after all costs." "If you're in the engineering, product, design, marketing, sort of the builder's side of that organization, you've got to know…

Well said. You’re also describing a fundamental tension between capitalism and socialism.

Re: Downsides to working at a tech giant

#78

Post by geofft »

seph-reed wrote: post #45
MattyMc wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Completely agree. I worked for Microsoft this year. Had an amazing experience, learned a ton, built a great network, had benefits and was well compensated. I did this all while taking almost 0 risk. The idea that working for a tech giant is "maintaining the status quo," but working for a startup is "making something new," is perhaps not accurate. Working at a startup can be great. Working at a tech giant can be great…

When you work for a giant corporation of any sort, you are inherently breaking capitalism as it is. There's no foreseeable way around this , it's irresponsible, and all the suffering you're seeing it the world is the cost of many many millions of people giving themselves a pass on this. I strongly urge you to recognize that any of the life benefits you get from working at one of these places are reaped from the lives…

I don't disagree with you in theory, but when an article is suggesting that you should instead make $200M in equity by working for a venture capitalist - and not just any venture capitalist, Peter Thiel, the man who is sad about women's suffrage because it means unchecked libertarianism is less likely to be chosen by free elections - for spy firm Palantir?

Go work for a big tech company, it's far more ethical if you think capitalism is bad.

Also keep in mind that there simply isn't $200M to go around for every software engineer, let alone every human. These concentrated payoffs only come at the expense of others. It's not universal advice and it can't be.

Re: Downsides to working at a tech giant

#79

Post by garry »

S_A_P wrote: post #42
senordevnyc wrote: post #21

This is such a weird post. Big fan of Garry, but I don't agree with most of this. 1. Just because it turned out that you would have made $200mm doesn't make it a mistake. If anything, that outsized return proves just how rare this kind of outcome is. If you look at the YC startups graduating every year, maybe 1 will ever generate $20mm for an early employee, let alone $200mm. Joining a new startup for that kind of ou…

Agreed. On the surface Im like, oh ok yeah that is good advice. But as I pondered the situation and remembered what I was doing at that age. If someone waved my annual salary in my face to join a startup there is no doubt I would take it. But how many of us hob knob with hundred millionaires or billionaires and get approached to leave their job? maybe .01% of the folks who frequent HN. It feels a bit humble braggy.

I guess what I wanted to say was that if you are capable of building great software, you should join the .01%, because that was my experience.

I started as a reader of Hacker News just out of college, and it taught me a lot. Many of the founders we back came through Y Combinator and learned about startups here.

Re: Downsides to working at a tech giant

#80

Post by cryptica »

Apocryphon wrote: post #50
dpcan wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Life is a lottery. I had the opportunity to take a job as lead programmer at a dot com that ended up becoming one of the biggest entertainment companies of the early 2000's and I passed for a job at a company that went bust in 6 months. The only lesson I got from this post is one I already know - don't regret your decisions because you can't see the damn future.

The butterfly effect is also worth considering. There’s no telling that the current outcome is inevitable if you had chosen to participate.

>> There’s no telling that the current outcome is inevitable if you had chosen to participate.

True. Judging from the author's terrible decision-making abilities, the company would probably have gone belly up before it got to series A if the author had joined sooner as a director.

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