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I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

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Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#21

Post by ayende »

streetcat1 wrote: post #11
rozenmd wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is anyone going to find your software if you don't write about it?

It depends on your software. Here are my rules: 1) The hardest tech possible. I want to test my intellectual limits, which was not possible in the corp world. 2) The most hyped areas, today those are AI/Kubernetes. If you have a unique solution, then it should not be a problem to get early adopters. Moreover, after leaving my corporate job, I began: 1) Working 17 hours days, 7 days a week. 2) 100% software dev. To su…

Welcome to burnout, then. That is not sustainable, and you can't create a profitable solution in a time frame that this amount of work would pay off without horrible (personal) costs.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#22

Post by tyingq »

izacus wrote: post #19
tyingq wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had the opposite experience. With some exceptions, It's not that hard to figure out how to win over one person. Even if they are a terrible manager, you get a sense of what they consider important. Figuring out the dynamics of a committee is harder.

This sounds like a feature, not a bug - it prevents extroverts who suck up to a boss always stepping over introverts who do a better job.

Well, yes, but I'd rather not depend on a fair system. That's rare and often fleeting.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#23

Post by joeblau »

The promo process story hits home with me. I was trying to get promoted a few years back at my company. Over the previous 4 years, I built out a lot of systems, fixed critical bugs in our software stack, stayed late during crunch mode ensuring on time shipping, and volunteered to debug issues upstream issues impacting our software. Our team was customer facing so back-end bugs always surfaced in our product. I was a customer focused developer and fixer.

That being said, every time promo time rolled around, I had nothing to show for it. You needed metrics and some plan of how you were going to show your manager you were performing at the next level or it didn't count. The software that I worked on over a crunch week that made the news papers, doesn't count. My managers would put me on project that didn't lead to any favorable trajectory for promotions. Every project they ever suggested, which I took up is now deprecated or severely paired back to the point where it doesn't matter outside of my personal development.

Now, I'm 4 years in and starting from zero in terms of building my foundation for working on a project that is valuable enough to the company to reach a higher role. I'm still willing to do the hard work, spend the occasional late nights, get lost in my passion of working on customer solutions, and try to have an impact. My question now is whether it makes sense to build for my company or build for myself?

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#24

Post by doublement »

elfexec wrote: post #4
ainar-g wrote: post #2

> Wait a second. I was in a business relationship with Google. > It may sound strange that it took me two and a half years to realize it, but Google does a good job of building a sense of community within the organization. To make us feel that we’re not just employees, but that we are Google. > That conversation made me realize that I’m not Google. I provide a service to Google in exchange for money. People, and espe…

> It's called “labour market”, not “labour community” It's also called human resources, not human community or human family. You are a resource just like a monitor or a stapler on the desk. A resource that the company uses for the benefit of the shareholders.

Being a useful resource doesn't have to be miserable though, especially if your role is more akin to a chainsaw or rocket engine than a stapler.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#25

Post by forgotmypw »

ainar-g wrote: post #2

> Wait a second. I was in a business relationship with Google. > It may sound strange that it took me two and a half years to realize it, but Google does a good job of building a sense of community within the organization. To make us feel that we’re not just employees, but that we are Google. > That conversation made me realize that I’m not Google. I provide a service to Google in exchange for money. People, and espe…

Sadly, this trap is designed quite well, while warnings about it are not designed nearly as well, and many fall into it for n years.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#26

Post by thatfrenchguy »

knorker wrote: post #13
benjaminwootton wrote: post #8

The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing. Why do this “pick me” dance when it’s completely within your control to get the job you want within a few weeks? By far the path of least resistance is simply to get a job and the promotion elsewhere. Or do something entrepreneurial like this guy and completely tie your skills and abilities to the rewards. As a talented engineer at Go…

> The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing. Having experienced both, I'd say it's still infinitely better than this being a negotiation with your direct manager.

Only if your manager sucks / is terrible ? I've never had any issues with promotions coming from my direct manager (who's also awesome).

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#27

Post by saalweachter »

doublement wrote: post #24
elfexec wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's called “labour market”, not “labour community” It's also called human resources, not human community or human family. You are a resource just like a monitor or a stapler on the desk. A resource that the company uses for the benefit of the shareholders.

Being a useful resource doesn't have to be miserable though, especially if your role is more akin to a chainsaw or rocket engine than a stapler.

A farmer will put the animals' comfort and health and safety ahead of their own. They'll work long hours through heat waves and winter storms, get up in the middle of the night to check that everything is all right, spend every waking and sleeping moment worrying about the livestock, individually and collectively.

'course, the pig still gets eaten in the end.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#28

Post by seibelj »

streetcat1 wrote: post #11
rozenmd wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is anyone going to find your software if you don't write about it?

It depends on your software. Here are my rules: 1) The hardest tech possible. I want to test my intellectual limits, which was not possible in the corp world. 2) The most hyped areas, today those are AI/Kubernetes. If you have a unique solution, then it should not be a problem to get early adopters. Moreover, after leaving my corporate job, I began: 1) Working 17 hours days, 7 days a week. 2) 100% software dev. To su…

17 hour days, 7 days a week? Writing the hardest software possible? I don’t believe you.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#29

Post by heyflyguy »

Now granted, I never worked at Google, but I've worked for several F500 companies through the years. I made a promise that I'll never work for one ever again because this corporate structure and bloat tend to engineer promotions and reward through things that do not actually benefit the company.

His work, which was useful to the company essentially got reworked into something that impressed the "promotion committee". I think this is the notion that should terrify all founders, to not let the original culture turn into endless committees and stifled work products.

I guess Google can endure this only due to the sheer cash it generates, and no i do not think that their promotion structure supports that.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#30

Post by rando_guy_here »

streetcat1 wrote: post #11
rozenmd wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is anyone going to find your software if you don't write about it?

It depends on your software. Here are my rules: 1) The hardest tech possible. I want to test my intellectual limits, which was not possible in the corp world. 2) The most hyped areas, today those are AI/Kubernetes. If you have a unique solution, then it should not be a problem to get early adopters. Moreover, after leaving my corporate job, I began: 1) Working 17 hours days, 7 days a week. 2) 100% software dev. To su…

17 sounds a bit hardcore, maybe you are very young:) I'm currently doing the exact same route, but at about maybe 14. For those who doubt, please don't until you try it. I have no idea why, but I can actually put 14 into my own project and I feel completely great. I work maybe 6 days a week like this, get up in the morning and just code until I crash. I'm about a year into it now and I honestly don't feel any burnout at all, if anything I'm becoming more energized and excited as my project nears a production quality and launch nears. You can work much harder and longer for yourself than you can for a check, I swear it's true. I was pretty burned after a standard 40-hour at my last job, I work twice as hard now and I feel great. Weird but true.
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