Are $500k+ yearly salaries in SV really that usual?
If you factor in stock grants and the crazy run-up in their valuations over the last decade(s), yes. This may or may not continue.
Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
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Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
#22Instead of "hit by a bus," I prefer the term "win the lotto." Any member of your team could win a life-changing amount of money in the lottery, inherit it, win a gambling bet, etc. Frame it as a good thing rather than a death or a change of hire - somebody might just flat out retire because they don't financially need your employment anymore.
I'm a fan of "hit by the lottery bus" myself.
Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
#23I agree with the author's point about using popular tech stacks to alleviate the ramp-up time for new hire productivity, but that is not the optimal solution. The optimal solution is for management to not let high-productivity talent from leaving - increase their comp to whatever offers they might get in the open market. That's how labor economic works - it's a market.
Investment bank and management consulting figured this out a long time ago. Example - when you new grad starts in i-banking, they're in training for 4-6 weeks. Not doing anything productive, just training to do the job. Not the case in engineering, you are assigned user stories day one and your training is doing the work. So new i-banks are highly paid (so they don't leave because talent is perceived to be scarce and valuable) and they're companies invest in them (through training early on).
Right now, corporate managers are vomiting in their mouth when the have to look at how much they need to pay to keep their engineers from leaving. It's because of the perception of engineers - they're seen as semi-skilled labor (cost center, not strategic to the business) and are easily replaceable (no, they're not). Culturally, they have been conditioned to think this way, so no wonder turn over is so high every where.
Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
#24Are $500k+ yearly salaries in SV really that usual?
For senior engineers, yes. I've found that https://www.levels.fyi/ is pretty accurate.
Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
#25Sometimes it does happen. I once interviewed with a company that was hiring because one of their engineers had died in a motorcycle accident.
Personally, I think trying to reframe it as happy and positive and coming with a grace period is a little frivolous. Your team should be prepared to transition someone's responsibilities in the context of a sudden, wrenching, and traumatic change.
Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
#26Instead of "hit by a bus," I prefer the term "win the lotto." Any member of your team could win a life-changing amount of money in the lottery, inherit it, win a gambling bet, etc. Frame it as a good thing rather than a death or a change of hire - somebody might just flat out retire because they don't financially need your employment anymore.
Sure, but even someone retiring after winning the lottery might deign to write a few things down for you. The point of the bus scenario is that there is not even the possibility to ask them a question you might get an answer to.
I don't really see why framing it as a positive thing or negative thing matters, no one is actually getting hit by a bus, it's just a hypothetical scenario.
Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
#27Are $500k+ yearly salaries in SV really that usual?
That would be a staff level position, possible but not common. https://levels.fyi has details, but in the 200s for experienced, 300s for senior.
Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
#28The "hit by a bus" thing is used for the most dramatic effect: there's nothing you can do, there's no grace period where a "poached" developer can give some wisdom to his/her successor etc. Managers know that it's not the most likely case, but it's still possible.
Yeah I think "hit by a bus" generally means there is 0 chance of knowledge transfer and is more a disaster recovery term than a talent retention term. Unless you really burn a bridge with your workers they should have at least a week or 2 to transfer knowledge!
I'm picking up from a senior colleague who wasn't hit by a bus, but did die suddenly out of the blue, with absolutely zero warning. Reconstructing everything that he was doing, and why things are the way they are, has been an interesting challenge to say the least.
Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
#29> never underestimate the amount of money the FAANGs have to poach your talent. I really wish we'd stop using the word "poach". It's a loaded word with negative connotations, but what it really means here is "offer someone a better situation than you offered them". Employees have agency, they aren't wild elephants who need your "protection" from "predators" who just want to pay them more.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poach
2
a: to take (game or fish) by illegal methods
b: to appropriate (something) as one's own
>>> c: to attract (someone, such as an employee or customer) away from a competitor <<<
Re: Developer won’t get hit by a bus, they’ll get hired by Netflix
#30Are $500k+ yearly salaries in SV really that usual?
> Are $500k+ yearly salaries in SV really that usual?
Salaries? Not at all. Total compensation? Well, it depends.
Software engineers with * Salary
* Bonus (anywhere between 15-25% of salary)
* Initial grant that vests over 3-4yrs
* Stock "refreshers" that you get annually
* General equity appreciation due to a bull market
For senior engineers, the equity portion of their compensation far outweighs their salary.