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The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

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Re: The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

#121

Post by throw8383833jj »

crate_barre wrote: post #62

Someone needs to explain to me why our tech companies are so tied to interest rates. Are VCs borrowing with home mortgage equity??

in addition to the article mentioned by the replier, also, keep in mind that the way that equity markets work: it's all about the ratio of buying to selling. if there's even a small skew in buyers to sellers it can send prices up or down by quite a bit. IE: a 10 Billion$ fund, doesn't need to see 2B sold in order to go down 20%, a much smaller amount sold can affect the price quite dramatically, depending on the ratio. So, if a few buyers turn into sellers, it can cause quite the correction.

also, keep in mind that markets are forward looking to about 6 months. right now they're starting to price in a mild recession.

Re: The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

#122

Post by matwood »

itsoktocry wrote: post #74
rco8786 wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why? Because it’s higher than you’re used to seeing? You don’t even know what role that person was applying for. Is your position that 380k is just “too high”, period? That number (or higher) has been the norm at a huge swath of stable and profitable tech companies for a decade+. I am making an assumption that 380 is total comp and not base salary. I don’t believe that Coinbase is paying 380 base salary for any non-e…

> Why? Because it’s higher than you’re used to seeing? You don’t even know what role that person was applying for. Is your position that 380k is just “too high”, period? Perhaps because the company lost half a billion dollars last quarter and is in a controversial space facing regulatory scrutiny? > That number (or higher) has been the norm at a huge swath of stable and profitable tech companies for a decade+. Yeah,…

> Perhaps because the company lost half a billion dollars last quarter

So what? Last year COIN made $3.62B earnings. They may need to shift at some point, but I think it's incorrect to act like 1-2 bad quarters means a company should completely shift their plan. If anything, it's more important than ever to hire top people - which requires a decent salary.

Re: The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

#124

Post by junofan »

wooque wrote: post #118
nemo44x wrote: post #25

There’s nothing being funded right now. If you didn’t raise before earlier this year (and really late last year) and your runway is Reminds me more of 2016 than 2k though.

not really, freelance platform I worked on briefly announced $55m series A yesterday, it's slowed down, but there are still money for the right companies I guess

If announced yesterday, it’s likely that deal was done months ago.

Re: The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

#125

Post by kqr »

mancerayder wrote: post #55
kqr wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This goes for any social construct, and is just about meaningless to say. The only reason you have a family is because you believe you have a family. The only reason you have a manager is because you believe you have a manager. The only reason you're in a soccer team is because you believe you're in a soccer team. The only reason you have a grocery store is because you believe you have a grocery store. And so on.

While stated like fact, you're espousing a relatively radical philosophical perspective about reality. It might drive radical social change (or desire to), but most people don't think like this.

I fail to see how it's anything other than a logical consequence -- much less radical.

I know from first-hand experience that if a team don't believe they have a particular person as their manager, that person is, in fact, not their manager. It's impossible for that person to be their manager.

I also know from first-hand experience that once a group of people no longer believe themselves to be a soccer team, they stop being a soccer team. (Well, actually, this is not about a soccer team but the real example is too fresh and personal to be detailed about so let's pretend it's about a soccer team.)

Similarly, I know from second hand experience that once people don't believe a person is part of a family, that person is, in effect, not part of that family anymore.

I have third hand experience of people not believing a grocery store to be such, and indeed it ceased to be such very quickly and tragically to its former owner.

And so on. I can't think of any social construct that does not require buy-in from the affected parties.

Re: The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

#126

Post by SemanticStrengh »

immigrantheart wrote: post #108
SemanticStrengh wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you can certainly destroy money by stopping consumming as a group, which will make enterprises downscale or even go bankrupt, resulting in net losses and autoamplifying effects. Why do I even have to explain that..

I want to consume but I don’t have enough money in my bank account.

That is a ~good thing, inflation is when there is too much money.

Re: The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

#127

Post by matwood »

nemo44x wrote: post #87
BoxOfRain wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What advice would you give to people who've not been in the tech industry during a recession yet?

Save money and have enough to live on for awhile. If you don't have savings then immediately cut your cost of living down. If you do lose your job then don't just accept anything (remember, you have savings + unemployment + severance to live on for awhile) and use this time to sharpen skills and learn new things. Make yourself more valuable. I can't see the future but I don't think it's going to be a bloodbath like t…

> I can't see the future but I don't think it's going to be a bloodbath like the .com crash.

I agree. I've went through .com and the gfc, and key to both times was to make sure the company I was with was making money. While I think tech will see downward pressures on salaries, each company will be in a different situation. For example, if you're in a company that needs a runway, assume it may get cut short at any time. I expect the big techs who are making money to start scooping up some of the people cut from VC companies which is where the downward wage pressure will come from.

The other side that is very different from both .com and the gfc, is that engineers are seen as assets even outside of tech companies now. Almost every company views tech as a competitive edge, and that is simply not going away. Salaries may level off and/or pull back some, but there is too much technology deployed to stop hiring completely.

Re: The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

#128

Post by filoleg »

neill wrote: post #67
htormey wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. This is well paid but not out of the ordinary for someone working at a top tier tech company in NYC/SF Bay Area. Think Facebook, Apple, etc. see https://www.levels.fyi/ for levels and comparison. Some of those companies are doing hiring freezes right now but many are not. Salary bands are adjusted within the USA by zones where NYC/SF/Seattle are zone 1, zone 2 is 90% of base, zone 3 is 85%. With equity component…

This is extremely out of the ordinary- Levels.fyi lists a salary of $224,000 for a Staff level SWE at Google

Levels.fyi lists that number as base cash salary, yes. Total comp for a Staff SWE at Google is easily breaking $500k. It is also not a secret to anyone that cash salary at most tech companies tops out pretty low, because as you grow in levels, cash becomes a smaller and smaller portion of your total comp.

$224k/yr is below what a midlevel/L4 SWE would make at Google in total comp.

Re: The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

#129

Post by UncleOxidant »

DebtDeflation wrote: post #26
JCM9 wrote: post #5

There’s a whole generation of tech employees that have never seen a down market. All indications are that these folks are woefully unaware of what’s on the horizon now. It’s going to be all about cash flow. If you’re burning cash and not making much of it from operations then it’s going to be a bumpy road ahead. Buckle up.

>There’s a whole generation of tech employees that have never seen a down market. Indeed. I lived through both the 2008 financial crisis and the 2000 dot com implosion (also graduated high school and went off to college right during the 1991 recession). People who entered the job market after 2015 and know nothing except recruiters constantly hitting them up with mid six figure+ job offers are in for a rude awakening…

It's kind of telling that "after 2015" (so 7 years) is considered a whole new generation of people in tech.

Re: The tech sector teardown is more catharsis than crisis

#130

Post by Beltalowda »

nemo44x wrote: post #39
kasey_junk wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I switched jobs this month and found it to be the hottest job market I’d ever encountered. That can change quickly but it hasn’t (hadn’t) happened as of a few weeks ago.

I think a month ago was a totally different time than today. I know of a few companies that froze most hiring (including in cases where an offer was about to go out) temporarily with the last couple weeks. Of course I haven’t sampled every company. Just a very sudden defensive position springing up more and more.

I'm interviewing right now, and thus far still plenty of interviews. It probably matters what kind of thing you're looking for: I mostly prefer small outfits but stay away from SF-style "venture-backed" setups in the first place. Turns out that outside of the "bubble" the economy is just churning along as usual. The position I'm most excited about now is just a small self-funded company making something useful and is making a profit (shock and horror).

That said, I did have a job offer that was rescinded at the last moment (which is why I'm out of a job, since I quit my previous position – probably not the smartest move but I really hated it there, so...) but that could just be coincidence as well.

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