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Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

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Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#181

Post by yamtaddle »

chis wrote: post #137
yamtaddle wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> plus health insurance through Cobra. Nb. using COBRA is often pretty damn expensive, since you're paying the full cost of whatever plan the company uses. It can make sense for some people since it means your deductible and max-out-of-pocket don't reset like they would if you switched to a marketplace plan (and then reset again when you get a new job and another plan) but it's not quite as nice a thing to have as it…

Cobra has this unique advantage that you can turn it on retroactively, so it's actually decently cheap for healthy individuals. You can just plan to not pay for it and then if things go wrong you can incur medical bills and send them to cobra after signing up. Of course you do have to backpay cobra if this happens.

Yep, that's true! Thanks for adding that, it is important. As long as you can put enough money aside to cover the entire COBRA period, this is indeed the best "play" when offered COBRA, unless you're sure you're gonna need it from the beginning (in which case you may as well just sign up to begin with—less hassle that way). If you don't end up needing it, you basically just got free health insurance for a few months.

Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#182

Post by _fol8 »

orangesite wrote: post #175
patientplatypus wrote: post #38

This sounds like a puff piece and it's hard to be all that excited about the products that are being touted in the piece - He decided instead to quit and pursue his idea to start Feasier, a platform that aggregates home furnishing listings from different stores into one place. So...what's the moat? Why can't anyone build a clone sight and come in with slightly cheaper shipping and undercut his business? Or this - Zhu…

What is that y'all can only perceive success in terms of cornering some market? Adam Smith be rolling in his grave!

[dead]

Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#183

Post by roncesvalles »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #132
jb1991 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what writing is on the wall, exactly, for Amazon? AWS powers the internet. Apple uses it for cloud services, for cryin' out loud -- the largest AWS customer in fact. AWS has more market share than all of its competitors combined . Where is this writing you're speaking of?

But where is AWSs moat? It's not enough to have all of the customers. Customers are fleeting and will leave if they get a BBO (bigger, better offer). If you scrap together an AWS migration tool that can pull databases, instances, and lambdas off of AWS and mirror them in your cloud, for less money, you'll probably attract a lot of customers.

And yet no one else (yes, not even Azure) has come close to holding a candle against AWS after all these years and billions of dollars invested. There is a moat. You just don't see it.

Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#184

Post by rescbr »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #132
jb1991 wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And what writing is on the wall, exactly, for Amazon? AWS powers the internet. Apple uses it for cloud services, for cryin' out loud -- the largest AWS customer in fact. AWS has more market share than all of its competitors combined . Where is this writing you're speaking of?

But where is AWSs moat? It's not enough to have all of the customers. Customers are fleeting and will leave if they get a BBO (bigger, better offer). If you scrap together an AWS migration tool that can pull databases, instances, and lambdas off of AWS and mirror them in your cloud, for less money, you'll probably attract a lot of customers.

Their moat is on transferring data out of AWS (and GCP, Azure, etc). A competitor would have to be cheaper as to pay the migration out first.

Sure, if you have TB-scale data it is still doable, but once you reach PB-scale it's better to negotiate an EDP rather than move out.

Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#185

Post by braza »

twblalock wrote: post #113
BenFranklin100 wrote: post #59

Good. The best minds of a generation have wasted their talents figuring out how to best maximize media addiction and serve ads for Facebook and Google. Let’s hope a new generation engages in more socially productive endeavors.

Sad that when I open a thread the first comment I see is cheap cynicism that comes close to trolling, and the replies are even worse. Look at all the stuff this generation of workers have built in big tech — the amazing devices in all areas of the market, the progress in electric cars, the massive scale in compute infrastructure that enables most smaller companies to easily spin up entire regions rather than run thei…

This comment made my day here in HN and I recalled why this is one of the best forums with thoughtful and nuanced debates online.

Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#186

Post by dxuh »

At the end of last year I decided I would look for a new job at the beginning of this year, but I think I have to put it off for a while. The big companies, who just laid off thousands, probably aren't to eager to hire me right now and the rest of the market is flooded with people with better CVs than me (because theirs say Google or Microsoft or something like that). Is that correct? Should I wait half a year or so?

Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#187

Post by suetoniusp91 »

twblalock wrote: post #173
BenFranklin100 wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Google also builds the world’s most popular web browser and the world’s most popular mobile phone OS and the world’s most popular email service and the world’s most popular streaming video platform. Most people prefer to see the ads and get those things free of charge. Oh, and they make thermostats, and funny-looking self driving cars. Facebook runs the world’s largest social network and during the pandemic it was on…

Facebook, Google, Twitter and other ad/attention companies are just the modern day Philip Morris. Sure they do nice things on the side, but they finance those things by selling addiction. Make your own ethical and moral judgments on those facts, but they are the facts

Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#188

Post by pound »

yamtaddle wrote: post #181
chis wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cobra has this unique advantage that you can turn it on retroactively, so it's actually decently cheap for healthy individuals. You can just plan to not pay for it and then if things go wrong you can incur medical bills and send them to cobra after signing up. Of course you do have to backpay cobra if this happens.

Yep, that's true! Thanks for adding that, it is important. As long as you can put enough money aside to cover the entire COBRA period, this is indeed the best "play" when offered COBRA, unless you're sure you're gonna need it from the beginning (in which case you may as well just sign up to begin with—less hassle that way). If you don't end up needing it, you basically just got free health insurance for a few months.

it's 60 days to elect whether you'll be using COBRA. If employment is terminated early in the month usually coverage is still there through the end of the month, but if termination is at the very end of the month it can be exactly just 2 months, not few.

Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#189

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

claytonjy wrote: post #145
mortenjorck wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was laid off in December and this has been by far the hardest search of the now four times (yes, really) I’ve been laid off in my career. The few times I’ve received anything resembling feedback in this cycle has been along the lines of “we have a large number of highly qualified candidates for this role” and with a lot of LinkedIn postings citing 200+ applicants, I believe it.

Never apply through LinkedIn. It is so low-friction that the vast majority of applicants are nowhere near qualified, and hiring managers quickly learn to ignore anything that came in from LinkedIn.

OTOH, if you are job hunting, be sure to keep your LinkedIn profile up to date.

Re: Tech layoffs are feeding a new startup surge

#190

Post by twblalock »

MrPatan wrote: post #146
ketzo wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, by almost any measure, some of the most brilliant programmers of the past 20 years have worked in ads at Google and Facebook, yes.

Were they the ones laid off this year?

Of course, because layoffs don't magically avoid hitting good people. What matters is what part of the org you are in. If it's a part that is not in favor, you are gone, whether you are good or not.
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