American engineers are lucky to earn enough to be able to save up and do stuff like this, like on $200k you can save enough to really try a start-up for a year or two. Whereas in Europe we're lucky to get $80k in the same jobs, and then the state steals half of that :/
In France, apparently you can go on unemployment for 2, up to 3 years to start a startup. With up to 80% pay. In Germany you can get 6 months of unemployment insurance when starting a startup out of unemployment. Or get 6 months paid when starting a startup out of Uni. Then you could get various public funding opportunities like a startup bonus (for example 50K public funding for 50K private investment in an innovati…
Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
151–160 of 349 posts
Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
#152Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think you underestimate the effects of bureaucracy and sclerosis at large companies like Google, and the upcoming crackdown like the EU's DMA and DSA. Just look at how OpenAI basically stole Google's lunch.
Too early to spike the football over that, OpenAI got outfoxed on Dall-E illustratively and ChatGPT's best chance for monetization remains as a feature for MSFT services, not an independent entity.
Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
#153Many are going to start their own startups and the seeds for the next Cambrian explosion are being cast today, just as they were in 2001–2003 or 2008. That said not all Big Tech employees can deal with the hustle required at a startup.
I’m skeptical that the same patterns we saw in the early 2000s are going to play out again. Last time, tech was in its infancy. There was a small universe of people who understood baseline concepts like getting to product market fit, how to measure and implement growth patterns, etc etc. Today these are practically household concepts, and they have been for years. There aren’t a few hundred other people in SV you are…
Hum... The reason why large companies have historically been unable to do that is because nobody in them bothers to do it, not because they don't know how.
And one of the consequences of a series of mass layoffs is exactly that people stop caring about things like this.
Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
#154Earlier quoted context omitted.
New York and California steal (at least) half too. At least in Europe you get something for your taxes (okay, except maybe Germany).
Can you expand on the "at least half" part? On an income of $200k in California, for example, your tax rate is something like 8% (marginal). If you total it up with federal taxes, it's something like a 27% tax rate.
Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
#155Earlier quoted context omitted.
A lot of b2b opportunities. Yes, more saas companies are needed, in niche markets. Lots more saas companies, lots more value to build.
any examples? At this point, it seems everything has been already build (saying as a person who only worked in IT and don't have visibility on other industries, but would like to get some)
Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
#156Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Germany, it's not the social system per se but it's aoparent utter ineffectiveness. We're paying more and more every year but the state/public system seems to fail everywhere and worse so than the year before. It's like the money is completely sucked up by some unproductive black hole. And no, it's not because of reduced taxation from rich to working class, or missing taxes on property or some other policy. These…
That is, in my opinion, by far the strongest argument for lower taxes. The money we (the US) do spend in education/healthcare/infrastructure is already poorly utilized, why would we want to spend more and end up like that? To simplify it dramatically with an example, I'd rather pay $3 on the toll road and $50k for a surgery myself than pay $10 in taxes towards the road and $100k in taxes towards the healthcare system…
If the last couple of years proved anything, it's that money is all made up. It doesn't mean anything, like points on HN or Reddit karma. You happen to be able to use money to trade for goods and services, but outside of that, it's a made up numbers game, like Monopoly.
Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
#157Earlier quoted context omitted.
This claim is completely un-substantiated. Many people around me who have been laid-off are extremely talented engineers.
Then the company made a huge mistake letting them go, unless the company was just FULl of extremely talented engineers.. which statistically just isn't true.
Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
#158Earlier quoted context omitted.
Private companies can certainly hold their own when it comes to waste and incompetence. Government doesn’t have a monopoly on these things.
If they do that for long enough though they go out of business. There is not really an equivalent to going out of business in government, or at least the bar is much higher for it to happen (I.e. violent revolution).
There's absolutely an equivalent, publicly elected officials lose re-election campaigns all the time.
Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
#159Earlier quoted context omitted.
We also have to pay a lot more out of pocket for basic services like healthcare,, transportation, childcare, etc.
You’re paying for healthcare at a tech company? Usually your company provides this as a benefit. Same for commuter subsidies.
None of this prevents you from 6-figure debt for something like a difficult, but largely by-the-book, birthing experience or a car accident.
Re: Startups Are Scooping Up Big Tech’s Cast-Off Workers
#160Earlier quoted context omitted.
In Germany, it's not the social system per se but it's aoparent utter ineffectiveness. We're paying more and more every year but the state/public system seems to fail everywhere and worse so than the year before. It's like the money is completely sucked up by some unproductive black hole. And no, it's not because of reduced taxation from rich to working class, or missing taxes on property or some other policy. These…
That is, in my opinion, by far the strongest argument for lower taxes. The money we (the US) do spend in education/healthcare/infrastructure is already poorly utilized, why would we want to spend more and end up like that? To simplify it dramatically with an example, I'd rather pay $3 on the toll road and $50k for a surgery myself than pay $10 in taxes towards the road and $100k in taxes towards the healthcare system…
https://taxfoundation.org/historical-income-tax-rates-bracke...
So, you'd have to show that since, let's say 1940, the QoL of Americans has improved as a direct result of lower taxes.
We should be able to look at things like salary, cost of living such as price of homes, education, and food all improving against inflation. So, unless you can do that, your argument for lower taxes is baseless and without merit.
> But misappropriation of someone's hard-earned money is frustrating as well.
Hard-earned money that is earned because of the society supported by the taxes that person pays. Without that society, you would not be earning the same amount. No hard-earned money is earned by an individual in the US.