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I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

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Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#171

Post by vamega »

davedx wrote: post #170
dfadsadsf wrote: post #24

I just do not believe this story. Nobody in the right mind will fire key software engineer 48 hours after system goes live. This is where all the bugs/problems show up and you need all hands on deck to fix them. Six months after launch when all problems are solved - absolutely, you can fire engineer. 48 hours after launch? absolutely not.

FWIW I tracked down the company, it's ExodusPoint Capital Management. I think the story is true given by what I found with some basic googling.

How did you figure this out? I used to work at ExodusPoint (left about 3 years ago).

It wouldn’t surprise me if it was ExodusPoint, but I’m not sure how one could make that connection from the article.

ExodusPoint had an OMS 3 years ago, so the part in the story about starting trading makes me suspect it’s either an OMS for a new asset class, or a replacement of an earlier system.

Unless the OP joined a portfolio team, and the OMS he’s talking about was to connect that teams strategy to the internal firm wide OMS. I did that for my pod, and I can see a Portfolio Manager making a decision like this.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#172

Post by mlrtime »

vamega wrote: post #171
davedx wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW I tracked down the company, it's ExodusPoint Capital Management. I think the story is true given by what I found with some basic googling.

How did you figure this out? I used to work at ExodusPoint (left about 3 years ago). It wouldn’t surprise me if it was ExodusPoint, but I’m not sure how one could make that connection from the article. ExodusPoint had an OMS 3 years ago, so the part in the story about starting trading makes me suspect it’s either an OMS for a new asset class, or a replacement of an earlier system. Unless the OP joined a portfolio tea…

If you worked at EP then you should also know that they [I've heard] are very litigious. If I were the anonymous writer or op I wouldn't site any sources.

Most likely it was a quant in a pod. OMS could be loosely defined here as well or obscured to not dox themself too much. However EVE trade sounds very specific, I don't know what this means, EVE online trading?

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#174

Post by davedx »

vamega wrote: post #171
davedx wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW I tracked down the company, it's ExodusPoint Capital Management. I think the story is true given by what I found with some basic googling.

How did you figure this out? I used to work at ExodusPoint (left about 3 years ago). It wouldn’t surprise me if it was ExodusPoint, but I’m not sure how one could make that connection from the article. ExodusPoint had an OMS 3 years ago, so the part in the story about starting trading makes me suspect it’s either an OMS for a new asset class, or a replacement of an earlier system. Unless the OP joined a portfolio tea…

I found the person who wrote the article on LinkedIn

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#175

Post by raxxorraxor »

dfadsadsf wrote: post #24

I just do not believe this story. Nobody in the right mind will fire key software engineer 48 hours after system goes live. This is where all the bugs/problems show up and you need all hands on deck to fix them. Six months after launch when all problems are solved - absolutely, you can fire engineer. 48 hours after launch? absolutely not.

I agree that it sounds unlikely. Although if you really invested in someone to develop a platform, you might not want to fire them. Compared to the price of any other software maintenance cost, this is very likely the most bang for the buck you could ever get. Firing someone after 48h seems stupid if they in any way want to use the product that was delivered. Maybe they don't.

While I don't know the specifics about financial software, the job market also is pretty good internationally, so finding something new, as a freelancer or not, shouldn't be too hard.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#176

Post by me_me_me »

gspetr wrote: post #163
ericbarrett wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked for a storage startup in the South Bay in the late 00s which did something like this. After staff crunched to deliver the base operating system and kernel controllers, management gave across-the-board poor reviews to all IC staff to justify no raise. Those with the ability quickly left for greener pastures; Google hired some of the best. Only those who had to (work visas, lack of experience, etc.) remained.…

This makes me even more incredulous than the GP commenter. How did people who "read /etc/password from disk on every file access." get hired by Google? Or perhaps the right question is for which roles, because with that level of DS&A they shouldn't have passed Google's DS&A whiteboard interview.

google hires 27k devs (as per google search)

Do you honestly think all 27k devs are 10x certified geniuses?

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#178

Post by bitcharmer »

ericbarrett wrote: post #77
dfadsadsf wrote: post #24

I just do not believe this story. Nobody in the right mind will fire key software engineer 48 hours after system goes live. This is where all the bugs/problems show up and you need all hands on deck to fix them. Six months after launch when all problems are solved - absolutely, you can fire engineer. 48 hours after launch? absolutely not.

I worked for a storage startup in the South Bay in the late 00s which did something like this. After staff crunched to deliver the base operating system and kernel controllers, management gave across-the-board poor reviews to all IC staff to justify no raise. Those with the ability quickly left for greener pastures; Google hired some of the best. Only those who had to (work visas, lack of experience, etc.) remained.…

> The CEO and VP Eng were paid out handsomely, of course

It's the prevalence of scenarios like this that makes me hate the MBA caste with a pasison

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#179

Post by JamesBarney »

sys_64738 wrote: post #91

What age is the 80 hour slogger? The younger you are then the likelihood is that you're willing to work to burn out either because you don't know any better or you don't have a life outside work. Older folk who have been there, done that, know that $CORP is there to suck the life out of you before tossing you aside. That's why $CORP love new college grads and hate more experienced folk who call them out.

Also just energy levels. I could recover from an 80 hour pretty quickly at 22, in my late 30s it takes longer.

Re: I worked 80 hour weeks to deliver a platform for a hedge fund,then they fired me

#180

Post by JamesBarney »

charred_patina wrote: post #15

It sounds like they were never given written confirmation for the bonuses. How likely are you to face penalties if you put a "time bomb" in a codebase like this? Something with plausible deniability like let's say like an authentication script that you have to run every 30 days or the program stops working for "security reasons". Also you're the only one who knows where the script is and how to run it.

This won't get you the bonus, it'll just get you possibly sued and/or prison time.

I think a better fix is to just not give to a company what you would regret giving. Don't put in 80 hours a week for months unless you have good reason to think it's going to be worth it and do it with the full knowledge that you might be gambling on the company's generosity.

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