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Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

oxide.computer

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Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#221

Post by ahl »

cross wrote: post #205
steveklabnik wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What receptionist? (I'm actually not sure if we hire a cleaning service for the office, actually...)

We don't. When I'm there, I see it addressed as a communal responsibility. Not to be facetious, but the way it's done is a bit of a microcosm of Oxide itself: everyone just chips in and does parts of it as needed. I even filed a ticket to get a push-broom last time to make sweeping the floor easier.

But the real hero was the person who walked 100 yards to home depot and back with the push broom!

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#222

Post by ahl »

steveklabnik wrote: post #218
jmrjmr wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are the options grants as transparent (internally) as the cash?

There is effectively no difference internally than externally here. There’s no like, big list of who exactly has what amount of equity. Of course, talking about compensation with your coworkers is a legally protected activity, and I have discussed the topic with coworkers before. Personally, I don’t really care how much equity my co-workers have.

This implies that the goal of compensation transparency is to satisfy people's curiosity. I don't think that's the case. Regardless of how it's denominated, I think the goal of compensation transparency is ... uh... equity... no pun intended.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#223

Post by AlexB138 »

Aeolun wrote: post #139
ralph84 wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I imagine they had to introduce variable comp for sales because they weren’t able to hire even a single good enterprise sales rep for a flat $200k. It’s not a culture thing, it’s just the market rate for the role. If they paid a flat $500k they’d stand a better chance of avoiding variable comp.

I find the whole variable comp for sales so bizarre. It’s like people trying to claim that the only way to get decent work out of programmers is by giving them comp on lines of code written. Why can’t a salesperson be properly motivated by just, you know, doing their job?

It's a few things. 1. Sales people see the exact dollar amount they are making for the company. This is different than almost any other role. Most people can't quantify how much value they generate. A lot of people here are arguing that the reason is that there is a direct quantification, but that's not it. The reason is that there is a direct quantification AND they know exactly what it is.

2. These are people that convince others of things for a living. The skills that allow them to be good at their job also allow them to negotiate for extremely favorable compensation mechanisms.

3. At this point, it's how their industry works. If you try something else, you won't be able to hire sales people. They are very competitive, and not idealistic like engineers. You're not going to convince them to take a flat comp structure that is the same as every other employee's.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#224

Post by gaws »

cashsterling wrote: post #47

I really hope the best for Oxide and applaud their compensation model. I applied to one of their roles which required me to write about 10 pages of text to answer all their questions... which I think is a big ask but I did it because "why not". They took over 3 months to get back to me, but at least they got back to me (with an apology and a polite "no").

They require a lot just to apply, and they didn't get back to you until three months later? That's unacceptable.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#225

Post by steveklabnik »

gaws wrote: post #224
cashsterling wrote: post #47

I really hope the best for Oxide and applaud their compensation model. I applied to one of their roles which required me to write about 10 pages of text to answer all their questions... which I think is a big ask but I did it because "why not". They took over 3 months to get back to me, but at least they got back to me (with an apology and a polite "no").

They require a lot just to apply, and they didn't get back to you until three months later? That's unacceptable.

Three months is long. We are upfront that the process takes a while. Part of the reason is that while we ask a lot of people, we also then give a lot: reviewing everyone's materials takes a significant amount of time. But the goal is usually half of that, six weeks or so.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#226

Post by hinkley »

JonChesterfield wrote: post #184
hinkley wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve worked with a lot of engineers who punch down and what they all have in common is that they don’t have a clue how to make lemonade from “lemons”. They just want people who can read their minds. Tough shit. Never going to happen. New people ask questions and make mistakes that reveal organizational problems that would help everyone if fixed. As a company grows there are more parts added to the system and at some…

There's a really sad failure mode for talented raw engineers that get no feedback in the first few years. They write a lot of code, and it's trash, but noone steers them in a better direction. Wait maybe three years on zero feedback and they've convinced themselves that their work is great and this new critical feedback they're getting can't possibly be right. You end up with clever and productive and shite, all mixe…

One of my most memorable “this interview is over” moments was I used to ask people to reflect on their last project and ask what they would do differently if they knew then what they know now.

One fellow, sitting with both myself and the owner, answered with a single word, “nothing.” And that was a very awkward silence.

I’ve been asked this question myself, which is why I stole it. Even on a project that went exceptionally well, where you pick the right tech and don’t spend a lot of time working around issues, there is usually at least one question you should have asked a little sooner to save some rework or avoid blocking issues. And I had to answer that way once. I had a feeling we should check on this thing but I or someone else talked me out of it, and three weeks later I regretted it.

It reflects on your capacity for continuous improvement. If you can’t think of anything then that’s less about how the project went and more about your opinion of yourself, and your ability to notice feedback from others, or from the situation.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#227

Post by hinkley »

JonChesterfield wrote: post #179
hinkley wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to experience a lunch made by a “lunch lady” that makes 200k a year. That sounds amazing. I can count on both hands the number of meals I’ve had that would be made by such a person. But what I wouldn’t want to experience is the amount of additional exercise I would require for my clothes to still fit.

That's a hedge fund thing but it does exist.

I knew a guy whose tech company managed to keep a chef through the 2008 crash but lost her a few years later when Apple made it harder to sell apps. I saw some pretty impressive leftovers.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#228

Post by ThinkBeat »

"On premise cloud computer offering a virtual machine on demand, easily hardware extendable in most directions, using proprietary hardware¹ and software²"

IBM mainframe on premise, offering virutal machines on demand, easily hardware extendable in most directions, "using proprietary hardwareand software"

¹ Will Oxide certify 3rd party vendors as fully integratable and offering the same support as harware solutions from themsevles.

² What other operating systems cna Oxcide Cloud Computer run aside from the default one? (IBM LinuxOne "bare metal(?))

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#229

Post by sarlalian »

throwaway2037 wrote: post #176
mastax wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also some of their customers are airgapped so if they’ll let you touch the machine that’ll make debugging a lot easier.

> some of their customers are airgapped I'm not doubting you, but where did you hear that? Wow, what kind of data center installation is air-gapped in 2025, except for ... maybe military industrial complex (maunuf + military) and spy agencies?

Certain production studios (Commercial / Feature Entertainment) may have air-gapped datacenters. I'd expect anyone making an Apple commercial is doing that on air-gapped infrastructure.

Defense contractors, Pharma companies, basically anyone who has IP that they want to tightly control access to.

Re: Oxide’s compensation model: how is it going?

#230

Post by steveklabnik »

ThinkBeat wrote: post #228

"On premise cloud computer offering a virtual machine on demand, easily hardware extendable in most directions, using proprietary hardware¹ and software²" IBM mainframe on premise, offering virutal machines on demand, easily hardware extendable in most directions, "using proprietary hardwareand software" ¹ Will Oxide certify 3rd party vendors as fully integratable and offering the same support as harware solutions fr…

I'm not sure what that quote is from. Regardless:

1. We'd have that conversation if we had a third party vendor exist. No point in having that conversation until then.

2. It's your hardware. You can run whatever software you'd like on it. You're probably going to need to port something, though, I doubt anything other than our software runs out of the box.

To be clear on 2, I thought you're asking about the host software. You can run anything on the VMs that you want, with our host software, via standard images.

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