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I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

mtlynch.io

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Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#11

Post by streetcat1 »

rozenmd wrote: post #9
streetcat1 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue that I see is that he turned from software developer into content creator/blogger If you plan to give up a corporate job, you should go all-in on software projects, since your main advantage is that you can devote 100% for focused development.

How is anyone going to find your software if you don't write about it?

It depends on your software. Here are my rules:

1) The hardest tech possible. I want to test my intellectual limits, which was not possible in the corp world.

2) The most hyped areas, today those are AI/Kubernetes.

If you have a unique solution, then it should not be a problem to get early adopters.

Moreover, after leaving my corporate job, I began:

1) Working 17 hours days, 7 days a week.

2) 100% software dev.

To sum up, if you leave the corp, you must increase your focus.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#12

Post by usaar333 »

amznthrowaway5 wrote: post #10
benjaminwootton wrote: post #8

The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing. Why do this “pick me” dance when it’s completely within your control to get the job you want within a few weeks? By far the path of least resistance is simply to get a job and the promotion elsewhere. Or do something entrepreneurial like this guy and completely tie your skills and abilities to the rewards. As a talented engineer at Go…

Yeah, if you keep your leetcode skills sharp and study to game the "design" interviews, you can get a job at a competing company instead of playing the depressing political game. As a bonus you'll make significantly more than internal promos.

Maybe up to senior levels (say T5). At some point, it becomes difficult to even keep your level, much less advance it.

All said, I likewise would find it difficult as OP to work at a large company where local incentives can be so misaligned to the company's. Hence, the advantage of working at start-ups.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#13

Post by knorker »

benjaminwootton wrote: post #8

The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing. Why do this “pick me” dance when it’s completely within your control to get the job you want within a few weeks? By far the path of least resistance is simply to get a job and the promotion elsewhere. Or do something entrepreneurial like this guy and completely tie your skills and abilities to the rewards. As a talented engineer at Go…

> The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing.

Having experienced both, I'd say it's still infinitely better than this being a negotiation with your direct manager.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#14

Post by tome »

usaar333 wrote: post #12
amznthrowaway5 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, if you keep your leetcode skills sharp and study to game the "design" interviews, you can get a job at a competing company instead of playing the depressing political game. As a bonus you'll make significantly more than internal promos.

Maybe up to senior levels (say T5). At some point, it becomes difficult to even keep your level, much less advance it. All said, I likewise would find it difficult as OP to work at a large company where local incentives can be so misaligned to the company's. Hence, the advantage of working at start-ups.

T5? On what scale is that? And where does it compare on https://www.levels.fyi/?compare=Apple,Amazon,Google,Facebook...

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#15

Post by amznthrowaway5 »

tome wrote: post #14
usaar333 wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe up to senior levels (say T5). At some point, it becomes difficult to even keep your level, much less advance it. All said, I likewise would find it difficult as OP to work at a large company where local incentives can be so misaligned to the company's. Hence, the advantage of working at start-ups.

T5? On what scale is that? And where does it compare on https://www.levels.fyi/?compare=Apple,Amazon,Google,Facebook...

L5 (Senior SWE) at Google, the position Michael was trying to get in the blog post.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#16

Post by giancarlostoro »

raverbashing wrote: post #7
tyingq wrote: post #5

It appears it isn't going terribly well so far: https://mtlynch.io/keep-growing-never-profit/ https://mtlynch.io/solo-developer-year-1/ But, he doesn't seem discouraged. I'm guessing whatever equity he had means he has a fair amount of time to figure it out.

Thanks for posting those, they're really insightful I think the whole premise of relying solely on Amazon Affiliate links might be the weakest link of the chain > I received applications from over 30 writers, did paid trials with about 10 of them, and never managed to bring costs below $46 per article. There certainly are writers who work for $15 per article, but they churned out barely-intelligible garbage Yup

Honestly that sounds like something he coulda explored better while keeping his job and quitting after it was successful. If someone else is going to do your job then why not wait till you find the right person. He may wanna try paying more per article honestly. Any serious writer would charge way more.

I know people who went this route but they waited till they had a good thing going. They also freelance to make up for any additional income necessary.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#17

Post by amznthrowaway5 »

knorker wrote: post #13
benjaminwootton wrote: post #8

The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing. Why do this “pick me” dance when it’s completely within your control to get the job you want within a few weeks? By far the path of least resistance is simply to get a job and the promotion elsewhere. Or do something entrepreneurial like this guy and completely tie your skills and abilities to the rewards. As a talented engineer at Go…

> The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing. Having experienced both, I'd say it's still infinitely better than this being a negotiation with your direct manager.

Can you go into more detail about what happened in your situations?

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#18

Post by tyingq »

knorker wrote: post #13
benjaminwootton wrote: post #8

The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing. Why do this “pick me” dance when it’s completely within your control to get the job you want within a few weeks? By far the path of least resistance is simply to get a job and the promotion elsewhere. Or do something entrepreneurial like this guy and completely tie your skills and abilities to the rewards. As a talented engineer at Go…

> The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing. Having experienced both, I'd say it's still infinitely better than this being a negotiation with your direct manager.

I've had the opposite experience. With some exceptions, It's not that hard to figure out how to win over one person. Even if they are a terrible manager, you get a sense of what they consider important.

Figuring out the dynamics of a committee is harder.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#19

Post by izacus »

tyingq wrote: post #18
knorker wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The idea of working to please an anonymous promotion committee is quite depressing. Having experienced both, I'd say it's still infinitely better than this being a negotiation with your direct manager.

I've had the opposite experience. With some exceptions, It's not that hard to figure out how to win over one person. Even if they are a terrible manager, you get a sense of what they consider important. Figuring out the dynamics of a committee is harder.

This sounds like a feature, not a bug - it prevents extroverts who suck up to a boss always stepping over introverts who do a better job.

Re: I Quit Google to Work for Myself (2018)

#20

Post by jacquesm »

tyingq wrote: post #5

It appears it isn't going terribly well so far: https://mtlynch.io/keep-growing-never-profit/ https://mtlynch.io/solo-developer-year-1/ But, he doesn't seem discouraged. I'm guessing whatever equity he had means he has a fair amount of time to figure it out.

20,000 pageviews / month vs $75 in revenues and a full time occupation + costs for having articles written.

That's harsh.

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