Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 328 posts

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#201

Post by qmalxp »

wpietri wrote: post #170
thaumasiotes wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steve Jobs, the child of two Ivy League students? That would in no way qualify under "you shouldn't be having kids if the only job you can get is McDonalds or Yum! Brands".

Jobs's birth parents were 23-year-old grad students at the University of Wisconsin, not a population known for being rolling in dough. They decided they were too young to marry and have kids. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs#Parents

From the page you just linked, Jobs's birth father was "the son of a self-made millionaire".

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#202

Post by Joeri »

ekianjo wrote: post #189
keerthiko wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unlike Microsoft was to Bill Gates, Facebook seems to embody Mark's lifelong ideologies (connecting everyone in the world). He has often said he doesn't see himself doing anything with his life other than building the future of Facebook, just in a different form if Facebook hadn't taken off. On the other hand Gates just hit the lottery on one of the projects he worked on related to a field he was good at, when what h…

> On the other hand Gates just hit the lottery on one of the projects he worked on related to a field he was good at Won the lottery, not really. Bill Gates was a harsh businessman who relentlessly fought to kill off competition by all means possible - it was not by mistake that Microsoft became what it is. And, I'd dare say that it has very little correlation with how "good" he/they were at all. Most Microsoft softw…

Microsoft software was not 'utter crap'. Word won by virtue of being better than WordPerfect. Excel won by being better than lotus. IE 5 was a better browser than Netscape 4, though in that case its superiority was not why it won. Even in the windows vs mac contest windows XP was a much better OS than the contemporary Mac OS, and arguably the best desktop OS of its day.

Don't get me wrong. Microsoft software was crap, it's just that the competition was even worse. The quality of modern software is much improved.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#203

Post by wobbleblob »

keerthiko wrote: post #187
wobbleblob wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of message does it send? Take two months off when you could afford to retire? If I were in his shoes, I'd sell my shares in that website, take a few years off and then go a little Bill Gates, a little Elon Musk. I guess this is why I'm not a successful businessman.

Unlike Microsoft was to Bill Gates, Facebook seems to embody Mark's lifelong ideologies (connecting everyone in the world). He has often said he doesn't see himself doing anything with his life other than building the future of Facebook, just in a different form if Facebook hadn't taken off. On the other hand Gates just hit the lottery on one of the projects he worked on related to a field he was good at, when what h…

My take on it is, why keep playing a game when you've already won, and the only way from here is down? I can't imagine running a website can keep feeling meaningful for more than a few years.

As for parental leave, your kid is only a baby for a remarkably short time, two months is nothing. I was able to take two weeks off for each of my kids, and combining a full time job with small children can be very stressful. You never have enough time for the kids, and at the same time you never have enough time to keep up with your job.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#204

Post by aws_ls »

I have experienced a change in mindset regarding vacations, when I was an employee of a large corp vs now that I am entrepreneur.

Earlier when I was an employee I used to look forward to weekends/holidays/vacations. Not so now. The idea of being away from work for months is unthinkable for me. Local radio on Monday morning has an RJ invariably commenting on Monday-morning-blues. Luckily, I can't relate to that feeling anymore.

Not trying to paint ultra-rosy picture of being a business owner. It does have ups and downs, and it being a roller-coaster ride is well documented by many.

But whatever stage (highs/lows) you may be in. Typically, its hard to keep yourself away from work. Maximum duration of a vacation, I have taken in past 8-9 years, is around a week, and the median is typically 3-4 days.

At the same time, I do understand responsibility towards family. So if somebody needs to do it, I appreciate that, and definitely see myself also doing, but obviously don't wish for it.

Perhaps many others here, may feel similarly.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#205

Post by kimcheekumquat »

windowsworkstoo wrote: post #148
zanny wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> not everyone is fortunate enough to have enough savings to be able to miss three months worth of paychecks. Then, sorry to be a bearer of bad news, if they could not afford or save up in advance for three months , how in the world are they going to pay for a child for 18 years? Children in modern western nations are incredibly expensive. Often more expensive than a house. They are not a decision to be made lightly,…

> Children in modern western nations are incredibly expensive. You hear this all the time, it just doesn't gel with my experience. I'd love to know how the various headlines that say "OMG 250K to raise a child till 18" come to that figure. Because, really, they don't seem to cost much at all. They eat less (and hopefully for free for at least the first 6 months), their clothes are smaller and cost less (though yes, t…

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/dam/assets/140815102328-cost-...

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#206

Post by parasubvert »

melted wrote: post #137
jedberg wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is like the unspoken mantra of "unlimited vacation" really being only 2 - 2.5 weeks. I think it depends on your company and management chain. When I worked at Netflix I took more vacation than every before. I'm not even sure how much, since it was untracked, but definitely more than 4 weeks a year. Our management made sure to set a good example by taking plenty of vacation.

I'd take the entire year off just to fuck with their definition of "unlimited" vacation.

The point of unlimited is that it's not limited by HR, its negotiated with your manager. 4 to 6 weeks is common. More, it depends on your circumstances.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#207

Post by Bud »

Joeri wrote: post #202
ekianjo wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On the other hand Gates just hit the lottery on one of the projects he worked on related to a field he was good at Won the lottery, not really. Bill Gates was a harsh businessman who relentlessly fought to kill off competition by all means possible - it was not by mistake that Microsoft became what it is. And, I'd dare say that it has very little correlation with how "good" he/they were at all. Most Microsoft softw…

Microsoft software was not 'utter crap'. Word won by virtue of being better than WordPerfect. Excel won by being better than lotus. IE 5 was a better browser than Netscape 4, though in that case its superiority was not why it won. Even in the windows vs mac contest windows XP was a much better OS than the contemporary Mac OS, and arguably the best desktop OS of its day. Don't get me wrong. Microsoft software was crap…

I can agree with you about Word and Excel.

I personally disagree about Netscape 4 versus IE 5, and I can remember both.

You assertion about XP being better than Mac OS X, however, is hilarious. If that's true, why did XP die, and why was Mac OS X so radically more secure than Windows for the last 15 years running? Why was it more stable? Why did it work better? Why did it have a shockingly better UI?

XP was crap and we should all be glad it's dead.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#208

Post by Bud »

nl wrote: post #164
thaumasiotes wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Steve Jobs, the child of two Ivy League students? That would in no way qualify under "you shouldn't be having kids if the only job you can get is McDonalds or Yum! Brands".

Job's biological father came from a wealthy background. He and Job's mother met at University of Wisconsin (not from the US, but pretty sure that isn't Ivy League). The mother was working as a TA, so she wasn't wealthy.

TAs can't possibly be wealthy? That's news.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#209

Post by ekianjo »

Joeri wrote: post #202
ekianjo wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> On the other hand Gates just hit the lottery on one of the projects he worked on related to a field he was good at Won the lottery, not really. Bill Gates was a harsh businessman who relentlessly fought to kill off competition by all means possible - it was not by mistake that Microsoft became what it is. And, I'd dare say that it has very little correlation with how "good" he/they were at all. Most Microsoft softw…

Microsoft software was not 'utter crap'. Word won by virtue of being better than WordPerfect. Excel won by being better than lotus. IE 5 was a better browser than Netscape 4, though in that case its superiority was not why it won. Even in the windows vs mac contest windows XP was a much better OS than the contemporary Mac OS, and arguably the best desktop OS of its day. Don't get me wrong. Microsoft software was crap…

I come from the AmigaOS world in the first place, and AmigaOS was leagues ahead of Windows prior to Windows XP, years before - it was multitask, it had datatypes, Arexx scripting language and so on. It was not perfect (lacked memory protection) but nevertheless it was better than Windows 3.1 at the time.

As for third parties software, you had better software on non-Windows machines (Photoshop for example used to be a Mac exclusive), not everything was widely better in a Microsoft environment.

Re: Mark Zuckerberg Will Take Two Months Off from Facebook for Paternity Leave

#210

Post by parasubvert »

ps4fanboy wrote: post #107
plg wrote: post #63

canada 35 weeks http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/ei/types/maternity_parent... PS this is the minimum (through the government) many companies provide more (e.g. 1 year)

Is that paternity leave or maternity?

Both. There are max 50 weeks of EI paid - biological mothers get 15 weeks of pay, then the remaining 35 weeks of the pay in the first parental year is shared between parents (even for adoptions).

So, Mom & Dad could both take 15 weeks off (15 x 2), and Mom or Dad takes the remaining 20 off. There are many combinations.

Of course, EI only pays $50k a year max, so many employers will offer benefits packages that match 75-80% of your salary for up to 16 weeks (maternal and/or paternal leave).

Post reply on HN