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What I learned getting acquired by Google

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Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#501

Post by cdchn »

pcl wrote: post #117
CobrastanJorji wrote: post #79

The "red badge" thing was very real. It was really weird having TVCs on your team. You'd all work hard together to launch a thing, and then everybody except the red badge would get a celebratory team tchotchke or a team lunch or something. If you asked about it, the manager would say "we can't give Jim things directly because that might be like compensation and they'd be like an employee." There'd be all-hands meetin…

In my time at Cisco, I was impressed with how well they integrated contractors. Wasn’t like this at all.

Cisco didn't need contractors they just shifted their workforce offshore wholesale.

Source: former Cisco.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#502

Post by cdchn »

ponector wrote: post #221
sangnoir wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cisco has/had an outrageously large contractor contingent (this may be different between Business Units). That's a huge cultural difference between Cisco the tech giant sets

According to some reports, only half of the people in Google are full time employee. Isn't it a large contingent of second-class workers?

Google has a two-class system for employees.

Cisco mostly eliminated the upper tranch of their two-class system.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#503

Post by 8n4vidtmkvmk »

sanderjd wrote: post #163
SilverBirch wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me it reads more like someone with a positive disposition (or someone who has founded a start up and doesn't want to burn bridges) laying out the problems without saying they are problems. I mean come on - the upsides: we "merged cultures", "our app lives on", "careers have bloomed" versus downsides "we quit", and "we don't think we actually delivered what we wanted to". But it's ok because after everyone who care…

Maybe it's ok for writing to not be so editorialized as what you're used to? To me this read like a trip report from which the reader can draw their own conclusions without the author telling them what to think. I wish more things I read on the internet were written in that style. I don't need to be told what conclusions to draw, I can figure it out myself.

I think this has royally screwed up my emotional intelligence. American media always tells you how you should react. One of my cousins once told me they were having a baby. I don't remember exactly what I said, but it wasn't "congratulations, I'm so happy for you". It just didn't click with me that this was an exciting thing for them that they wanted to share with me and I kind of regret not responding better.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#504

Post by cdchn »

sangnoir wrote: post #253
ponector wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

According to some reports, only half of the people in Google are full time employee. Isn't it a large contingent of second-class workers?

Whatever fraction it is at Google, I'm willing to bet Cisco's is significantly larger, especially on "core-business" teams whose work is mentioned in analyst calls

Orders of magnitude.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#506

Post by cdchn »

szundi wrote: post #239
peddling-brink wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't just google, it's every company with contractors and employees. Microsoft learned the hard way to not treat contractors like employees. https://www.reuters.com/article/businesspropicks-us-findlaw-... Nobody else wants to learn that same lesson.

In my company I almost fired someone from HR for constantly forgetting how these contractor people are part of the team, invited to every event etc

Why "almost?"

Who won out, HR or treating contractors humanely? Or did they come correct without firing required?

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#507

Post by jsolson »

kweelaxhaderach wrote: post #482
tate_thurston wrote: post #460

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolutely true and has been for years. You’re granted access to the minimum number of buildings required for your job function, and can file a ticket for temporary access grants to other buildings based on need.

It’s absolutely not true and hasn’t been for at least the last 5 years, in my experience. I have access to every building in my city despite only requiring access to one of them, and I didn’t have to request it. When I visited Seattle, I had to request access (which required clicking a grand total of 5 buttons in an internal portal and was instantly auto approved) to “the Seattle campus” and was granted access to eve…

I worked for Amazon for a bit over two years, followed by Google for a bit over the last decade.

It never would have occurred to me to visit an Amazon office, so I didn't know about the ticket thing. I rarely worked with anyone remote.

When I joined, Google encouraged travel (less so lately). In the time I've been here I've visited over a dozen offices around the world. Some of them on vacation, because I knew there would be something unique about the local office, but also because with the exception of one office (Copenhagen), I'd worked closely enough with someone there to drop by their desk, say hello, shake hands, and get the best restaurant and bar recommendations I've ever found (and some great unexpected dinners with colleagues!)

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#508

Post by saagarjha »

meheleventyone wrote: post #498
ssharp wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Google pays the staffing agency, the staffing agency pays the "contractor" a salary (significantly less than what Google pays the staffing agency), and all is fine... legally, anyway. The staffing agency vig is so high it is practically the same as an FTE.

Contractors should cost more than a FTE you’re buying expertise and the contractor is shouldering the risk and burdens of not being a FTE.

Yeah, except the contractor sees none of that money if they go through a staffing agency.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#509

Post by stan_kirdey »

Claude2 summary: Google has amazing resources and access, but does things "the Google way" - they rebuilt the Socratic product from scratch using Google's own stacks and to their standards.

Simple things done repeatedly can feel magical at Google's scale - like recalculating signals across the entire internet to improve Search. But much improvement comes from manual analysis and labeling data.

Surprising problems get tackled if the right teams are interested - like developing a math image recognition API from scratch in 6 months. But most products face many hurdles to launch.

There is an ever-shifting web of goals and efforts. Politics and frequent re-orgs can derail projects. Smart people argue rather than align.

Technical debt is real, but so is process debt. Layers of reviews and requirements accumulate over time. Top-heavy teams with lots of senior people can cause gridlock. More doers than thinkers are needed.

To drive something big, you must relentlessly sell the vision and get the right leaders on board.

Many acquisitions fail. The Socratic founders left, and some goals weren't achieved, but parts of the product grew significantly.

Overall, amazing things are possible at Google if you navigate politics, rally the right support, and play the long game. But it's challenging due to complex processes, shifting priorities, and ingrained ways of doing things.

Re: What I learned getting acquired by Google

#510

Post by saagarjha »

bradleyjg wrote: post #410
jasode wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>That’s not legally a contractor then. [...] If you are setting their hours, bossing them around and/or providing equipment they are not a contractor they are an employee. There are 2 different uses of "contractor" : (1) contractor : official IRS tax classification of 1099 independent contractor (2) "contractor" : a W-2 employee of a "temp agency" or "staffing agency" or "bodyshop" that is sent to a client company (s…

Why is it that w-2 employees of a different company can’t be invited to a lunch or given a tchotchke? I get why 1099s can’t but what’s the deal with the other, now more common situation?

IIRC they can, but only if the other company is also paying some proportion of the costs relative to how many of their employees are present, or something like that. It's been a little while but the rules are in some training presentation or other.
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