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Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters

blog.coinbase.com

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Re: Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters

#91
post #10

We've only been doing mass WFH for a year. Many companies have been saying things very similar to Coinbase, but I'm not sure if long-term mass WFH will prove to that great (for the company, I'd argue it certainly won't be great for the average worker).

One thing the average worker should watch out for is companies who perform geographically adjustment pay scales. Some WFH companies now even list that as a benefit that they do not do these type of adjustments. I'm not sure what the best answer is to that but feel many are using it as an excuse to pay workers less.

It's supply and demand it's perfectly reasonable.

2 devs with the same abilities will have different willingness to work in a situation because of their cost base.

Essentially, one gets more because they are demanding more and that demand is based on a kind of very hard negotiating legitimacy, and the company, on the other side of the table knows that and knows they have to concede if they want the table.

I don't think the cost of living shifts are quite that much however, they are generally not a true reflection of the change in cost of living, just a minor adjustment.

Re: Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters

#93
Keep in mind: The average tenure for big-tech employees is less than 3 years -- and usually more like 2 years [1].

We were all abruptly pushed into WFH due to the circumstances. It's perfectly logical to embrace this status quo, and then just gradually transition back to the office (in full or in part) as the dust settles.

[1] https://www.businessinsider.com/average-employee-tenure-rete...

Re: Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters

#94

I can't imagine what Karl Marx would think of all this. :-) "You mean to tell me the factory owner said the entire factory is now distributed? And you must now put the equipment on your own property in addition to using your own equipment, and you still don't get a share in the wealth? And on top of that, they will pay you less?"

Well, you own some means of production, but not all of them. The copyright, the data centers, etc.

But most importantly you don't own the distribution channels. In the days of Marx if you made the goods you were guaranteed to sell them, but we live in the world of Keynes and making the goods is the easy part but selling them is the hard part.

Someone should upgrade Marx with some Keynes.

Re: Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters

#95
post #3

I can see a future where office work is so rare that it's considered to be a major benefit only afforded by large corporations.

socially it's gonna be weird seeing all these business center full of empty skyscrapers

I imagine cities would probably eventually allow rezoning large parts of those skyscrapers into housing.

Re: Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters

#96

Should probably qualify this as "geographically decentralized". As long as there are C-level executives, VPs, and the usual corporate heirarchy, they're not really decentralized in the sense that cryptocurrency itself is fully consensus-driven.

> As long as there are C-level executives, VPs, and the usual corporate heirarchy, they're not really decentralized in the sense that cryptocurrency itself is fully consensus-driven.

Is that the best litmus test? My impression is that Valve is decentralized and self-organizing company[1] even though Gabe still has a "President" title.

In any case, it's quite an achievement to lie twice in a relatively short title. It's also ironic considering that Coinbase's business model is built on centralizing cryptocurrency services.

[1] "Welcome to Flatland [PDF]": http://dl.pcgamer.com/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdf

Re: Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters

#98

Industries that rely heavily on business travel are basically fucked. Airlines (first and business class), hotels, ridesharings, car rentals and etc.

I don't see how business travel goes away. You just can't effectively build relationships over zoom, phone calls, and email. It's just not possible. Ask anyone who's been in a long distance relationship.

Re: Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters

#99

>In Q1 of 2020, only 28% of new employees lived outside of California. In Q1 of 2021 to date, 58% of our new hires are from outside of the state. This has huge implications for California. The state of California is horribly mismanaged, but the tremendous amounts of money that is bought in by tech, covers a multitude of sins. However, if that money starts drying up, California will be in a world of hurt.

> The state of California is horribly mismanaged Compared to what? Texas? Edited to add: Wikipedia: > The economy of the State of California is the largest in the United States, boasting a $3.2 trillion gross state product (GSP) as of 2019.[9] If California were a sovereign nation (2019), it would rank as the world's fifth largest economy, ahead of India and behind Germany.[10][11]…

They have a ton of people. They're 8th in GDP per capita, even though the have a huge natural geographic advantage. (Almost all US-Asia trade goes through California)

Re: Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters

#100

Bay Area tech scene jumped shark in 2016. Was a fun time to be there but that time has passed.

Also jumped the shark in 2007, 2000, 1989, and 1972.

Bay Area has always had boom & bust cycles, and the busts can last for 5+ years. They also seem to precede the recession by about 2-ish years. I'd agree that 2016 was effectively the end of the last boom, 2016-2018 we were coasting, and the crisis was COVID in 2020. So we'll probably see the next boom start around mid-2022, and really get going through 2023.

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