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Congrats! It's amazing to live in an era of employers allowing friends to take a deep breath, reflect and come back to work with a renewed sense of themselves

Congrats! It's amazing to live in an era of employers allowing friends to take a deep breath, reflect and come back to work with a renewed sense of themselves and their purpose. It is a great chance to reflect on what you have accomplished and what lies ahead.

ericabiz 10y ago
> employers allowing friends Your sentiment is there, but I find this choice of words a bit bizarre. Livingston is a co-founder of Y Combinator.
- danfitch 10y ago
  And I find that when you really dig deep and go for the projects that you are truly passionate about you will participate with people who are your friends. Words are words but the founders of Y combinator are a small group. I would think they are friends. A personal opinion/thought
  - salmonet 10y ago
    I think he meant that since she was a cofounder she didn't really need permission
    - prawn 10y ago
      You still need permission of a sort.
  - danfitch 10y ago
    Not sure what is really the meaning. I work hard as I am sure we all do. I am reading this thread while chasing around my 4 kiddos. We all need a beak and we are lucky and grateful to be given those opportunities. I follow hacker news daily so I am just happy that someone who made this all happen to get a chance to relax and reflect. It's deserved.
  - mattmanser 10y ago
    I guess you don't know, jl is pg's wife, they started hn together before they were married. It's not an employer giving a 'friend' a break, it's a co-founder taking a year off from their successful company. pg already stepped back from the day-to-day, handing the reins over to Sam Altman. That's why your comment comes across as strange. You've been here nearly 7 years, surprised you didn't know that.
pramodliv1 10y ago
I've taken 1.5 years worth of sabbaticals since I graduated 6 years ago. Can't recommend enough especially if you want to learn, build side projects and take better care of your health!
- burkaman 10y ago
  Where do you work that this is possible? I graduated recently and my employer is pretty generous and flexible with vacation time, but I can't imagine asking for several months off just because I feel like it.
  - booop 10y ago
    When you feel you need a sabbatical : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0
  - ryandrake 10y ago
    I heard Intel lets some people take a short sabbatical after 10 years of employment. 1.5 years after 6 years seems unbelievable. I've personally never seen a company that allows sabbaticals in my 15 or so year career.
    - dominotw 10y ago
      Are you talking about paid sabbaticals or unpaid. My company allows unpaid sabbaticals.
      - ryandrake 10y ago
        Fully-paid. An "unpaid sabbatical" is basically quitting your job with a pinky-promise that you'll have it back when you decide to come back.
    - pnut 10y ago
      It's every 7 years, 2 months paid vacation. Must be taken as a contiguous block. Has a 3 year window of opportunity, then expires. Is available to all full time employees (unless that's changed in the last 3 years)
booop 10y ago
Sorry, but why are you (actually looks like a lot of people) congratulating someone going on a sabbatical?
- askafriend 10y ago
  Because there is a sadistic tendency in our industry to celebrate overworking yourself to the bone for no real benefit to either yourself or the project you may be working on. I think more people are realizing this and are celebrating a more measured and effective approach to work.
  - floodyberry- 10y ago
    Does everyone think that the average person has the option to stop working for months (or even a year) at a time? This is merely celebrating the wealthy doing things only the wealthy can afford to do.
    - askafriend 10y ago
      You make a good point, but the parent comment was asking a more general question of why we would celebrate someone taking a sabbatical at all. Although sometimes the importance of an important, successful person who many people look up to setting the tone is understated. But yes...Jessica is very rich and has luxuries beyond any of our wildest imaginations so it's not really a fair comparison to "normal people" or our industry at large. Your point stands.
- rco8786 10y ago
  Why wouldn't he/she?
- dipnuggetron 10y ago
  Because he's re-applying to the next Y Combinator batch. Ingratiate yourself as best you can, still going to be a hard pass.
- fucking_tragedy 10y ago

ericabiz 10y ago

> employers allowing friends Your sentiment is there, but I find this choice of words a bit bizarre. Livingston is a co-founder of Y Combinator.

danfitch 10y ago
And I find that when you really dig deep and go for the projects that you are truly passionate about you will participate with people who are your friends. Words are words but the founders of Y combinator are a small group. I would think they are friends. A personal opinion/thought
- salmonet 10y ago
  I think he meant that since she was a cofounder she didn't really need permission
  - prawn 10y ago
    You still need permission of a sort.
- danfitch 10y ago
  Not sure what is really the meaning. I work hard as I am sure we all do. I am reading this thread while chasing around my 4 kiddos. We all need a beak and we are lucky and grateful to be given those opportunities. I follow hacker news daily so I am just happy that someone who made this all happen to get a chance to relax and reflect. It's deserved.
- mattmanser 10y ago
  I guess you don't know, jl is pg's wife, they started hn together before they were married. It's not an employer giving a 'friend' a break, it's a co-founder taking a year off from their successful company. pg already stepped back from the day-to-day, handing the reins over to Sam Altman. That's why your comment comes across as strange. You've been here nearly 7 years, surprised you didn't know that.

pramodliv1 10y ago

I've taken 1.5 years worth of sabbaticals since I graduated 6 years ago. Can't recommend enough especially if you want to learn, build side projects and take better care of your health!

burkaman 10y ago
Where do you work that this is possible? I graduated recently and my employer is pretty generous and flexible with vacation time, but I can't imagine asking for several months off just because I feel like it.
- booop 10y ago
  When you feel you need a sabbatical : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0
- ryandrake 10y ago
  I heard Intel lets some people take a short sabbatical after 10 years of employment. 1.5 years after 6 years seems unbelievable. I've personally never seen a company that allows sabbaticals in my 15 or so year career.
  - dominotw 10y ago
    Are you talking about paid sabbaticals or unpaid. My company allows unpaid sabbaticals.
    - ryandrake 10y ago
      Fully-paid. An "unpaid sabbatical" is basically quitting your job with a pinky-promise that you'll have it back when you decide to come back.
  - pnut 10y ago
    It's every 7 years, 2 months paid vacation. Must be taken as a contiguous block. Has a 3 year window of opportunity, then expires. Is available to all full time employees (unless that's changed in the last 3 years)

booop 10y ago

Sorry, but why are you (actually looks like a lot of people) congratulating someone going on a sabbatical?

askafriend 10y ago
Because there is a sadistic tendency in our industry to celebrate overworking yourself to the bone for no real benefit to either yourself or the project you may be working on. I think more people are realizing this and are celebrating a more measured and effective approach to work.
- floodyberry- 10y ago
  Does everyone think that the average person has the option to stop working for months (or even a year) at a time? This is merely celebrating the wealthy doing things only the wealthy can afford to do.
  - askafriend 10y ago
    You make a good point, but the parent comment was asking a more general question of why we would celebrate someone taking a sabbatical at all. Although sometimes the importance of an important, successful person who many people look up to setting the tone is understated. But yes...Jessica is very rich and has luxuries beyond any of our wildest imaginations so it's not really a fair comparison to "normal people" or our industry at large. Your point stands.
rco8786 10y ago
Why wouldn't he/she?
dipnuggetron 10y ago
Because he's re-applying to the next Y Combinator batch. Ingratiate yourself as best you can, still going to be a hard pass.
fucking_tragedy 10y ago