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All of those things are great, but you're assuming your manager and peers will value them like you do. I see this type of thinking applied to an issue in a way

All of those things are great, but you're assuming your manager and peers will value them like you do. I see this type of thinking applied to an issue in a way that results in people becoming increasingly irritated. Silicon Valley wants to hear "yes yes yes", not reason why you think XYZ solution won't work.

seanmcdirmid 10y ago
Exactly: the ability to detect bullshit more quickly is unfortunately an ability not appreciated by many companies. It isn't just SV that has this problem. Those that tend to thrive in these environments past 40 are those who have instead learned play the imperfect system aggressively for their own benefit.
- matt_wulfeck 10y ago
  Along with that, I think an important value is just not taking wrong ideas personally. So some junior engineer wants to run off and do something that might cause you a head ache. Let them do it and learn from it. Your goal in life can't be to minimize everything that causes pain.
  - seanmcdirmid 10y ago
    Oh, sure, but I'm not referring to that. It is more likely bullshit from upper management, from even older people...who lost touch with reality long ago.
gopalv 10y ago
> All of those things are great, but you're assuming your manager and peers will value you them. The crucial transition is turning yourself into a senior engineer - someone who acts as a force multiplier in your organization (a possibly big organization). The valley problem with that transition is that a lot of value is left to the junior developer due to the startup ecosystem - the engineer who writes the first prototype, shoddily for a demo without worrying about possible future problems. The senior developer is left out in a plateau, if they can't switch back to core developer mode (build demo, get funding, hustle) and back, which is a not a skill issue, but more economical. There's the risk that the switch to a lower pay (for equity, hopefully) affects your next job offer in a BigCo if the idea does not pan out (& most of them don't). The reality of being hired in a Startup is that founders don't like people who aren't "all in". Once you take out "being employee #5" at the startup from the equation, the best part of Bay Area is gone. There lies only one path back in and that's building your own, except there the VCs get to actually pick on your health as a possible risk factor before handing you some $$$.

seanmcdirmid 10y ago

Exactly: the ability to detect bullshit more quickly is unfortunately an ability not appreciated by many companies. It isn't just SV that has this problem. Those that tend to thrive in these environments past 40 are those who have instead learned play the imperfect system aggressively for their own benefit.

matt_wulfeck 10y ago
Along with that, I think an important value is just not taking wrong ideas personally. So some junior engineer wants to run off and do something that might cause you a head ache. Let them do it and learn from it. Your goal in life can't be to minimize everything that causes pain.
- seanmcdirmid 10y ago
  Oh, sure, but I'm not referring to that. It is more likely bullshit from upper management, from even older people...who lost touch with reality long ago.

gopalv 10y ago

> All of those things are great, but you're assuming your manager and peers will value you them. The crucial transition is turning yourself into a senior engineer - someone who acts as a force multiplier in your organization (a possibly big organization). The valley problem with that transition is that a lot of value is left to the junior developer due to the startup ecosystem - the engineer who writes the first prototype, shoddily for a demo without worrying about possible future problems. The senior developer is left out in a plateau, if they can't switch back to core developer mode (build demo, get funding, hustle) and back, which is a not a skill issue, but more economical. There's the risk that the switch to a lower pay (for equity, hopefully) affects your next job offer in a BigCo if the idea does not pan out (& most of them don't). The reality of being hired in a Startup is that founders don't like people who aren't "all in". Once you take out "being employee #5" at the startup from the equation, the best part of Bay Area is gone. There lies only one path back in and that's building your own, except there the VCs get to actually pick on your health as a possible risk factor before handing you some $$$.