I'm a pull engineer, and I work for a big, recognisable SV firm. I agree that hiring is fairly heavily biased towards push-types, but if you accept the premise

I'm a pull engineer, and I work for a big, recognisable SV firm. I agree that hiring is fairly heavily biased towards push-types, but if you accept the premise and spend some quality time with some text books and online classes, you can come a long way (think of it as pull: if the goal is to work for Google, this is probably what you need to do). One thing is for certain, carrying around a chip on your shoulder because you didn't go to Stanford will do you absolutely no good, and probably be a net negative for your career (and happiness in general). For the record, no, working for Google and Facebook isn't the single only answer to life, the universe and everything, there are plenty of perfectly worthy paths that don't lead anywhere near them, and there's no shame in taking them. But they are juggernauts of our industry, they do pay very well, and for better or for worse, a stint at one of them does open a lot of doors.