5 ms·

It might be part of the reason why you tend to see older people in bigco and younger people in startup co.

pmiller2 9y ago
Or, it could just be that BigCo is... bigger? :)
wtvanhest 9y ago
I actually think the biggest reason is that start ups need an army of really good individual contributors. They dont need managers or leaders until they scale. At that point, the speed is too fast for experienced people to just enter so young people become managers. And young people dont want to manage people older than them. Bias continues.
- wtvanhest 9y ago
  Just curious why the downvotes?
  - roguecoder 9y ago
    You offer no particular evidence for your claims, they are unpersuasive and you manage to insult both older and younger employees in the space of three sentences. A. You assume young people are "really good individual contributors" and older people aren't, which is very often exactly backwards. B. It has been my experience that startups often hire people with management experience as they scale. C. Your assertion that young people don't want to manage old people is unsupported and pretty much just sounds bitter. The original hypothesis that younger developers are more likely to be overconfident about their chances of success and so are willing to accept lower effective pay makes way more sense than that older developers are less good at being individual contributors.
    - wtvanhest 9y ago
      Thanks for summarizing. I completely see your point, but I want to explain in a little more detail. Wasn't trying to insult anyone! > A. You assume young people are "really good individual contributors" and older people aren't, which is very often exactly backwards. Not my assumption. But, as someone ages, if they are an excellent individual contributor, they often find themselves in management roles. There are exceptions, but the real problem is that as people age, they want to be called "people managers". And, startups don't need people managers, they need contributors so there is a mismatch. If an older person only wants to be an individual contributor, there are of course places for them, but my contention is that the cross section is extremely small. I can see why it seemed insulting, that isn't want I meant. > B. It has been my experience that startups often hire people with management experience as they scale. Sure, they do, but more often than not, they are hiring their strongest individual contributors from within. Only a small percentage of people hired are hired from very senior roles. > C. Your assertion that young people don't want to manage old people is unsupported and pretty much just sounds bitter. I have worked in 3 large organizations and 2 small organizations, it is extremely rare for a younger person to hire someone older than them. I cannot imagine that there is evidence counter to this claim. I have seen it repeatedly.

Or, it could just be that BigCo is... bigger? :)

I actually think the biggest reason is that start ups need an army of really good individual contributors. They dont need managers or leaders until they scale. At that point, the speed is too fast for experienced people to just enter so young people become managers. And young people dont want to manage people older than them. Bias continues.

wtvanhest 9y ago
Just curious why the downvotes?
- roguecoder 9y ago
  You offer no particular evidence for your claims, they are unpersuasive and you manage to insult both older and younger employees in the space of three sentences. A. You assume young people are "really good individual contributors" and older people aren't, which is very often exactly backwards. B. It has been my experience that startups often hire people with management experience as they scale. C. Your assertion that young people don't want to manage old people is unsupported and pretty much just sounds bitter. The original hypothesis that younger developers are more likely to be overconfident about their chances of success and so are willing to accept lower effective pay makes way more sense than that older developers are less good at being individual contributors.
  - wtvanhest 9y ago
    Thanks for summarizing. I completely see your point, but I want to explain in a little more detail. Wasn't trying to insult anyone! > A. You assume young people are "really good individual contributors" and older people aren't, which is very often exactly backwards. Not my assumption. But, as someone ages, if they are an excellent individual contributor, they often find themselves in management roles. There are exceptions, but the real problem is that as people age, they want to be called "people managers". And, startups don't need people managers, they need contributors so there is a mismatch. If an older person only wants to be an individual contributor, there are of course places for them, but my contention is that the cross section is extremely small. I can see why it seemed insulting, that isn't want I meant. > B. It has been my experience that startups often hire people with management experience as they scale. Sure, they do, but more often than not, they are hiring their strongest individual contributors from within. Only a small percentage of people hired are hired from very senior roles. > C. Your assertion that young people don't want to manage old people is unsupported and pretty much just sounds bitter. I have worked in 3 large organizations and 2 small organizations, it is extremely rare for a younger person to hire someone older than them. I cannot imagine that there is evidence counter to this claim. I have seen it repeatedly.