5 ms·

This is great evidence of the greater fool theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory I’ve hea

This is great evidence of the greater fool theory: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_fool_theory I’ve heard some second hand anecdotes about Magic. Apparently they have one big technology advance, which is that they’ve solved the eye tracking and vertigo challenges of AR. These are hard and not to be underestimated. However the company is supposedly a mess internally - with huge management and political issues. This isn’t surprising - I’ve been in a number of early stage startups and by default they are a mess. Add on top of that billions of dollars of funding and no customers or sales to anchor the company to reality, and its easy to see how AR can become “Alternative Reality”! Further evidence - their recently released headset photos were renderings, not actual products. I genuinely hope that I’m wrong - I’d love for the amazing demo videos they’ve released to congeal into real mass market products. Does anyone else have good data on Magic?

ModernMech 9y ago
Not any good data, but I've had recruiters tell me that they don't pay very well (in SV terms), instead opting to sell employees on large options packages that will be "worth millions one day". It's a typical SV story, but one I wouldn't expect from a company that's valued at billions of dollars. That kind of behavior seems shady to me, so I wouldn't even consider working there.
- walrus01 9y ago
  not to excuse significantly lower pay from magic leap, but their compensation might be calculated based on their office location in Plantation, Florida which I presume has significantly lower real estate (rental or purchase) costs than the bay area. actual take home after rent or mortgage each month might be greater than something in mountain view. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation,_Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation,_Florida spending 20 seconds looking at zillow for that city I see what looks like some fairly decent 3BD/2BA detached homes for $300,000. which would be a pipe dream in seattle, vancouver or bay area.
  - meestaahjoshee 9y ago
    also no state income tax in florida
    - goshx 9y ago
      and 6% sales tax
      - walrus01 9y ago
        but depending on your political views, you also have to tolerate living in florida, which can be a distasteful experience to people whose cultural, religious and political values more closely align with the residents of portland, OR.
        goshx 9y ago
        I've been living in Florida for 6 years now. The only thing that bothers me here is the hurricane season.
        mlevental 9y ago
        south florida isn't so bad. miami especially is very liberal (except for the cuban exiles)
        adl 9y ago
        For someone who lives outside the US, but has visited Florida (Miami and Orlando), what do yo mean by tolerate? I understand that they may be more... conservative?. As a tourist, Miami seemed multicultural and fairly liberal, are state politics different?
        ryandrake 9y ago
        Speaking as a former Floridian who lived both in south Florida and the panhandle: South Florida is a tiny blue outlier in an otherwise deep red southern state. State laws and politics are dominated by Tallahassee which is physically and culturally closer to Alabama. It would be a shock to someone moving from the Bay Area or Seattle. That said, zero income taxes, low sales taxes, warm weather year round, and great beaches are all very compelling.
- Holomakerbot 9y ago
  Here’s some actual data: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Magic-Leap-Salaries-E799754_P2.htm?filter.employmentStatus=REGULAR&filter.employmentStatus=PART_TIME& https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Magic-Leap-Salaries-E799754...
- JumpCrisscross 9y ago
  > opting to sell employees on large options packages that will be "worth millions one day" They're also notorious for refusing to allow employees to sell their shares, even if nothing in the original agreement prohibits a compliant transfer.
  - DavidHm 9y ago
    Is the refusal legally valid, or just pressure?
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
mbesto 9y ago
> However the company is supposedly a mess internally - with huge management and political issues. This typically happens when there is high pressure to deliver, but you have zero revenues. So, it wouldn't surprise me.

ModernMech 9y ago

Not any good data, but I've had recruiters tell me that they don't pay very well (in SV terms), instead opting to sell employees on large options packages that will be "worth millions one day". It's a typical SV story, but one I wouldn't expect from a company that's valued at billions of dollars. That kind of behavior seems shady to me, so I wouldn't even consider working there.

walrus01 9y ago
not to excuse significantly lower pay from magic leap, but their compensation might be calculated based on their office location in Plantation, Florida which I presume has significantly lower real estate (rental or purchase) costs than the bay area. actual take home after rent or mortgage each month might be greater than something in mountain view. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation,_Florida https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantation,_Florida spending 20 seconds looking at zillow for that city I see what looks like some fairly decent 3BD/2BA detached homes for $300,000. which would be a pipe dream in seattle, vancouver or bay area.
- meestaahjoshee 9y ago
  also no state income tax in florida
  - goshx 9y ago
    and 6% sales tax
    - walrus01 9y ago
      but depending on your political views, you also have to tolerate living in florida, which can be a distasteful experience to people whose cultural, religious and political values more closely align with the residents of portland, OR.
      - goshx 9y ago
        I've been living in Florida for 6 years now. The only thing that bothers me here is the hurricane season.
      - mlevental 9y ago
        south florida isn't so bad. miami especially is very liberal (except for the cuban exiles)
      - adl 9y ago
        For someone who lives outside the US, but has visited Florida (Miami and Orlando), what do yo mean by tolerate? I understand that they may be more... conservative?. As a tourist, Miami seemed multicultural and fairly liberal, are state politics different?
        ryandrake 9y ago
        Speaking as a former Floridian who lived both in south Florida and the panhandle: South Florida is a tiny blue outlier in an otherwise deep red southern state. State laws and politics are dominated by Tallahassee which is physically and culturally closer to Alabama. It would be a shock to someone moving from the Bay Area or Seattle. That said, zero income taxes, low sales taxes, warm weather year round, and great beaches are all very compelling.
Holomakerbot 9y ago
Here’s some actual data: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Magic-Leap-Salaries-E799754_P2.htm?filter.employmentStatus=REGULAR&filter.employmentStatus=PART_TIME& https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Magic-Leap-Salaries-E799754...
JumpCrisscross 9y ago
> opting to sell employees on large options packages that will be "worth millions one day" They're also notorious for refusing to allow employees to sell their shares, even if nothing in the original agreement prohibits a compliant transfer.
- DavidHm 9y ago
  Is the refusal legally valid, or just pressure?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]

mbesto 9y ago

> However the company is supposedly a mess internally - with huge management and political issues. This typically happens when there is high pressure to deliver, but you have zero revenues. So, it wouldn't surprise me.