3 ms·

Not that I want to defend Uber. I do agree with you. Yet the same can be said about most large companies though. Even large "real" tech companies. Googles reve

by ulfw 7y ago

Not that I want to defend Uber. I do agree with you. Yet the same can be said about most large companies though. Even large "real" tech companies. Googles revenues wouldn't drop a bit for years if 50% of engineers were gone. That's just the reality of large enterprises.

pkaye 7y ago
There is a lot of "make work" kind of project at some of these companies. Lets design a whole new logging infrastructure or database instead of adopting or improving something that already exists. Or lets overanalyze the the font that we use for our webpage or design a new font because we have a lot of VC money and nothing better to do.
- walshemj 7y ago
  Redesigning a font and saving say 20% of its size is a worth while saving - you wont believe how much the average website is bloated by using fancy fonts.
- r00fus 7y ago
  I see it as cargo-cult facade that they hope will attract the kind of engineers that work for FAANGM.
dehrmann 7y ago
Google, especially, has a lot of side projects that don't contribute to search, adwords, g-suite, gcp, or youtube, and their moonshots have failed to materialize. The fact that they're the #3 player in the cloud space speaks to what they'll overlook.
goatinaboat 7y ago
That's just the reality of large enterprises. Yes, even with the best will in the world you can't escape Amdahl's Law. And when an engineer finds him or herself working on some fun project that isn't clear how it relates to the bottom line the mindset should always be "enjoy it while it lasts".
Moto7451 7y ago
As someone who’s helped on both the technical and hiring side of a company that’s scaling, I agree and will add that a lot of hires are made in order to make life easier for existing hires. A team completely composed of 1:1 developer to team/role need is one vacation, child birth, or illness away from unnecessary added stress. From a purely technical side of things we crib it as “bus factor” and try to negate that with documentation and knowledge sharing. A great way to disillusion your management hierarchy (flat or otherwise) is to have them constantly juggle supporting their reports’ needs and the business asks when functionally understaffed all year. Having some “extra” headcount while remaining ROI positive is good for the humans even if it doesn’t make 100% accounting sense. It’s also a good way to make space for deep work and interesting innovations you get by having the luxury of unlimited ping pong time... Er I mean water cooler chats.

by ulfw 7y ago

pkaye 7y ago

There is a lot of "make work" kind of project at some of these companies. Lets design a whole new logging infrastructure or database instead of adopting or improving something that already exists. Or lets overanalyze the the font that we use for our webpage or design a new font because we have a lot of VC money and nothing better to do.

walshemj 7y ago
Redesigning a font and saving say 20% of its size is a worth while saving - you wont believe how much the average website is bloated by using fancy fonts.
r00fus 7y ago
I see it as cargo-cult facade that they hope will attract the kind of engineers that work for FAANGM.

dehrmann 7y ago

Google, especially, has a lot of side projects that don't contribute to search, adwords, g-suite, gcp, or youtube, and their moonshots have failed to materialize. The fact that they're the #3 player in the cloud space speaks to what they'll overlook.

goatinaboat 7y ago

That's just the reality of large enterprises. Yes, even with the best will in the world you can't escape Amdahl's Law. And when an engineer finds him or herself working on some fun project that isn't clear how it relates to the bottom line the mindset should always be "enjoy it while it lasts".

Moto7451 7y ago

As someone who’s helped on both the technical and hiring side of a company that’s scaling, I agree and will add that a lot of hires are made in order to make life easier for existing hires. A team completely composed of 1:1 developer to team/role need is one vacation, child birth, or illness away from unnecessary added stress. From a purely technical side of things we crib it as “bus factor” and try to negate that with documentation and knowledge sharing. A great way to disillusion your management hierarchy (flat or otherwise) is to have them constantly juggle supporting their reports’ needs and the business asks when functionally understaffed all year. Having some “extra” headcount while remaining ROI positive is good for the humans even if it doesn’t make 100% accounting sense. It’s also a good way to make space for deep work and interesting innovations you get by having the luxury of unlimited ping pong time... Er I mean water cooler chats.