7 ms·
Was there a reason why ML was in Florida?
by sdan 7y ago
Was there a reason why ML was in Florida?
- mondoshawan 7y agoBecause Rony wanted it to be, and no other reason. From a hiring perspective, it was an absolute nightmare.
- VRay 7y agoHaha, I kept getting e-mails asking me to take a 3 month contract in "Plantation, Florida" Yeah, right
- PedroBatista 7y agoHey, at least it's not a perpetual contract.
- calbear81 7y agoI would've said yes to Florida at some point in my life. Florida is my backup state.
- 3fe9a03ccd14ca5 7y agoI’m long enough in my career (and finances) that a Florida relocation sounds nice, but not to this place.
- unlinked_dll 7y agoThis is an anecdote, and I don't want it to come off as rude. I know a person who is currently a director at ML. The simple fact they were hired and placed in an administrative/managerial role is enough to tell me never to work there. Shame too because I think the tech is cool and I'm fairly well qualified for the jobs this person posts incessantly on LinkedIn. Don't mind South Florida either, go canes. Also 20% off the salary of most regions, but also no state income tax and relatively cheap home prices if you go up to Broward.
- ryandrake 7y agoDoubtful their location ranks high on the list of reasons they couldn’t hire. I interviewed there and one of the major reasons I was excited was that it would give me a good reason to move back to Florida. The interview was, to put it nicely, unusual. The highlight of it was trying to have a conversation with a director who sounded like he was driving down I-95 in a convertible, and was getting frustrated that I couldn’t understand a word he was saying.
- unlinked_dll 7y agoI absolutely think the region is high on the list of reasons they can't hire. They pay less for worse jobs at lamer companies and don't have money flowing to startups. Magic Leap was very much the exception, and it's kinda cool because it's there because the founder liked it, just like Shockley thought NorCal was dope. And much like Shockley semi I think ML is a flash in the pan. But unlike Shockley Semi, Abovitz didn't hire an equivalent of the traitorous 8 because they already worked out here and got paid way more money to hang out at a FAANG or startup. Everyone I'd want to work with from my time in South Florida is either out of the area or trying to leave. It pays like shit, and there is no money or companies down there to make cool shit to make up for it. Besides ML. But it appears that is shifting.
- QualityReboot 7y agoI moved from San Francisco to South Florida as an experiment in being fully remote. It's been pretty good so far, but if I was looking for another job, I'd hit up everyone I know in SF for a remote position first. There aren't many like-minded people here, and that's kind of nice for a change. I still love San Francisco, but it simply priced me out of living there. I'd rather retire in 5 years here than work another 30 there.
- derangedHorse 7y agoTheir staff is also a nightmare. I heard from friends that they had to sign an NDA just to interview, and even after that the interviewer gave away nothing about what my friend would be working on or what the job would entail. Needless to say he rejected the offer and went for a better job (I think Google or something)
- MegaButts 7y ago> I heard from friends that they had to sign an NDA just to interview Is this not standard practice? I honestly can't remember the last time I didn't sign an NDA before interviewing.
- jasondclinton 7y agoThe OP's relayed complaint was that they would not tell him what he would be working on. A good reason not to accept a job.
- mrep 7y agoGranted, I've only interviewed at public companies, but I've never signed a NDA in my life.
- wpietri 7y agoAre you sure? The large companies I visit, and quite a number of small ones, have NDAs as part of the sign-in process.
- strictnein 7y agoNo NDA when interviewing at the Fortune 100s/Global Fortune 500 I've worked at.
- wpietri 7y agoI just double-checked, searching my email archives from everything from Envoy, a common front-desk app. Some of these places were interviews; most were just visiting somebody. All of them had NDA language, including these companies: Asana, Blink Health, Lever, Lyft, NerdWallet, Reddit, Slack, StitchFix, and Twilio. Just to walk in the door. Maybe those folks are all outliers somehow. But I doubt it.
- redis_mlc 7y agoRich people will do anything to avoid state income tax. Florida is one of the US East Coast states with no state income tax. Right after the "dot bomb", several SV VCs moved to Florida or Texas to avoid California state income tax. Amazon's reason for re-investing all profit was to pay zero tax (in the USA you can do that, but in some countries they just tell you what percent is the minimum.)
- moron4hire 7y agoYou don't get rich off of wage income.
- rurp 7y agoEh, I think you're just using a different definition of "rich" than the OP. A person who makes $350k/year and is a millionaire would be considered rich by quite a few people, though not everyone. A person like that would benefit quite a bit by avoiding state income taxes.
- fuzzfactor 7y ago>Was there a reason why ML was in Florida? They've been building pyramids in Ft. Lauderdale for a very long time. Usually with not enough enough scale to be noticeable very far from the Everglades.