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Thank you. I'm so tired of reading the same "I could build this unicorn over the weekend with a few AWS credits and a healthy stream of whiskey." On every damn

Thank you. I'm so tired of reading the same "I could build this unicorn over the weekend with a few AWS credits and a healthy stream of whiskey." On every damn layoff thread.

varjag 6y ago
The fact that a significant portion gets swiftly laid off with seemingly no consequence suggests these complexity concerns are overstated.
- compiler-guy 6y ago
  Don't know what consequences you specifically mean here, but some projects won't get done, some sales won't be made, some research won't pan out. Some institutional knowledge will be lost so the next rev won't go as quickly. There will be many consequences, just perhaps not obvious for those on the outside looking in.
- kube-system 6y ago
  > seemingly no consequence This is the same fallacious statement in reverse. You couldn't build LinkedIn in a weekend because they do a lot of things you don't see. Also, when they fire a bunch of people, it will affect a lot of things you also don't see. Could someone compare today's and yesterday's Wayback Machine results for your company's website and demonstrate the value everyone at your company generated today?
  - varjag 6y ago
    The GP post was a wall of text basically explaining how you can't run a large website without tens thousands of staff. Surely it would fall apart if you suddenly cull 10% one fine Friday?
    - kube-system 6y ago
      I've worked at lots of companies where the product isn't optimized, it didn't handle Chinese or Arabic queries, or there were organizational issues. These things don't make a company fall apart suddenly, although they could be impediments for growth.
    - TulliusCicero 6y ago
      That is, in fact, not what it said. It didn't say that you absolutely needed tens of thousands of staff, but that tens of thousands of staff often made sense to hire.
12xo 6y ago
There was a time you could... Now? no way, at least not without some Flappy Golf type of viral hit.
ryneandal 6y ago
Except the original comment wasn't that. At all. It was a genuine question because a lot of us aren't familiar with these tech giants and how they're structured.

Thank you. I'm so tired of reading the same "I could build this unicorn over the weekend with a few AWS credits and a healthy stream of whiskey." On every damn layoff thread.

varjag 6y ago

The fact that a significant portion gets swiftly laid off with seemingly no consequence suggests these complexity concerns are overstated.

compiler-guy 6y ago
Don't know what consequences you specifically mean here, but some projects won't get done, some sales won't be made, some research won't pan out. Some institutional knowledge will be lost so the next rev won't go as quickly. There will be many consequences, just perhaps not obvious for those on the outside looking in.
kube-system 6y ago
> seemingly no consequence This is the same fallacious statement in reverse. You couldn't build LinkedIn in a weekend because they do a lot of things you don't see. Also, when they fire a bunch of people, it will affect a lot of things you also don't see. Could someone compare today's and yesterday's Wayback Machine results for your company's website and demonstrate the value everyone at your company generated today?
- varjag 6y ago
  The GP post was a wall of text basically explaining how you can't run a large website without tens thousands of staff. Surely it would fall apart if you suddenly cull 10% one fine Friday?
  - kube-system 6y ago
    I've worked at lots of companies where the product isn't optimized, it didn't handle Chinese or Arabic queries, or there were organizational issues. These things don't make a company fall apart suddenly, although they could be impediments for growth.
  - TulliusCicero 6y ago
    That is, in fact, not what it said. It didn't say that you absolutely needed tens of thousands of staff, but that tens of thousands of staff often made sense to hire.

12xo 6y ago

There was a time you could... Now? no way, at least not without some Flappy Golf type of viral hit.

ryneandal 6y ago

Except the original comment wasn't that. At all. It was a genuine question because a lot of us aren't familiar with these tech giants and how they're structured.