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I have worked for Netflix for over 5 years, and its the best place I've ever worked. It has the no-bullshit feel of a small company combined with the advantages

I have worked for Netflix for over 5 years, and its the best place I've ever worked. It has the no-bullshit feel of a small company combined with the advantages (pay, benefits) of a big company. Almost everybody I've worked with is amazing. I admit that the culture was daunting, and even after going through an L5 -> L6 promo at Google, I was worried about not being able to cut it at Netflix. I was very nervous about this the first year, until the first performance cycle, after which time nobody I knew had been let go. There is honestly much less turn over around me than at Google, for example. To me, this means most people are pretty happy here. I'm not aware of any stack ranking. If there was, then 95% of my group must have been above average for the last 5 years since almost nobody has been let go. To be clear, yes, people in my group have been let go. However, I was seldom surprised when somebody was let go.

nomel 6y ago
You might not be able to answer this, but what’s the QA culture there? How do project timelines work there? Are there project managers for all projects? I ask because I can’t remember the last bug, visual artifact, or non-intuitive UI design from anything Netflix related, even in my awful Roku TV. What I don’t understand is how it’s possible for management to exist that understands how much of an achievement that is, and how much man time that takes (assuming here).
stareatgoats 6y ago
> seldom If only you had said "never" ...
- arcticbull 6y ago
  Not everyone's a good fit for their job, and dealing well with low performers is critical to building and maintaining a well-oiled organization. I've worked at a company that consistently failed to "deal well with poor performers" and man, it took a village to get poor or toxic folks walked. All the meanwhile they were crapping up the place.
- drewg123 6y ago
  The only surprises I have had is for people that have run into socially, but are in other groups that I don't work with, and hence have no personal knowledge of their performance.
  - stareatgoats 6y ago
    Alright, that's fair then. It doesn't detract from my overall impression though; Netflix is a company that tries to bulldoze it's way to the top, using the tried and tested tools of rewarding high performers richly while getting rid of 'looser' quickly, which always walks a thin ethical line. It works for a while in my experience (I have worked in such organizations) - but it turns toxic when the defeats inevitably pile up.

nomel 6y ago

You might not be able to answer this, but what’s the QA culture there? How do project timelines work there? Are there project managers for all projects? I ask because I can’t remember the last bug, visual artifact, or non-intuitive UI design from anything Netflix related, even in my awful Roku TV. What I don’t understand is how it’s possible for management to exist that understands how much of an achievement that is, and how much man time that takes (assuming here).

stareatgoats 6y ago

> seldom If only you had said "never" ...

arcticbull 6y ago
Not everyone's a good fit for their job, and dealing well with low performers is critical to building and maintaining a well-oiled organization. I've worked at a company that consistently failed to "deal well with poor performers" and man, it took a village to get poor or toxic folks walked. All the meanwhile they were crapping up the place.
drewg123 6y ago
The only surprises I have had is for people that have run into socially, but are in other groups that I don't work with, and hence have no personal knowledge of their performance.
- stareatgoats 6y ago
  Alright, that's fair then. It doesn't detract from my overall impression though; Netflix is a company that tries to bulldoze it's way to the top, using the tried and tested tools of rewarding high performers richly while getting rid of 'looser' quickly, which always walks a thin ethical line. It works for a while in my experience (I have worked in such organizations) - but it turns toxic when the defeats inevitably pile up.