5 ms·

I usually use FAAMG instead of FAANG because I don't understand what Netflix is doing in there.

by saalweachter 5y ago

cvhashim 5y ago
Has to do with blue chip tech stocks apparently
- adventured 5y ago
  When Jim Cramer coined it (originally as FANG) and began pumping it on his show regularly, it was just a batch of large, sector dominant tech stocks he thought should be bought at that time (with the letter ordering being convenient for memory). That's all it was. There is no greater definition, and it's bizarre to see people argue over that aspect routinely on HN, given it was nothing more than a stock pumping promotion by a slightly vacuous tv bobblehead.
  - mwfunk 5y ago
    Yeah it's literally just a short list of companies that people see as being the big kahunas of the tech industry. In the '80s it would've been Intel, Microsoft, IBM, and maybe even companies like Lotus or WordPerfect. In the '90s it would've been more like, Intel, Microsoft, AOL, Sun, maybe Oracle, maybe still IBM? Hell maybe even Ebay. Lots of those companies are still around but the ones that are tend to be more mature, less volatile, and less influential on the rest of the industry now, and get correspondingly less press. But yeah, that's all FAANG is and I'm amazed anyone thinks it's anything more standardized or meaningful or precisely defined. It's shorthand for the biggest and most influential companies in the tech industry at the moment, at least from the perspective of people on the outside looking in. If someone wants to the throw an M into FAANG I totally get it.
kook_throwaway 5y ago
Using all the bandwidth on the interwebs.
mabbo 5y ago
Netflix is large enough and pays well enough that it frequently poaches developers from the others on the list. And they poach from it back. Depending on what you're discussing when you're listing those companies, it may make sense to include them.
swyx 5y ago
all else equal they pay more than the other 4 so yeah i get it
cl0ckt0wer 5y ago
People underestimate how hard it is to do streaming that well.
ramesh31 5y ago
>I usually use FAAMG instead of FAANG because I don't understand what Netflix is doing in there. FAANG is about the pay, not the prestige of the company. They pay so far above the rest of the market that they are really only competing for talent with themselves. Average total comp at Netflix is well north of $500k for an individual contributor.
- fleshdaddy 5y ago
  I would think that Microsoft and Amazon only seem quite a bit lower because of the lower cost of living in Seattle right? Also though taking a looks at levels.fyi salary information none of the FAANG companies are really included in the top paying list.
- jcheng 5y ago
  Then does Amazon belong there? I didn’t get the impression it’s at the level of the others, but closer to Microsoft.
  - whimsicalism 5y ago
    Lower than Microsoft prestige-wise.
    - Sanguinaire 5y ago
      Highly debatable. While Amazon is more likely to be on the shit-list of Joe Public, in technical circles it comes down to AWS vs MS. Frankly if MS hadn't bought GitHub to distract magpie developers, there would be no contest.
      - whimsicalism 5y ago
        Amazon has the lowest hiring bar because of high turnover. AWS vs Azure is besides the point.
        Sanguinaire 5y ago
thefourthchime 5y ago
It sounds way better in conversation.
RC_ITR 5y ago
Lol good on you for not just dropping the N, but there's actually a person who coined this, and he coined 'FANG' to describe a set of stocks that at the time were appreciating very quickly. Netflix was both the smallest and the first to slow of that group, so that's why they now seem out of place.
btown 5y ago
My tongue-in-cheek definition of FAAN(M)G is "does the company have sufficient resources and technical wits to have entire team(s) dedicated to stress-testing and breaking their internal systems proactively to ensure uptime and low latency?" Netflix with Chaos Monkey definitely applies, and Microsoft does as well. Arguably Salesforce would be there too, if not for their meme-worthy historical failure at the low-latency part.
- themulticaster 5y ago
  Could you elaborate on the low-latency part and the historical failure? I don't know a lot about Salesforce, so I'm not quite sure how they fit into FAANG.

I usually use FAAMG instead of FAANG because I don't understand what Netflix is doing in there.

cvhashim 5y ago

Has to do with blue chip tech stocks apparently

adventured 5y ago
When Jim Cramer coined it (originally as FANG) and began pumping it on his show regularly, it was just a batch of large, sector dominant tech stocks he thought should be bought at that time (with the letter ordering being convenient for memory). That's all it was. There is no greater definition, and it's bizarre to see people argue over that aspect routinely on HN, given it was nothing more than a stock pumping promotion by a slightly vacuous tv bobblehead.
- mwfunk 5y ago
  Yeah it's literally just a short list of companies that people see as being the big kahunas of the tech industry. In the '80s it would've been Intel, Microsoft, IBM, and maybe even companies like Lotus or WordPerfect. In the '90s it would've been more like, Intel, Microsoft, AOL, Sun, maybe Oracle, maybe still IBM? Hell maybe even Ebay. Lots of those companies are still around but the ones that are tend to be more mature, less volatile, and less influential on the rest of the industry now, and get correspondingly less press. But yeah, that's all FAANG is and I'm amazed anyone thinks it's anything more standardized or meaningful or precisely defined. It's shorthand for the biggest and most influential companies in the tech industry at the moment, at least from the perspective of people on the outside looking in. If someone wants to the throw an M into FAANG I totally get it.

kook_throwaway 5y ago

Using all the bandwidth on the interwebs.

mabbo 5y ago

Netflix is large enough and pays well enough that it frequently poaches developers from the others on the list. And they poach from it back. Depending on what you're discussing when you're listing those companies, it may make sense to include them.

swyx 5y ago

all else equal they pay more than the other 4 so yeah i get it

cl0ckt0wer 5y ago

People underestimate how hard it is to do streaming that well.

ramesh31 5y ago

>I usually use FAAMG instead of FAANG because I don't understand what Netflix is doing in there. FAANG is about the pay, not the prestige of the company. They pay so far above the rest of the market that they are really only competing for talent with themselves. Average total comp at Netflix is well north of $500k for an individual contributor.

fleshdaddy 5y ago
I would think that Microsoft and Amazon only seem quite a bit lower because of the lower cost of living in Seattle right? Also though taking a looks at levels.fyi salary information none of the FAANG companies are really included in the top paying list.
jcheng 5y ago
Then does Amazon belong there? I didn’t get the impression it’s at the level of the others, but closer to Microsoft.
- whimsicalism 5y ago
  Lower than Microsoft prestige-wise.
  - Sanguinaire 5y ago
    Highly debatable. While Amazon is more likely to be on the shit-list of Joe Public, in technical circles it comes down to AWS vs MS. Frankly if MS hadn't bought GitHub to distract magpie developers, there would be no contest.
    - whimsicalism 5y ago
      Amazon has the lowest hiring bar because of high turnover. AWS vs Azure is besides the point.
      - Sanguinaire 5y ago

thefourthchime 5y ago

It sounds way better in conversation.

RC_ITR 5y ago

Lol good on you for not just dropping the N, but there's actually a person who coined this, and he coined 'FANG' to describe a set of stocks that at the time were appreciating very quickly. Netflix was both the smallest and the first to slow of that group, so that's why they now seem out of place.

btown 5y ago

My tongue-in-cheek definition of FAAN(M)G is "does the company have sufficient resources and technical wits to have entire team(s) dedicated to stress-testing and breaking their internal systems proactively to ensure uptime and low latency?" Netflix with Chaos Monkey definitely applies, and Microsoft does as well. Arguably Salesforce would be there too, if not for their meme-worthy historical failure at the low-latency part.

themulticaster 5y ago
Could you elaborate on the low-latency part and the historical failure? I don't know a lot about Salesforce, so I'm not quite sure how they fit into FAANG.