4 ms·

why did you quit?

jedberg 5y ago
I started a startup a few days after I left. Also had a baby a few months before leaving and really liked the schedule flexibility when I was on paternity leave.
- drzoltar 5y ago
  Can you speak about your experience building a startup with a newborn nearby?
  - stickfigure 5y ago
    Not the parent, but I have some experience here - my cofounder and I both had kids a month apart (four years ago). It switches you to playing the startup game in "hard mode", but it is doable with the right spouse(s).
  - eps 5y ago
    YMMW, but FWIW. You no longer have the luxury of hours-long uninterrupted coding streaks, but it doesn't prevent you from thinking through things that need to be done (e.g. when you are walking outside with a stroller). The net effect of it is that when you do have a chance to sit down and code, you produce something that requires no rewriting or refactoring later on. If you then compare time it takes to get X done, the think-then-code comes on top of code-then-rewrite and by a large margin. In a sense having a baby forces you to become a more thoughtful and effecient programmer :)
vmception 5y ago
All FAANG/MANGA are two years stints. Its a common experience but of course many people stay longer and are comfortable with that traditional view of being married to a corporation. A) Netflix is an ideal first company in the Silicon Valley circuit because their compensation package is a simple formula of <every other FAANG’s compensation package but in all cash>, which makes negotiating the next place much easier because you’re more liquid already and already know what the total compensation should be - or would balk at any other base salary because the cash portion is so much lower, forcing companies to entire you with more shares than they were prepared to. And B) because you simply made enough money to attempt something else in your life.
- halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
  Why are they two year stints when usually you're getting RSUs as part of your package that often have a 4 year vest?
  - vmception 5y ago
    People are either vesting 1/48th immediately every month, 3/48th every quarter, or are in the same circumstance a year after starting. The 4 year part is irrelevant for them as there is no actual waiting involved. They simple are able to negotiated being enticed by another company that will exceed how much cash they are already collecting. The company they work for gave them a signing bonus that required them to stay one year, the next company will too, as well as a higher base salary and higher dollar amount of shares that begin vesting quickly.
  - leetcrew 5y ago
    four year vest doesn't mean you get all the RSUs at the end of four years. or if it does, that's not how it actually works at google, facebook, microsoft, etc. typically you get an offer with a certain amount of RSUs, and then you get 25% of that each year. amazon is an exception; you get most of the RSUs in the third and fourth year. but you also get a large signing bonus paid over the first two years that mostly makes up for that. tl;dr: your yearly TC doesn't change much at these companies unless you get an actual raise. I don't fully understand the reasoning behind the four year schedule, but AIUI, it does not strongly incentivize sticking around for the full four years unless you assume significant stock appreciation.
    - halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
      I know it doesn't mean you get all the RSUs at the 4 year mark but if you leave after 2 years, you only get 50% of your RSUs. Why leave potentially hundreds of thousands on the table to jump after two years? I've never heard of this two-year stinting.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]

why did you quit?

I started a startup a few days after I left. Also had a baby a few months before leaving and really liked the schedule flexibility when I was on paternity leave.

drzoltar 5y ago
Can you speak about your experience building a startup with a newborn nearby?
- stickfigure 5y ago
  Not the parent, but I have some experience here - my cofounder and I both had kids a month apart (four years ago). It switches you to playing the startup game in "hard mode", but it is doable with the right spouse(s).
- eps 5y ago
  YMMW, but FWIW. You no longer have the luxury of hours-long uninterrupted coding streaks, but it doesn't prevent you from thinking through things that need to be done (e.g. when you are walking outside with a stroller). The net effect of it is that when you do have a chance to sit down and code, you produce something that requires no rewriting or refactoring later on. If you then compare time it takes to get X done, the think-then-code comes on top of code-then-rewrite and by a large margin. In a sense having a baby forces you to become a more thoughtful and effecient programmer :)

vmception 5y ago

All FAANG/MANGA are two years stints. Its a common experience but of course many people stay longer and are comfortable with that traditional view of being married to a corporation. A) Netflix is an ideal first company in the Silicon Valley circuit because their compensation package is a simple formula of <every other FAANG’s compensation package but in all cash>, which makes negotiating the next place much easier because you’re more liquid already and already know what the total compensation should be - or would balk at any other base salary because the cash portion is so much lower, forcing companies to entire you with more shares than they were prepared to. And B) because you simply made enough money to attempt something else in your life.

halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
Why are they two year stints when usually you're getting RSUs as part of your package that often have a 4 year vest?
- vmception 5y ago
  People are either vesting 1/48th immediately every month, 3/48th every quarter, or are in the same circumstance a year after starting. The 4 year part is irrelevant for them as there is no actual waiting involved. They simple are able to negotiated being enticed by another company that will exceed how much cash they are already collecting. The company they work for gave them a signing bonus that required them to stay one year, the next company will too, as well as a higher base salary and higher dollar amount of shares that begin vesting quickly.
- leetcrew 5y ago
  four year vest doesn't mean you get all the RSUs at the end of four years. or if it does, that's not how it actually works at google, facebook, microsoft, etc. typically you get an offer with a certain amount of RSUs, and then you get 25% of that each year. amazon is an exception; you get most of the RSUs in the third and fourth year. but you also get a large signing bonus paid over the first two years that mostly makes up for that. tl;dr: your yearly TC doesn't change much at these companies unless you get an actual raise. I don't fully understand the reasoning behind the four year schedule, but AIUI, it does not strongly incentivize sticking around for the full four years unless you assume significant stock appreciation.
  - halfmatthalfcat 5y ago
    I know it doesn't mean you get all the RSUs at the 4 year mark but if you leave after 2 years, you only get 50% of your RSUs. Why leave potentially hundreds of thousands on the table to jump after two years? I've never heard of this two-year stinting.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]