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> Sure they might add a foosball table and buy a pizza once in a while, but by and large many companies don't treated tech especially well. I'm not sure if it i

> Sure they might add a foosball table and buy a pizza once in a while, but by and large many companies don't treated tech especially well. I'm not sure if it is a lack of respect (some companies see developers as a pluggable commodity) or resentment for having to pay them more than they think they should have to. And they tend to get crushed by real tech companies. Honestly the test is pretty simple; if you go grab a drink and it's anything other than free and if you see anything other than retina screens on the floor it's a red flag. If you go as far as to negotiate an offer and it's not exclusively engineers or former engineers between you and the CEO or if there's no stocks/equity you know you are off to a pretty bad start. > I guess it depends on where you live, but some cities just don't have a lot of pure tech companies, so you are stuck with places like these. Just come to the valley/work remote.

vanusa 5y ago
Appreciate the general point, but, um ... Retinas aren't everything. There are monitors with fine enough colors, and (actually more important my PoV) better base / stand infrastructure, for example. And don't know about you, but some us don't particularly like seeing that dystopian forbidden fruit logo everywhere you look. Or supporting the company behind it any more than strictly necessary. Point being - yes, beware of sweat shops with substandard hardware. But brands aren't where it's at. Oh and also: just give me decent cash comp, 40 hours at most, and a useful amount of actual, real PTO (not this "unlimited PTO" nonsense). And an office (to the extent I have to be there) that doesn't make me feel like I'm losing plasma by the end of the day. And investors that don't make my skin crawl, please. Equity is nice, but it's just gravy.
bsuvc 5y ago
I agree with everything you said except this point. > And they tend to get crushed by real tech companies. You'd be surprised how many legacy businesses are out there, places in the US other than the west coast, who are thriving still and haven't been disrupted. Things like banking, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare. All of these industries have competition from startups, but are far from being crushed by them... Not yet at least. I like your litmus tests though. I think it is helpful for people to have some specific things they look out for as red flags, as some "little things" can really be an early indicator into how it would be to work there.
- 908B64B197 5y ago
  > Things like banking, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare. All of these industries have competition from startups, but are far from being crushed by them... Not yet at least. All of these are either low margins or extremely regulated (healthcare). Not interesting targets.

vanusa 5y ago

Appreciate the general point, but, um ... Retinas aren't everything. There are monitors with fine enough colors, and (actually more important my PoV) better base / stand infrastructure, for example. And don't know about you, but some us don't particularly like seeing that dystopian forbidden fruit logo everywhere you look. Or supporting the company behind it any more than strictly necessary. Point being - yes, beware of sweat shops with substandard hardware. But brands aren't where it's at. Oh and also: just give me decent cash comp, 40 hours at most, and a useful amount of actual, real PTO (not this "unlimited PTO" nonsense). And an office (to the extent I have to be there) that doesn't make me feel like I'm losing plasma by the end of the day. And investors that don't make my skin crawl, please. Equity is nice, but it's just gravy.

bsuvc 5y ago

I agree with everything you said except this point. > And they tend to get crushed by real tech companies. You'd be surprised how many legacy businesses are out there, places in the US other than the west coast, who are thriving still and haven't been disrupted. Things like banking, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare. All of these industries have competition from startups, but are far from being crushed by them... Not yet at least. I like your litmus tests though. I think it is helpful for people to have some specific things they look out for as red flags, as some "little things" can really be an early indicator into how it would be to work there.

908B64B197 5y ago
> Things like banking, insurance, manufacturing, healthcare. All of these industries have competition from startups, but are far from being crushed by them... Not yet at least. All of these are either low margins or extremely regulated (healthcare). Not interesting targets.