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Operations review: Engineering: Since you already have a product, strongly consider reducing the number of engineers that you have. :(

by iigs 18y ago

timr 18y ago
This bit of "advice" soured the whole thing for me -- a shining example of MBA wisdom. To be fair, maybe the advice was mis-communicated, or maybe the speaker was talking about VC-funded monoliths who had grown too quickly (and hired poorly), but it seems kind of foolish to fire engineers at a tech company, just because you think you "already have a product".
- lanceweatherby 18y ago
  Maybe it was, I just forwarded it on so can not say. Tech companies always need smart productive engineers. Product development never stops.
- potatolicious 18y ago
  IMHO it's about finances. In these dire straits you either load up on talent, make your product the absolute best, and take over your entire market segment while everyone else is hurting... or you lay low and weather the storm. For companies where they simply don't have the cash reserve to keep that many people on board for that long, the second option is the only one.
- thorax 18y ago
  I'd say follow it if you hired quick/not-solid engineers in a quick bid for growth. But you should fight very hard to keep talented/experienced engineers around and happy. They very much could become your strategic advantage while everyone is cutting things!
  - SwellJoe 18y ago
    Agreed. Much like the stock market crash has led me to start thinking about bargain hunting, and to move some of my capital into stocks, I'm viewing this advice as a sign that I'll be able to hire great engineers at a good rate in the not too distant future, as competitors without our profitability run into problems and begin to extend their runway by reducing their headcount (and since they've "already got a product", they don't need those pesky engineers any more). Then again, I believe that a team of three great engineers lightly managed by another engineer (with some management skills) can outproduce a dozen or more mediocre developers managed by an MBA, so I've always planned for our company to produce more code in less time and for less money than our competitors.
    - ardit33 18y ago
      "Then again, I believe that a team of three great engineers lightly managed by another engineer (with some management skills) can outproduce a dozen or more mediocre developers managed by an MBA, so I've always planned for our company to produce more code in less time and for less money than our competitors." --- I fully agree with this. Best managers are the ones that are really strong technically, and that still do some/little coding. They know exactly what's going on, and reward competence over arse-kissing.
- MicahWedemeyer 18y ago
  Cheap outsourcing is probably going to start looking pretty good to the management-types. Quantity over quality...
  - ardit33 18y ago
    outsourcing has been disastrous so far. We have tried three times in my company, and with bad results. Doesn't save money, or time in the long run, especially in engineering. It makes sense only in things like design, logos, etc, but not in your core business. I would fully recommend to all my competitors to outsource their engineering as much as they can.
    - icey 18y ago
      I tell this to everyone: In the 90s, I was terrified of outsourcing. It started becoming very popular and there were quite a lot of people declaring the end of the American developer as a result. Then I found out I was going to be working with an offshore team during a project for a large financial firm. The offshore company that this financial firm was using was reputed to be one of the best in the business. When the code came back, I was no longer concerned about outsourcing. If anything, there was a whole career to be had resolving the issues in the cut and paste code that got sent back. Never under-estimate the damage that the language barrier can do to a product.
- rbanffy 18y ago
  If your product pipeline is empty - you have your product ready and you have no clear plans to upgrade it, you can reduce your engineering headcount. You will feel the pain of hiring back as soon as you decide what to build next, but if it is in a remote enough future, I say do it. While it's not always the brightest strategy, it's not always a stupid idea either.

Operations review: Engineering: Since you already have a product, strongly consider reducing the number of engineers that you have. :(

by iigs 18y ago

Operations review: Engineering: Since you already have a product, strongly consider reducing the number of engineers that you have. :(

timr 18y ago

This bit of "advice" soured the whole thing for me -- a shining example of MBA wisdom. To be fair, maybe the advice was mis-communicated, or maybe the speaker was talking about VC-funded monoliths who had grown too quickly (and hired poorly), but it seems kind of foolish to fire engineers at a tech company, just because you think you "already have a product".

lanceweatherby 18y ago
Maybe it was, I just forwarded it on so can not say. Tech companies always need smart productive engineers. Product development never stops.
potatolicious 18y ago
IMHO it's about finances. In these dire straits you either load up on talent, make your product the absolute best, and take over your entire market segment while everyone else is hurting... or you lay low and weather the storm. For companies where they simply don't have the cash reserve to keep that many people on board for that long, the second option is the only one.
thorax 18y ago
I'd say follow it if you hired quick/not-solid engineers in a quick bid for growth. But you should fight very hard to keep talented/experienced engineers around and happy. They very much could become your strategic advantage while everyone is cutting things!
- SwellJoe 18y ago
  Agreed. Much like the stock market crash has led me to start thinking about bargain hunting, and to move some of my capital into stocks, I'm viewing this advice as a sign that I'll be able to hire great engineers at a good rate in the not too distant future, as competitors without our profitability run into problems and begin to extend their runway by reducing their headcount (and since they've "already got a product", they don't need those pesky engineers any more). Then again, I believe that a team of three great engineers lightly managed by another engineer (with some management skills) can outproduce a dozen or more mediocre developers managed by an MBA, so I've always planned for our company to produce more code in less time and for less money than our competitors.
  - ardit33 18y ago
    "Then again, I believe that a team of three great engineers lightly managed by another engineer (with some management skills) can outproduce a dozen or more mediocre developers managed by an MBA, so I've always planned for our company to produce more code in less time and for less money than our competitors." --- I fully agree with this. Best managers are the ones that are really strong technically, and that still do some/little coding. They know exactly what's going on, and reward competence over arse-kissing.
MicahWedemeyer 18y ago
Cheap outsourcing is probably going to start looking pretty good to the management-types. Quantity over quality...
- ardit33 18y ago
  outsourcing has been disastrous so far. We have tried three times in my company, and with bad results. Doesn't save money, or time in the long run, especially in engineering. It makes sense only in things like design, logos, etc, but not in your core business. I would fully recommend to all my competitors to outsource their engineering as much as they can.
  - icey 18y ago
    I tell this to everyone: In the 90s, I was terrified of outsourcing. It started becoming very popular and there were quite a lot of people declaring the end of the American developer as a result. Then I found out I was going to be working with an offshore team during a project for a large financial firm. The offshore company that this financial firm was using was reputed to be one of the best in the business. When the code came back, I was no longer concerned about outsourcing. If anything, there was a whole career to be had resolving the issues in the cut and paste code that got sent back. Never under-estimate the damage that the language barrier can do to a product.
rbanffy 18y ago
If your product pipeline is empty - you have your product ready and you have no clear plans to upgrade it, you can reduce your engineering headcount. You will feel the pain of hiring back as soon as you decide what to build next, but if it is in a remote enough future, I say do it. While it's not always the brightest strategy, it's not always a stupid idea either.