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Do you think that great, world-changing, folks go to Facebook to sit on a big salary? if they were going to do something awesome they probably wouldn't have bee

Do you think that great, world-changing, folks go to Facebook to sit on a big salary? if they were going to do something awesome they probably wouldn't have been working there. now, if google lay off a lot of people... that would be different

swalsh 4y ago
Getting laid off during a tech crash often leads to smart people deciding to finally follow the dreams they couldn't justify during the tech bull market. There's probably no shortage of people working at Facebook who have dreams of quitting to build some idea they have. But quitting a job paying 350k or whatever is just not in the cards.
seydor 4y ago
facebook making a lot of money doesnt imply that they are making something great > if they were going to do something awesome they probably wouldn't have been working there. For the past 10+ years, in this forum, the advice is to stop trying to build something, go work at Faang
- voisin 4y ago
  > For the past 10+ years, in this forum, the advice is to stop trying to build something, go work at Faang I think the advice given, when requested, has much more nuance that takes into account the context provided in the request. Do you honestly think HN is just a bunch of FAANG fanboys?
  - seydor 4y ago
    > Do you honestly think HN is just a bunch of FAANG fanboys? Based on what is being upvoted, and what is not being downvoted, yes
kilovoltaire 4y ago
Google and Facebook are both advertising companies, doesn't seem that different to me.
- ausudhz 4y ago
  "world changing"
- randomsearch 4y ago
  To call Google an “advertising company” is disingenuous and I suspect you know that. Whilst Facebook has been obsessed with chasing eyeballs and advertising, Google has built Google maps, Gmail, Android, Translate, all kinds of search, GCP, the leading web browser, Chromebooks, self driving cars, the most advanced quantum computer, world leading AI research and a ton more. There’s no comparison to Facebook.
  - achenet 4y ago
    their money comes from ads. Of all the things you mentioned - Maps I'm pretty sure is a loss leader or used for data for ads Gmail as well Android is platform to hit you with ads Chrome/Chromeboooks also GCP is actually a viable business, albeit in a very competitive market self driving cars, research, quantum computers, none of those make money. There is a perfect comparison to Facebook, and for that matter, MTV and the New York Times. They all make money by selling ads.
  - andsoitis 4y ago
    > To call Google an “advertising company” is disingenuous It probably depends on one’s perspective. Their Q3’22 financials show that $54b of their $69b revenue for the quarter is advertising income. It is also listed first in their financials. https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2022Q3_alphabet_earnings_release.pdf?cache=4156e7f https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2022Q3_alphabet_earnings...
micromacrofoot 4y ago
> Do you think that great, world-changing, folks go to Facebook to sit on a big salary? Yes, have you seen the salaries recently? an E6 can make nearly half a million a year in total compensation.
- whymauri 4y ago
  Also, I can think of many people who would be building amazing things outside FAANG but choose to go to FAANG to pay off college debts or to build wealth i.e. they come from poverty. Let's not even get into biases in how capital is distributed. Like, there's a hierarchy of basic needs for a person and their family before they can turn down life changing compensation to 'build something cool!'.
  - micromacrofoot 4y ago
    I spent the first 10 years of my career paying off student debt. The last 5 have been catching up on the retirement savings I missed out on over the first 10 years. As long as I don't have a major medical event maybe I can turn down a job and "build something cool" when I'm 50.
erikpukinskis 4y ago
FWIW I’m currently working on a startup side project with someone at Meta. I don’t know that we’re going to “change the world” but I think we’re both awesome and I can see us building something awesome. We both have jobs because we need to pay our bills.
- randomsearch 4y ago
  I think there are better places to work that allow you (or cofounder) to pay your bills - even if your bills have to shrink a bit to fit. Best of luck with the side project, hope it entices you/your cofounder to leave Facebook.
stewx 4y ago
What is Google doing to change the world right now?
- randomsearch 4y ago
  One example: advancing quantum computing.
  - throwaw20221107 4y ago
    Another example: AI research
snapcaster 4y ago
I don't work at either, but aren't they both advertising companies with roughly same kinds of people working at them? Why do you think it would be different?
monktastic1 4y ago
You may be thinking of the Google from 10+ years ago. I left all the way back in 2016 and the Alphabet transition had already turned it soulless. I've heard it certainly hasn't gotten better since.
- myle 4y ago
  Where can you go that is better?
twelve40 4y ago
I think that many great, world-changing, folks have a non-linear life path and may end up doing all kinds of things including working for evil corporations for money, or bussing tables at Denny's before they get to the actual great, world-changing stuff.
adamsb6 4y ago
If you want to work on interesting massive-scale infra problems there are few better places than Meta.
thrown_22 4y ago
From what I hear on the grapevine the people getting laid off today are the people who would have gone on wall street 20 years ago. >now, if google lay off a lot of people... that would be different The culture in google isn't any better. Smart people who want to do things haven't gone there since 2012.

swalsh 4y ago

Getting laid off during a tech crash often leads to smart people deciding to finally follow the dreams they couldn't justify during the tech bull market. There's probably no shortage of people working at Facebook who have dreams of quitting to build some idea they have. But quitting a job paying 350k or whatever is just not in the cards.

seydor 4y ago

facebook making a lot of money doesnt imply that they are making something great > if they were going to do something awesome they probably wouldn't have been working there. For the past 10+ years, in this forum, the advice is to stop trying to build something, go work at Faang

voisin 4y ago
> For the past 10+ years, in this forum, the advice is to stop trying to build something, go work at Faang I think the advice given, when requested, has much more nuance that takes into account the context provided in the request. Do you honestly think HN is just a bunch of FAANG fanboys?
- seydor 4y ago
  > Do you honestly think HN is just a bunch of FAANG fanboys? Based on what is being upvoted, and what is not being downvoted, yes

kilovoltaire 4y ago

Google and Facebook are both advertising companies, doesn't seem that different to me.

ausudhz 4y ago
"world changing"
randomsearch 4y ago
To call Google an “advertising company” is disingenuous and I suspect you know that. Whilst Facebook has been obsessed with chasing eyeballs and advertising, Google has built Google maps, Gmail, Android, Translate, all kinds of search, GCP, the leading web browser, Chromebooks, self driving cars, the most advanced quantum computer, world leading AI research and a ton more. There’s no comparison to Facebook.
- achenet 4y ago
  their money comes from ads. Of all the things you mentioned - Maps I'm pretty sure is a loss leader or used for data for ads Gmail as well Android is platform to hit you with ads Chrome/Chromeboooks also GCP is actually a viable business, albeit in a very competitive market self driving cars, research, quantum computers, none of those make money. There is a perfect comparison to Facebook, and for that matter, MTV and the New York Times. They all make money by selling ads.
- andsoitis 4y ago
  > To call Google an “advertising company” is disingenuous It probably depends on one’s perspective. Their Q3’22 financials show that $54b of their $69b revenue for the quarter is advertising income. It is also listed first in their financials. https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2022Q3_alphabet_earnings_release.pdf?cache=4156e7f https://abc.xyz/investor/static/pdf/2022Q3_alphabet_earnings...

micromacrofoot 4y ago

> Do you think that great, world-changing, folks go to Facebook to sit on a big salary? Yes, have you seen the salaries recently? an E6 can make nearly half a million a year in total compensation.

whymauri 4y ago
Also, I can think of many people who would be building amazing things outside FAANG but choose to go to FAANG to pay off college debts or to build wealth i.e. they come from poverty. Let's not even get into biases in how capital is distributed. Like, there's a hierarchy of basic needs for a person and their family before they can turn down life changing compensation to 'build something cool!'.
- micromacrofoot 4y ago
  I spent the first 10 years of my career paying off student debt. The last 5 have been catching up on the retirement savings I missed out on over the first 10 years. As long as I don't have a major medical event maybe I can turn down a job and "build something cool" when I'm 50.

erikpukinskis 4y ago

FWIW I’m currently working on a startup side project with someone at Meta. I don’t know that we’re going to “change the world” but I think we’re both awesome and I can see us building something awesome. We both have jobs because we need to pay our bills.

randomsearch 4y ago
I think there are better places to work that allow you (or cofounder) to pay your bills - even if your bills have to shrink a bit to fit. Best of luck with the side project, hope it entices you/your cofounder to leave Facebook.

stewx 4y ago

What is Google doing to change the world right now?

randomsearch 4y ago
One example: advancing quantum computing.
- throwaw20221107 4y ago
  Another example: AI research

snapcaster 4y ago

I don't work at either, but aren't they both advertising companies with roughly same kinds of people working at them? Why do you think it would be different?

monktastic1 4y ago

You may be thinking of the Google from 10+ years ago. I left all the way back in 2016 and the Alphabet transition had already turned it soulless. I've heard it certainly hasn't gotten better since.

myle 4y ago
Where can you go that is better?

twelve40 4y ago

I think that many great, world-changing, folks have a non-linear life path and may end up doing all kinds of things including working for evil corporations for money, or bussing tables at Denny's before they get to the actual great, world-changing stuff.

adamsb6 4y ago

If you want to work on interesting massive-scale infra problems there are few better places than Meta.

thrown_22 4y ago

From what I hear on the grapevine the people getting laid off today are the people who would have gone on wall street 20 years ago. >now, if google lay off a lot of people... that would be different The culture in google isn't any better. Smart people who want to do things haven't gone there since 2012.